Chapter 8: Measurement & Incentives
You cannot incentivize a hunter with a farmer’s pay package.
Most sales compensation plans are designed for farming: “Keep the customer happy, get the renewal, maybe upsell 10%.” Displacement is not farming. It is hunting. It is high risk, high effort, and high failure rate. If you pay your Liberation Squad the same way you pay your Account Managers, they will stop developing new ground.
The 80:20 Rule (Inverted)
Standard sales roles often have a 50:50 Split (Base Salary : Commission). This works when the sales cycle is 3 months. For displacement roles, we recommend an 80:20 Split. Give them a higher base salary to buy their patience. They need the psychological safety to spend six months navigating a “No” without panic-selling a discount just to hit a monthly quota.
The AE Survival Instinct (Real Talk)
An Account Manager on a 50:50 quota plan is an animal driven by survival. If they are staring at an empty pipeline three weeks before the end of the quarter, they will sell their own grandmother if it helps them hit their kicker.
This instinct is the enemy of displacement. Displacement requires the discipline to walk away from a bad pilot and the patience to cook a long-term strategic wedge. If you don’t feed your hunters a higher base, they will eat your strategy just to pay their mortgage.
The Bounty Model
To make up for the lower commission percentage, introduce Target Bounties. Do not just pay for revenue. Pay for Heads.
“If you displace Incumbent X at Account Y, you get a $20,000 Bounty.” This bounty is paid on signature, regardless of the deal size. This signals to the team that the strategic value of displacing the competitor is higher than the immediate revenue value of the contract.
Measuring Velocity, Not Just Volume
Stop measuring “Number of Calls.” In a displacement deal, you can make 100 calls and make zero progress. Or you can have one lunch with the “Change Champion” and crack the account open.
Measure Velocity metrics:
- Stealth to Sponsor: Time from first contact to first meeting with a Director-level sponsor.
- Sponsor to Power: Time from Sponsor to meeting the Economic Buyer.
- Pilot Velocity: How fast did the Wedge go from “Approved” to “Live Traffic”?
The “Toil Reclamation” Score
Finally, measure the value you delivered. Six months after the deal closes, do a “Value Audit.” Ask the customer: “How many engineering hours did we save you this quarter?”
If the answer is zero, you are at risk of being displaced yourself. If the answer is “2,000 hours,” you have earned the right to expand.
Displacement is not just about getting in; it is about staying there. And the only thing that keeps you there is the value you create.