── SKILL
comp-quota-plan✓ APPROVED

Design comp and quota a rep trusts and a CFO signs.

The quota build (top-down vs bottom-up reconciled), the OTE mix, the accelerators, and the behaviors it drives and breaks.

Inside: The quota build, the OTE mix, the accelerators, and the behavior read.

01 / HOW TO USE

Install it in one line, or paste it in.

1
In Claude Code (one command)
Copy the install line, paste it into your terminal, and restart Claude Code. The skill installs itself to ~/.claude/skills/ and runs automatically when it is relevant.
2
In Claude, ChatGPT, or a Project (no terminal)
Open the file, then upload it to your chat or paste its contents in. A skill is just a markdown file of instructions, so any capable AI can follow it.
New to skills? A skill is a plain-text file that teaches your AI a workflow. Point any capable assistant at it and it follows the steps, on your data.
02 / MAKE IT YOURS

Connect your context. Set it to your motion.

CONNECT YOUR CONTEXT · AND WHY IT HELPS
a CRM

it reads real win rates, deal sizes, and cycle lengths per segment instead of a single blended guess.

a comp or payroll system

it checks your proposed OTE against what you already pay and where the plan drifts.

a data warehouse

it splits productivity by segment and tenure so the quota is not one flat line.

SET IT TO YOUR MOTION

This was built for a B2B SaaS org with a quota-carrying sales team. Set these to your stack:

Run any philosophy you like. The skill reconciles the number and shows the behavior it drives, so point it at your motion, not anyone else's.

Set thisWhat it isDefault / Example
SEGMENTShow you split the teamSMBMid-MarketEnterprise
TARGETthe number the plan has to fundnew ARR for the period
OTEon-target earnings per rolerole and segment specific
MIXbase-to-variable split50/50 field60/40 for shorter cycles
QUOTA_MULTIPLEquota over OTE coverage ratio4x to 6x of variable
RAMPmonths to full productivity3 to 9 by segment
ACCELERATORrate above 100 percent attainment1.5x to 2x on the marginal dollar
COVERAGEtotal quota over target1.15 to 1.25 for overassignment
03 / THE FULL SKILL

Everything the skill does, in full.

── WHAT THIS DOES

Takes your revenue target and turns it into a comp and quota plan a rep can trust and a CFO can sign. It builds the number two ways, top-down from the goal and bottom-up from rep capacity, then reconciles the gap. It sets base-to-variable mix, designs the accelerator curve, and flags the behaviors the plan will actually drive, including the ones you did not intend.

── THE METHOD
  1. 1
    The quota build (top-down vs bottom-up, reconciled)

    Build the number twice. Top-down: take TARGET, apply COVERAGE, divide across SEGMENTS and heads. Bottom-up: take ramped productivity per rep, multiply by heads, subtract ramp drag for new hires. Then show the gap between the two. If bottom-up capacity falls short of the top-down ask, the plan is already broken and the fix is heads, ramp, or target, not a bigger quota on the same people.

  2. 2
    The OTE mix

    Set base-to-variable by how much of the outcome the rep controls. Shorter cycles and higher volume lean more variable. Longer, committee-driven enterprise deals lean more base. Show OTE against MIX per role, and check total comp cost as a percent of the target it funds.

  3. 3
    The accelerators

    Design the curve above 100 percent. A flat rate past target pays for luck the same as effort. An accelerator on the marginal dollar past quota pays for the overperformance you actually want. Show the decelerator or cliff too, if any, and where a rep stops being paid to keep selling.

  4. 4
    Behaviors it drives (and breaks)

    Every plan is a set of instructions. Name them. A rate that pays the same on a discounted deal tells reps to discount. A quota with no new-logo split tells them to farm the base. A cliff at quota tells them to sandbag into next period. For each lever, state the behavior it rewards and the one it quietly punishes.

── QUALITY GATES
  • No plan ships without the top-down and bottom-up numbers shown side by side and the gap named.
  • Comp cost is stated as a percent of the target it funds, never a raw OTE in isolation.
  • Every accelerator is paired with the behavior it drives, in plain words.
  • Ramp drag is subtracted from new-hire capacity, never counted as a full head.
── OUTPUT (EXAMPLE)
EXAMPLE OUTPUT
COMP AND QUOTA PLAN · Mid-Market · illustrative
Build            Number       Note
Top-down ask     $12.0M       target $10M x 1.2 coverage
Bottom-up cap    $10.4M       8 ramped + 4 ramping reps
Gap              -$1.6M       coverage unfunded by ~1.5 heads

OTE / mix        $160K @ 50/50     quota $800K (5x variable)
Accelerator      1.8x past 100%    no cliff, decel at 150%

Behavior watch:
  1. Flat rate on discounts. Add a margin gate or reps will trade price for speed.
  2. No new-logo split. Quota is met by expansion alone. Add a logo floor.
  3. Coverage exceeds capacity by 1.5 heads. Hire, cut coverage, or reset target.
── WHERE THE NUMBERS COME FROM

QUOTA_MULTIPLE (4x to 6x), COVERAGE (1.15 to 1.25), and the accelerator (1.5x to 2x) are defaults, not laws. They suited a mid-market SaaS motion. If your deals run longer or your win rate is higher, move them. The reconciliation logic does not change. The thresholds are yours.

── EXAMPLE CHAT
EXAMPLE CHAT
You
We need $10M in new ARR from mid-market next year, 8 ramped reps plus 4 new hires. Build the comp and quota plan.
CLAUDE
Built both ways, and they don't agree. Top-down ask $12.0M target $10M x 1.2 coverage Bottom-up cap $10.4M 8 ramped + 4 ramping reps Gap -$1.6M coverage unfunded by ~1.5 heads The plan as scoped is already short by about a head and a half of capacity, that gap shows up before you've even set OTE. Shipping the top-down number as-is would mean asking existing reps to cover work that isn't theirs to cover. One sharpener: connect your CRM so productivity per rep is measured from real deal history instead of a blended team-wide guess.
You
Given the gap, what should the accelerator curve look like so we don't quietly reward the wrong thing?
CLAUDE
Set at 1.8x on the marginal dollar past 100%, no cliff, decelerating at 150%. Behavior watch: 1. Flat rate on discounts. Add a margin gate or reps trade price for speed. 2. No new-logo split. Quota met by expansion alone. Add a logo floor. The accelerator itself is fine, the real risk is the flat rate on discounted deals, which quietly tells reps to win on price instead of holding it. One sharpener: pull real discount data from closed-won deals so the margin gate threshold is set from what actually happened, not a guess.
04 / GO FURTHER

Where an operator takes this next.

The read is step one. Here's where an operator takes it once the manual version proves out.

You built the read once; now it runs itself.

01
Reconcile the plan every planning cycle, not once a year

Point a scheduled Claude task at Salesforce quarterly and re-run the top-down vs bottom-up check as headcount and productivity shift.

02
Wire the accelerator into payroll directly

Connect your comp or payroll system so attainment tiers calculate and flow through without a manual spreadsheet reconciliation.

03
Watch for the behavior the plan is quietly rewarding

Feed closed-won discount data into Snowflake monthly and alert if margin erosion tracks with a specific rep or segment.

05 / PART OF A BIGGER PLAY

One skill is the on-ramp.

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