Commissions are a way to both mitigate risk and incentivize behavior (if used correctly). We've seen many, many businesses use commissions to a high degree of success, and we believe it's an important step to consider in the growth of your cleaning business. Our goal is to help you understand not just what commissions are and how to use them, but also WHY you should consider using them.

Roughly 50% of ServiceMonster users have implemented some form of commissions into their business model. The ones who don't are usually just paying their techs an hourly rate, which isn't bad at all. However, giving your employees extra pay on top of their hourly rate, usually through commissions, can be a huge motivator for them to up-sell and do their best work possible.

While there's many ways to structure commissions, the most common methods are either a standard commission percentage taken out of the job total, or a commission percentage taken only out of any up-sells. The up-sell commission approach is great because it directly incentivizes your employees to sell more services while on the job. Obviously, selling more on the job means you are making more money! That's why up-sell commissions are a win-win for both the business owner and the employee.

One of the other uses of commissions is attracting and retaining quality employees. With a commission structure in place, the more motivated and capable technicians/sales reps will automatically be rewarded for their performance. The more jobs they sell or the more services they up-sell, the more cash they bring home. However, to be clear, all of this must be approached from a client-first perspective. This isn't about your techs going into Mrs. Jones' home and trying to squeeze as much money out of her as possible. It's about providing genuine quality services and providing customers with the education as to why your additional services will benefit them.

Fortunately, in ServiceMonster all of this is super easy to set up. You can create as many custom commission rates as you like, and assign whichever ones you want to any individual employee. The technician view in our mobile app even shows your employees how much money they've made in commissions and their up-sale percentage! The above videos and help article will help you learn how commissions work within ServiceMonster.