Quota Relief: How and Why to Give It to Your Salespeople

The majority of sales representatives experience burnout — likely many on your team. Gartner found that 90% of sellers report feeling burned out from work. When this happens, salespeople feel crunched, and sales quotas feel out of reach.
Quota relief can help burnout. Sales leaders take the pressure off their team for a bit so they can recharge, which prevents burnout and gains trust.

What you’ll learn:

What is quota relief in sales?

Quota relief is a process used when sales leaders make adjustments to the sales quota due to circumstances such as maternity leave, vacation, and PTO. This strategy reduces quotas for a short period of time to increase chances of reaching on-target earnings.

When to offer quota relief

Companies offer quota relief to support their sales representatives during periods of market changes or time away from the office. Sales representatives who don’t take time off often end up burned out, which reduces productivity and job satisfaction. Meeting quota is often challenging, and organizations offering relief can show support to their team.

Here are common situations where organizations offer quota relief on sales targets:

• Mergers and acquisitions: During the transition period after a merger or acquisition, sales representatives often have fewer resources and must spend additional time on their tasks. Additionally, customers may be wary about purchasing products from companies during this time.
• PTO and vacation: Since even a few days or a week can affect reps’ ability to meet quota, leaders often use quota relief for these out-of-office events.
• Negative PR event affecting company reputation: Customers are often concerned about purchasing products or services after a negative PR event, such as a cybersecurity breach or widely publicized lawsuit.
• Unfavorable market conditions: Market conditions, such as decreased demand or new regulations, can make it challenging to sell a product or services.
• New hires: When a sales representative is first hired, they are often granted time to become established and build a customer base.
• Representatives on leave of absence: If a sales representative is on extended leave, such as parental or medical leave, they are not likely to make quota due to the time off.
• Layoffs or fewer resources: Sales representatives depend on resources in other departments, such as marketing and product teams, to make their quota. If an organization lays off sales engineers for a specific product, for example, then the company may offer quota relief to the sales representatives for that segment.

Quota relief helps organizations create a culture of high performance while also communicating that they’re looking out for their sales team’s best interest. This can be a preferred strategy to flexible quotas, which might reduce the sales team’s confidence in the sales leader’s ability to set appropriate quotas.

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How does quota relief work?

The specifics can look very different based on the company and the situation. The two biggest factors are who gets the quota relief and the income terms.

Who gets quota relief

When determining who gets quota relief, you have two choices:

1. Entire sales team: If the situation is a company-wide or industry-wide issue, the company typically provides quota relief for the entire sales team. For example, a product recall often results in quota relief for all sales representatives.
2. Individual: You can also offer quota relief for specific representatives based on personal situations, such as PTO or illness.

Pay during quota relief

The next big decision is about pay. While the terms of quota relief vary based on the situation, some quote relief packages provide full commission, which is a type of at-risk pay, regardless of the deals closed during the time the relief package is in effect.

If the relief is based on a personal situation, such as parental leave or health concerns, the pay structure follows the terms outlined in the company’s benefits package. However, in the United States, the sales representative does receive protection from actions related to not making quota, such as probation or termination.

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Benefits of relieved quota for sales teams

Companies that appropriately and effectively use quota relief can see significant benefits. Common benefits include:

Increased retention

Sales representatives depend on commissions to support themselves and their families. If they are not able to meet their quota and earn their full paycheck due to factors beyond their control, they’re likely to begin looking for another job. The Salesforce State of Sales report found that unrealistic sales targets were among the top five reasons sales representatives cite for leaving a job.

Employee morale

Sales representatives — and employees in general — usually get more done when they enjoy their job. If a sales representative feels it’s impossible to make a quota due to no fault of their own, they are likely to become frustrated. By offering quota relief, companies can preserve employee morale during a challenging situation.

Loyalty

Sales representatives who believe their company has their back are more likely to weather a storm. By using quota relief, organizations communicate to the sales team that they are committed to protecting reps’ income and providing support. In return, sales representatives typically develop a strong loyalty to the company.

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According to the Salesforce State of Sales report, 67% of sales reps don’t expect to meet their quota this year, and 84% missed it last year. Some organizations use quota relief when the commission process is poorly articulated. In these cases, sales teams already feel defeated because they don’t see a path to meet their quotas, and then they lose faith in their organization for incorrectly setting quotas.

If this happens repeatedly, organizations create a culture of underperformance. Sales leaders may create unrealistic quotas to push representatives, and then lower those quotas six months later, making sales teams lose even more faith in leadership. Your board or investors might lose their belief in your ability. Additionally, sales reps may not put forth their best effort early in the year because they expect quota relief after a few months.

To reduce the chances of reps needing quote relief other than for illness, vacation, or leave of absence, organizations should focus on creating a clearly defined quota relief policy. When a company communicates the policy and creates a process to ask for relief, sales representatives can easily use the benefit when needed. Organizations should also make sure the policy is applied fairly and transparently.

If you find yourself continuously resetting your quota, then something needs to be fixed. You likely need to reevaluate your quota-setting process.

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How to create a quota relief plan

Organizations with a quota relief policy are able to support the sales team with a uniform and equitable quota relief plan. Here’s how:

1. Determine stakeholders: Gather a team charged with creating a plan. Make sure you have representatives for everyone affected by the policy. In addition to finance, legal, and sales leadership, include multiple sales representatives in the process. Consider including both a junior and senior sales representative in the policy discussions.
2. Create a list of situations to offer quota relief: Think about what situations would prompt you to use quote relief. Be sure to also include the option for sales leaders to offer relief based on a unique circumstance.
3. Outline the potential terms for quota relief: While some situations may require custom terms, write out the terms for common situations, such as illness, parental leave, and vacations.
4. Have representatives review the plan: Show the plan to key representatives, including team members in different regions, to get input.
5. Communicate the plan to the sales team: When an organization shares the policy and how to ask for relief, sales representatives are more likely to ask for help when needed.

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Best practices in managing relieved quota in sales

Because of the complexity of quota relief and the long-term impact on the company, organizations should consider the following best practices.

Provide transparent communication

Make sure all representatives understand both why the relief is occurring and the terms. If a situation is severe, have mid-level leadership conduct one-on-one meetings with everyone affected and schedule a town hall meeting with senior leadership. Leaders should be transparent and own any mistakes that led to the offer of quota relief.

Focus on setting accurate quotas

Organizations should continue to refine their quota-setting practices to improve sales performance and reduce the likelihood of needing quota relief. If you’re offering quota relief regularly, it might be time to revamp your processes through better sales performance management and sales-capacity planning.

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Boost performance and morale with strategic quota adjustments

No organization wants to be in the position where quota relief is regularly on the table. But when used correctly, it can help you get through a rough patch with the best sales representatives still on the team. Knowing when and how to offer quota relief saves you and your sales reps stress and valuable time.