Beyond the Check: Retaining Reps with Transparency & Tools (Masterclass Recap)

Cut churn by making pay crystal clear. Design simple, behavior-driving comp plans and show reps real-time earnings—right where they work.

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TLDR

Trust is the #1 commissions problem; ambiguity drives churn and admin chaos.

Show deals and projected payouts within minutes via CRM→Stakt (and RepCard integration in progress).

Keep plans simple (≤3 elements), org-standard, and difference-based for team overrides.

Use comp to drive behaviors: recruiting bonuses on first X deals, tenure escalators, margin bands, SAT pay.

One customer saw ~75% fewer commission questions and cut seasonal attrition to ~20%.

Launch pace: common vertical CRMs <1 week; bespoke no-code setups ~1–2.5 weeks.

Works across solar, roofing, windows/siding, fiber, pest, and more.

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The thesis: clear pay, lower churn

If reps doubt their check, trust breaks, emotions spike, and leaders waste hours proving math across exports. Even “correct” spreadsheets don’t convince non-accountants. The fix: transparent, real-time visibility and plans that intentionally shape behavior.

This workshop Beyond the Check: Retaining Reps with Transparency & Tools featured Mike Scicluna (CEO, Stakt Commissions; fractional-CFO background across D2D). Here’s the distilled playbook.

Make transparency tangible (minutes, not months)

Instant reflection: With CRM integrations, new sales appear in Stakt within minutes, showing pipeline and projected payout on mobile.
Explain with UI, not paragraphs: Reps shouldn’t need an accountant to read their commission.
Measured impact: A tracked customer cut commission questions by ~75% and reduced seasonal attrition from ~50–60% → ~20% after going transparent.

Use comp to drive behavior (not just pay it)

Recruiting that actually scales
Pay a per-deal bonus on the recruit’s first X deals (e.g., $100 × 5). No forever overrides for casual recruiting; reserve ongoing overrides for managers who coach.
Lead-source economics
Know CAC/margin by source (door, Meta, shows, referrals). Tilt set-level incentives toward higher-margin sources to steer setter activity.
Tenure & loyalty flywheel

Accruing bonuses that grow with time-in-seat, visible in-app, ake poaching expensive.
Non-resetting escalators: After 100/150/200 lifetime deals, bump the rep’s rate.

Margin discipline & brand protection
Pay by gross-margin bands; cap/deduct outlier overpricing to prevent reputational damage.
Activity milestones (SAT pay)
Reward key upstream milestones (e.g., appointments that sat) to reinforce quality pipeline creation.

Keep it simple: the ≤3-element rule

If a rep can’t estimate their own check, your plan is too complex.

Limit plans to three components or fewer (e.g., redline + company keep + source adjust).
Standardize org-wide; exceptions are rare, time-boxed, and documented.
For team structures, prefer difference-based overrides (I earn the delta between my rate and my downline’s), it’s scalable and understandable.

Tooling & integrations

CRMs: Vertical CRMs (e.g., NFlow) typically go live <1 week. Highly customizable tools (ClickUp, Monday.com) take ~1–2.5 weeks due to mapping/testing.
ServiceTitan: Open API exists; integration is feasible as demand warrants.
RepCard ↔ Stakt (in progress): Goal: show commission snapshots inside RepCard and track SAT pay natively so reps don’t app-switch.

The hidden cost of messy commissions

Cash-flow shocks from cleanups (under/overpays). Underpays demand immediate make-goods; overpays are hard to claw back.
Spreadsheet ceiling: Excel is great just not for a core, high-variance process at scale.
Admin drag: Hours spent “proving math” instead of recruiting, coaching, and selling.

Industries seeing wins

Solar, roofing, windows/siding, fiber (often migrating off Excel), pest control (seasonal turnover). Also mortgage and insurance, any org that needs clear hierarchies, fast payouts, and auditability.

Implementation checklist

Map your status flow (lead → set → sat → install/close/fund) and owner at each stage.
Publish a one-pager plan with worked examples; sanity-check the ≤3-element rule.
Add behavior drivers: recruiting bonus (first X deals), tenure escalators, margin bands, SAT pay.
Connect CRM → Stakt; plan RepCard surfacing for snapshots/SAT.
Weekly publish: rep projections + lifetime deal counts.
Monthly audit: random-sample deals; fix root causes, not just outputs.
Lock exceptions behind approvals and auto-expirations.

FAQ

How fast can we launch?
Common vertical CRMs often <1 week; bespoke no-code CRMs need ~1–2.5 weeks.

Will transparency really help retention?
Yes—fewer disputes, calmer ops, and materially lower churn once payouts are visible and predictable.

Can reps see commissions in RepCard?
That’s the direction: surface commission snapshots and SAT milestones inside RepCard so reps stay in one workflow.

Next steps

Already on RepCard: Pilot a recruiting bonus (first X deals) and a tenure escalator for 60 days; announce SAT-pay milestones.
New to Stakt/RepCard: Book a demo and request the Commission Transparency Checklist + sample CRM field map.

Do good. Be kind. Pay clearly.

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