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Glossary Terms
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A compensation survey is a structured process used to collect and compare salary data across roles, industries, or regions. For sales teams, it helps benchmark pay structures like base salary, commissions, and bonuses against industry standards to stay competitive in attracting and retaining top performers.
A compensation survey is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing data on compensation and benefits offered by organizations within a specific industry, region, or market.
These surveys gather information on various aspects of compensation, including salary levels, bonuses, incentives, benefits packages, and other forms of remuneration. The data collected is then used to establish benchmarks and make informed decisions about compensation practices within an organization.
The purpose of compensation surveys is to benchmark an organization's compensation packages against industry standards, ensuring competitiveness.
They help businesses attract and retain talent, maintain fair pay structures, and make informed decisions during salary planning, promotions, and recruitment.
Common challenges of conducting and using compensation surveys:
In a high-stakes, performance-driven function like sales, compensation is a key motivator. Compensation surveys ensure your pay packages are aligned with market expectations.
This prevents overpaying or underpaying sales reps, directly impacting motivation, performance, and turnover.
Sales leaders typically use compensation surveys during annual compensation reviews, budget planning, or when entering new markets.
They're also useful when hiring for new sales roles or re-evaluating existing incentive plans to ensure competitiveness and fairness.
Companies can run compensation surveys internally or partner with third-party providers. The process involves gathering compensation data from similar organizations, analyzing trends in base pay, incentives, and total rewards, and comparing them with your current compensation strategy.
To conduct a compensation survey, you need to:
To do a compensation survey,
