If the sales person is expected to “account-manage” the account and ensure satisfaction throughout delivery (perhaps while also looking for opportunities to expand the business in the account), then payment over the life of the contract would be appropriate…
For people selling IT outsourcing services (the primary offering), the sales people would normally earn variable pay based on bringing in deals. The question revolves around both the right measure to be used and payment timing…
Sales Credit is whatever you use to measure your sales people. While it is most often tied closely to bookings, it is also common to credit the sales people only when revenue is recognized…
For a commission based incentive plan, based on obtaining orders/circulations of products/consumer goods in bulk, here are some suggestions about when a particular commission plan type might be most beneficial…
The principle to apply here is that the sales person should be paid at the point at which (1) you can reliably state the value to the company of the sale, and (2) you want the sales person to disengage and move on to the next sales opportunity. For most SaaS models…