Apply / Commission Structures / Renewal & Retention
Hold-and-Release
A portion of commission is held and released contingent on customer retention or cash collection.
Renewal & Retention
Intermediate
How it works
Pay a percentage of commission immediately and hold the remainder until a defined trigger (cash collected, customer retained for X months, no refund). Reduces clawback exposure and aligns rep behavior with customer success. More elegant than post-payment clawbacks - and easier to enforce.
Formula
Initial_payment = first_pct x commission. Held = remaining commission, released on trigger.
Worked example
Example. 80% paid the month after close, 20% released at the customer's first paid invoice. A $10K commission on a $100K deal: $8K paid month 1, $2K released month 3 when the customer's first invoice is collected.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Reduces clawback exposure
- Aligns rep with customer success
- Easy to communicate
Cons
- Reduces immediate payout - small motivation hit
- Complex statement explanation
- Requires tight integration with billing
Best for
- SaaS plans with retention concerns
- Industries with material refund / cancellation rates
- Plans seeking ASC 606 alignment