This is a common question, especially for smaller companies, whose resources are limited. It’s certainly understandable for a manager to want to develop an incentive plan that only pays out of the company profits (if there are any).
It’s true in just about any sale that the sales person must be part of a team that has the right offering, the right delivery system, and the right business model to create perceivable value. So why reward some of the team and not others when a sale is made?
Be clear on how much and for what measures the managers involved can “move the needle,” with a direct effect on the company’s financial results. Product Managers could be measured on product line gross margin or operating income, with a similar measure for Program Managers, for example…
Often incentives work so well for one set of positions that the company decides if it is good for the sales force it must be good for the whole company, and before you know it administrative assistants are being paid based on number of emails answered.
My answer is different for contests and SPIFFs than for core incentive components. For core components, give some thought to what you’re trying to accomplish with your eligibility requirements…