Remuneration

Abstract

Everyone likes to be rewarded for doing their job well. While rewards are not exclusively monetary, people will be affected in their job and their attitude to work by how much money they can earn. Salespeople who earn only on commission in direct selling jobs may be motivated solely by earning potential. Most people, and most salespeople, weigh up potential monetary gains against the cost in time/effort/difficulty of the job and the opportunity of doing what they like and enjoy. Individuals’ needs vary but money is an important factor in most cases. Likewise, for the company, there is a dilemma between higher levels of pay and keeping costs down. Related to this is the problem of recruiting and retaining the desirable quality of applicant. In this chapter, the aim is:

• to evaluate the importance of payment to salespeople and company costs

• to consider the most appropriate levels and methods of payment

• to assess the role of financial incentives in improving sales performance

• to outline how to treat expenses

• to examine the trade-offs in higher levels of pay against the control of personal selling costs and their effect on performance.