BD comp plan (business development compensation plan)
A BD comp plan defines how a business-development hire is paid against pipeline, closed revenue, and retention, structured to reward sustainable growth rather than one-time closes.
A poorly designed comp plan rewards closing any deal regardless of fit, producing accounts the delivery team cannot serve profitably. A well-designed plan usually blends a base salary with commission tied to closed-won revenue and a retention or renewal component, so the BD hire has a stake in accounts staying, not just landing.
Founder-led agencies hiring their first BD or sales person often skip designing this deliberately and default to a straight commission structure copied from an unrelated industry, which can misalign incentives against the firm's actual delivery constraints.
Why it mattersThe comp plan is the single strongest lever an agency has over what kind of business a salesperson actually goes after.
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