The risk of a badly designed commission plan
Commission structures fail when they incentivize the wrong behavior. If techs earn more by recommending unnecessary repairs, you will get unnecessary repair recommendations. If they earn more for upsells regardless of customer satisfaction, you will get high-pressure tactics that destroy reviews. Design the incentive to reward what you actually want: customer-value-aligned revenue growth.
The structure that works
Most successful service commission plans have two components:
- Flat percentage on add-on sales - 5-10% of any accessories, IAQ equipment, memberships, or maintenance contracts sold in the field. This is simple to calculate and direct.
- Quality gate - commission is only paid if the tech maintains above a minimum customer satisfaction score (4.5+ on post-job reviews). This prevents high-pressure sales from poisoning your review profile.
What to track and report
Make commission visible and frequent. A weekly leaderboard showing add-on sales per tech, a monthly commission payout that feels meaningfully connected to their actions, and a clear tracking sheet they can see at any time. Visibility is motivating. Guessing how much you will earn is demotivating.
Membership commissions are the highest value play
If you have a maintenance membership plan, paying a - per-membership commission to techs who sign customers up is one of the best investments in your business. Each membership generates - per year in recurring revenue and produces a customer who spends 2x more annually. A tech who signs up 5 memberships per month generates ,000-,000 per year in incremental recurring revenue. Pay them well for it.