How to pay setters and closers
Commission structures for a high-ticket team: what you pay on, when, and how to avoid the usual problems.
How you pay your team decides what each person works hardest at. A badly designed commission plan rewards booking calls that never close, selling to clients who later ask for a refund, or fighting over who gets credit for each sale. A good one aligns setters, triagers and closers with the only thing that matters: cash collected from clients who are a good fit.
This guide won't give you "the right percentage": that depends on your ticket, your margin and how much of the work each role does in your process. It gives you the decisions to make, in order, with worked examples so you can see the effect of each one.
First decide how much of the pay depends on results.
| Model | How it works | When it fits | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission only | The person earns only a percentage of what they sell or generate. | Remote teams, experienced people, a steady flow of leads. | High turnover when leads dry up; people leave after a bad month. |
| Base + commission | A smaller base salary plus a variable part tied to results. | When you need commitment and set hours, or people starting out. | A high base with a low variable kills the incentive. |
| Base + target bonus | A base plus a bonus for hitting goals (bookings, closes, cash). | Roles with little direct influence on the final sale, such as some triagers. | Badly chosen targets invite gaming: low-quality bookings just to hit the number. |
In high-ticket sales with remote closers, the most common setup is commission only for closers and a mixed model for setters and triagers, because their work is more continuous and depends less on a single call.
This decision prevents the most problems. There are three possible bases:
- Contract value: the total price the client signs for, even if they pay in instalments.
- Cash collected: what has actually reached your account in the period.
- Net cash collected: cash collected minus refunds and chargebacks.
Paying on contract value looks generous but exposes you: if the client pays three instalments out of twelve and drops out, you've already paid the full commission. That's why most high-ticket teams pay on cash collected, and each instalment earns its share of commission when it arrives.
Example: a 6,000 sale paid in three instalments of 2,000, with 10% for the closer. On contract value, the closer earns 600 in the first month. On cash collected, they earn 200 each month the client pays. If the client stops paying after the first instalment, in the first case you've overpaid 400.
Set the schedule and write it down before a real case comes up:
- 1Calculation period: weekly, every two weeks or monthly. Shorter is more motivating but means more admin.
- 2Guarantee period: if you offer refunds for X days, the commission on that sale is paid once the period has passed.
- 3Clawback: if a refund happens after the commission was paid, it's deducted from the next payout. Put it in writing; applying it without warning destroys trust.
- 4Chargebacks: treat them like a refund.
In a team with a setter, a triager and a closer, a sale has several owners. There are two common ways to split it:
| Approach | Example | Upside | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed percentage per role | Setter 3%, triager 2%, closer 10% of cash collected. | Easy to understand and calculate. | Doesn't tell a hard-won booking from one that came in on its own. |
| Shared pool | 15% of cash goes into a pool split 20/15/65 between setter, triager and closer. | The total cost of commissions stays fixed and under control. | The split needs explaining well to avoid arguments. |
Either way, the critical part is being able to prove who took part in each sale. If you rely on memory or on a spreadsheet each person fills in their own way, payouts end in arguments.
A team with three closers, two setters and one triager. Policy: commission on net cash collected, monthly payout, 14-day guarantee, 10% closer, 3% setter, 2% triager.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cash collected in the month | 45,000 |
| Refunds in the month | −3,000 |
| Net cash collected | 42,000 |
| Closer commission (10%) | 4,200 |
| Setter commission (3%) | 1,260 |
| Triager commission (2%) | 840 |
| Total commissions | 6,300 (15% of net) |
What matters isn't the exact percentages but that the total (15% here) is a cost your margin can carry every month, good months included.
- Paying setters per booking without looking at quality. It fills the calendar with calls that don't close and burns out your closers. If you pay per booking, pay only for bookings that show up and are a fit.
- Changing the plan mid-month. Any change starts from the next period, in writing.
- No single source of truth. If sales and who took part live in five different sheets, every payout is a negotiation.
- Ignoring no-shows. A closer with many no-shows earns less through no fault of their own; track no-shows separately and work on reducing them (see Fewer no-shows).
- 1Calculation base decided (recommended: net cash collected).
- 2Percentage or pool per role, in writing.
- 3Payout schedule and guarantee period.
- 4Clawback rule for refunds and chargebacks.
- 5Who validates each sale and its attribution.
- 6Quarterly review of the plan with real data.
Closeford records each sale with its closer, its triager and its source, and splits the credit according to the percentages you set for the workspace. See Sales attribution and Sales and attribution.