Growing any business requires strong coordination between a number of departments, but it is the sales team that is charged with bringing in new clients. This can place a lot of pressure on sales staff, but the right incentive compensation can provide the support and guidance the team needs to succeed.

Creating sustained growth requires businesses to establish sales compensation plans that create engaged employees who understand their importance in generating new leads. Engaged workers are more likely to actively pursue opportunities that will likely produce quality sales, allowing the business to implement a compensation solution that fits with its growth strategy.

Two main sources for additional sales are repeat customers and new customers, who are often targeted in very different ways. The types of performance measures in place can determine whether staff spend time cultivating new customers or focus on existing clients to encourage add-ons and up-sales. Regardless of the strategy, sales measures should be clear and actionable. This allows for a firm link between performance and reward, which will help to increase productivity among staff.

The Society for Human Resource Management states that an incentive program should only have a few measurements. This keeps the initiative easy to understand and makes it easier to determine the effectiveness of various sales initiatives. The success of these programs depends heavily on a company's ability to communicate its objectives, vision and goals with staff. Employees need to adequately understand the program before they can be engaged by it.

Companies that increase their efforts to communicate with workers may find themselves rewarded by increased buy-in and sustained growth. The source also notes that many companies mistakenly target their incentive programs at top performers. This strategy makes it difficult for the average employee to become energized, which can create a drag on the overall production of the department. Targeting incentives to the average employee will ensure that the vast majority of workers will be able to capitalize on the program.Mobilizing the entire department can produce a lot of opportunities for growth, but expansion needs to be in line with the overall vision of the company.

Keeping the team focused on a series of goals can ensure that sales strategies continue to generate leads consistently, which may increase the confidence of staff. With a confident sales team, a company may be able to routinely generate new client to help generate the growth necessary to maintain its market position.