How Much Is an Agent Paid?

Indirect sales partners remain optimistic about their prospects for 2009 despite the recession, according to the results of the 2009 PHONE+ Channel Compensation Survey. PHONE+ polled agents, consultants, VARs, interconnects and integrators during a three-week period from Jan. 6-23 about where their compensation is coming from and their revenue outlook for 2009.

Seventy-six percent of respondents said they were on target with, or ahead of, revenue expectations for 2009.

Furthermore, more than half (53 percent) are projecting double-digit growth from 2008-2009.

Compensation Allocation

Where are channel partners getting their revenue from? A majority (96 percent) of the respondents to this poll derive at least a portion of their revenue from commission on services from vendors.

Of this group, 44 percent claimed between 90 and 100 percent of their revenue came from commission on services from vendors. One in four said vendor commissions accounted for 75 to 85 percent of their compensation. Only 10 percent claimed services commission accounted for less than 15 percent of their total compensation. Answers ranged from 2 to 100 percent.