Sales Commission Structure?

[patryk]

How is a typical sales commission program structured for breweries? Anyone with experience here PLEASE let me know! Thanks!

[Gouldsby]

In Steve Hindy's book "Beer School" he notes that they used a structure of base salary + 2 tiers of commission, based on a) rep's own sales territory, and b) the company as a whole. I don't think the latter is an industry standard, but it can provide more camaraderie than territory only based commission.

Commission can be straight: =X% of total sales in the territory
Segmented: X% of existing sales and Y% of new sales ( Y > X, because new sales are a more accurate reflection of your own efforts)
or Tiered: X,Y,Z% of total sales depending on hitting X,Y,Z growth targets.

Just my two cents, as I know all brewers do it slightly differently. Base salary will deviate based on geography & experience.

[patryk]

Thanks! Very good info, is there a typical % of sales that is the norm? If not what is a good starting place?