A friend of mine is an established, successful salesperson who is looking for a new opportunity. He recently received an offer from a large corporation that had a 6 or 7 page commission document. The document looked like a court filing. After sifting through as much as we could tolerate, we came across this gem:
All newly hired participants will receive a quota for incentive purposes on or before the 30th day of their territory assignment and no later than the 90th day of their territory assignment.
So, for sure before the 30th day. Unless it is no later than the 90th day. Obviously, it cannot be “on or before” while simultaneously being “no later than.”
This commission plan is a good example of why it is important to keep them relatively simple. Few things turn off a good salesperson faster than a suspiciously-worded commission document. Keep it simple and always walk a candidate through an example of how the commission plan works. If you leave it up to them to sort it out, you may just lose the strong candidate.
BTW, my friend turned down the offer.