Decision brief: commission rates and partner incentives
A simulated leadership room in mentor mode (fictional role archetypes from Tony's Virtual Leadership Team method). The room received Tony's proposal and was asked to find gaps, bring innovations and strengthen the incentives. Tony Gilharry is Driver and Approver and made every final call. Lens for every seat: will this save time, will this save money, is it the simple thing that works, are we moving with intent, should we think again, does it adapt to the market?
Decision
What Cloud Cruz pays partners, for how long, and what else it invests in them.
Context and evidence
Partners earn only on paid, closed invoices after a 60-day hold (decision 21), through three mechanisms (decision 25). Tiers follow counts first and revenue later (decision 33). The AE keeps full quota credit on partner deals (decision 50). The north star is customers live through partners (decision 57). Market reference: public partner programs pay 10 to 25% by tier.
DACI
- Driver: Tony Gilharry
- Approver: Tony Gilharry
- Contributors: VP Global Partnerships, Finance, Partner Field, GTM Analytics, GTM Operations, Partner Marketing, Enablement, CRM product owner
- Informed: the partner team
On the table
Member 10%, Select 15%, Premier 20%, Elite 25% of collected revenue on partner-sourced deals; 5% for a marketplace partner of record.
Gaps the room found
- Finance: for how long? Pay the tier rate for 24 months from go-live, then a lower renewal rate. Add a 90-day clawback on refunds.
- Partner Field: which motion gets paid? Influence that pays nothing kills co-selling; influence at the full rate pays twice next to the AE's quota credit.
- GTM Analytics: which rate applies after a tier change? Lock the rate at close for the deal's whole term.
- GTM Operations: self-serve referrals will be many and small. Use a tracked link and pay automatically.
Innovations the room offered
- Partner Marketing: let partners reinvest commission as co-marketing credit at 1.2 times.
- VP Global Partnerships: fire SPIFFs on the north star: first customer live, first Enterprise go-live, customer retained at 12 months.
- Enablement: show certification requirements next to commission on the scorecard.
Watch-outs
- Finance: model margin once on marketplace deals, where the marketplace fee, the 5% and the AE's credit stack.
- CRM product owner: every rule must be something introw and the Salesforce accrual ledger compute automatically.
Tony's decisions
| # | Decision |
|---|---|
| 72 | Rates confirmed: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25% by tier, 5% marketplace partner of record |
| 73 | Tier rate for 24 months from go-live, then a renewal rate (number later); the rate at close is locked for the deal's term |
| 74 | Influenced deals count toward tier and attributed revenue, don't pay commission, and can earn a SPIFF |
| 75 | Self-serve referrals paid automatically through tracked links; 90-day clawback on refunds |
| 76 | Accelerators and SPIFFs are mechanisms now, numbers at the Jul 1 review; SPIFFs fire on the north star |
| 77 | Instead of reinvested credit: a separate co-marketing fund for Premier and above, campaigns of $3,500, $5,000 or $10,000 by approved plan, plus specialized campaigns for Elite |
| 78 | Added by Tony: contribution points for approved community, LinkedIn and article contributions, a rising minimum per tier, and a higher directory rank |
Why
Every incentive points at customers live through partners. Costs stay bounded (a term, a clawback, cash only on collected revenue). Nothing needs a spreadsheet on a flat team of 9. Numbers without evidence wait for Year-1 data.