Compensation planning is an important step in developing your tech startup recruiting strategy, so Betts has compiled these top tips to help guide you through the most challenging factors to consider in the current tech market. Drawing from our in-depth research and data obtained in the field, we have been able to identify and track the biggest trends impacting salary rates in the technology market. Our recommendations here were put together to help you adapt your talent acquisition strategies for sales and marketing hiring:
Understanding Tech Sales & Marketing Compensation Trends in 2024
Building a compensation plan for new go-to-market (GTM) hires at your tech startup in 2024 – and beyond – requires diving into how rates have been evolving over recent years. Looking from the top down, salaries for many sales, marketing and customer success jobs have remained stagnant from 2022 onwards. While previously, they were steadily increasing in the pre-pandemic years and even during 2020. SaaS and its many subsectors have taken a lot of hits in the wake of the economy slowing down. This changed how many technology companies recruit new talent.
Over 2023, we saw many startups switch to a new hiring focus – sourcing a unicorn seller to help close deals more effectively and drive revenue growth. This is a sales professional that brings the specific experience and skills you need. They also align with your existing sales motion, meaning they can help your GTM team scale fast. Naturally, this also means that every tech sales unicorn is more or less unique to each startup, but there inevitably will be overlap in sectors with smaller talent pools (and more competition over those candidates).
Attract Top Talent with Competitive Compensation
Salary has only become a more important and decisive factor for GTM professionals in the technology industry when deciding whether to accept – or leave – a given job with a company, especially when other incentives do not meet their expectations or overall morale is low. The shake ups in tech have affected everyone. Any new candidate you engage with will take a compensation offer as a sign of both your willingness to invest in them and the stability of your org. If you are trying to source your unicorn seller then this point becomes even more critical as they will definitely be entertaining offers from other startups.
Adapt Compensation Planning to the Concept of “Unicorn Sellers”
Tech sales unicorns, as well as those in (Growth) marketing, will command a higher salary rate in the market from their level of experience alone. Both their accumulated knowledge and skill sets are going to be valued since these are factors that are hard or time-consuming to train and develop; conversely, generalists will usually see lower rates at or below the average salary. Refer to the Betts Compensation Guide for our recommended target rate for each GTM job, and adjust according to the rules below:
- Unicorn GTM Candidate: +20% of target compensation
- Currently Employed Candidate: +10% of target compensation
- Non-unicorn Candidate: -10% of target compensation
- Recently Laid-off Candidate: -10% of target compensation
Use the Comp Engine by Betts Recruiting for Real-time Data
The Comp Engine is a new tool launched by Betts in 2024 that collects compensation data for GTM roles in tech in up to real-time. This information is displayed in various levels of depth, with base salary, individual benefits like Equity and OTE (on-target earnings) included with different comp stages to help you identify and quantify how many unicorn sellers exist for a given role. The Engine also includes our recommended target compensation rate for each stage to help you attract top performers faster.
Some of the key features available with the Comp Engine by Betts include:
- Decrease Time-to-Hire: View expected TTH (Time-to-Hire) for each compensation and performance level
- Available Candidate Pool: Analyze the percentage of candidates available at each performance percentile
- Apply Multiple Filters: Drill down into searches by job title, years of experience, industry experience, and current location
- Get Free Access: Sign up for free and integrate seamlessly with your Betts Connect account for real-time connected data for top roles you source
Account for Salary Changes by Location
Job location can make a significant difference in calculating the right compensation offer for a given title, with the varying level of priority for some roles in major tech hub cities like New York, Austin, or San Francisco sometimes creating huge gaps in rates between time zones. The same applies for some remote versions of certain jobs – while most candidates will be taking a pay cut choosing to work remotely, titles in high demand and with a limited talent pool (such as Sales Engineers, or SEs) will often command the high end of their national salary average for remote or hybrid work. This is usually because the candidate pool is concentrated in those hubs, so startups in other parts of the U.S. will need to match those rates to maintain competitive compensation offers.
Consider the Total Compensation Package
While salary is still the most important consideration for many candidates, OTE and job perks are still deciding factors when it comes to comparing similar offers, especially for executive hires. Think carefully about what additional benefits will help your tech startup stand out for a unicorn seller, such as:
- Competitive bonus rates
- Equity and stock options
- Professional development opportunities
Create a Data-driven Compensation Plan
This is the Information Age, and any tech company looking to scale in the current marketscape must know how to leverage the data they capture for making informed decisions. With access to the right analytics tools, your compensation planning should be able to account for the particular market realities that could impact your recruiting strategy and better align your salary and benefits package with the expectations of your unicorn sellers.
Armed with the right data, tailor your compensation plan should be able to include the following as needed:
- Set competitive base salaries using current market data from tools like the Comp Engine
- Structure on-target earnings (OTE) that align with industry standards
- Factor in for location-based salary differences, including for remote jobs
- Consider offering competitive equity rates to attract top talent, especially for leadership roles
- Implement performance-based incentives that align with your startup’s growth objectives
Arm Your Compensation Planning with Real-time Salary Data
Building a winning team in the current technology market requires offering competitive compensation to attract the top performers that will empower your tech startup to meet your revenue goals and reach the next round of funding. With Comp Engine by Betts, you can filter compensation data by job title, years of experience, industry and location to ensure insights are tailored to you. Comp Engine allows you to harness the power of real-time data to ensure your compensation planning is armed with the right information and target rates needed to source your unicorn seller.
Sign up for Comp Engine here for free and take the first step toward making data-driven decisions that will attract the top talent your tech startup needs to thrive.