I am in the middle of purchasing a business with a few sales staff. Currently their compensation package is Base Salary + Commission (7% of contract sale). Is this the best and most liked compensation package for sales staff? Their base is $30K-$40K.

Background, this is for a construction company where contracts are relatively large, but not high volume (specially in the winter months). Best performing salesman can easily earn over $120K (based on this years numbers).

I want to find a way to keep the sales staff motived and wanting to generate revenue as the new owner.

Should I offer different options of compensation packages? Should I have sales goals with incentives attached to them? Should I offer higher base, but deduct that if sales aren’t met?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!