Outbound Comp Plan

How to design a BDR plan that drives results

Author

Tech Sales Guy
April 03, 2025

Outbound Comp Plan

How to design a BDR plan that drives results

Read Time = 3 minutes

There are three reasons why Sales and Biz Dev reps quit companies:

  1. Lack of career progression

  2. Below market comp plans

  3. A boss they don’t like

Today we’re going to address the second item - comp plans.

Specifically, how to structure BDR comp plans using this template.

There’s something for everyone:

  • Reps: comparing your plan to market averages

  • Managers: designing a comp plan for your team

  • Executives: understand the economics of hiring BDRs

Let’s dive in.

How to Structure Comp

Most Biz Dev reps (BDR) comp plans follow a 60/40 or 70/30 base to variable split.

The larger base component for BDRs acknowledges several key factors:

  1. Higher rejection rates: outbound involves significant rejection and a stable base salary helps maintain morale and reduce turnover

  2. Early-career demographics: many BDRs are in entry-level positions and benefit from predictable income while developing their skills

  3. Limited control: BDRs hand off opportunities and have minimal influence on the closing process

While base salaries are typically consistent across companies, variable is not.

Common variable components to outbound BDR plans:

  • New Lead Scheduled : calendar commitment

  • Meetings Completed: attended by prospect

  • Sales Qualified Leads (SQL): vetted for ICP fit

  • Pipeline Generated: dollar value attributed to SQLs

  • Revenue: closed won deals sourced by the BDR

My preference is to pay reps on meetings completed or SQLs. Naturally, execs often want to align BDR comp to actual revenue so they push for alignment to revenue. More on this in the example below.

What metrics are tied to BDR compensation?

Template for Building BDR Plans

Recently I helped a B2B SaaS company build their outbound GTM playbook.

A key part of this engagement was hiring reps and building their comp plan.

The company was planning for $85-95k in on target earnings (OTE).

Right in line with industry averages:

Let’s use my experience referenced above to build out an example comp plan.

You can use this BDR comp template and follow the breakdown below.

EXAMPLE

Quota: 7 SQLs per month and 1 closed deal sourced by the BDR

Commission Structure: $286 per SQL and $667 per closed won deal generated

Variable at Quota: $40,000

Base Salary: $55,000

OTE:$95,000

Notes: There are two different quotas and therefore two different commission rules for this sample BDR plan. First, reps are paid a flat $381 bonus for every qualified opportunity they generate - if they exceed quota they are paid an accelerated rate. Second, reps are expected to source 1 closed deal of revenue per month. If the rep exceeds their closed won deal volume quota, they are paid a 1.5x accelerator.

Link to the template here

I was tempted to include an FAQ section and then realized most of you probably don’t want to read a novel on how to create Biz Dev plans.

(bless you if you’ve made it this far)

That said, I’m happy to address any questions when it comes to:

  • specifics of creating a comp plan for your company

  • how to address ramp quota and commissions

  • inbound vs outbound compensation

  • start-up vs enterprise comp plans

  • benchmarks and best practices

  • …

You know where to find me when you get lost.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.