Traditional, revenue-only sales quotas are broken. In 2024, a staggering 91% of organizations missed their quota expectations, signaling a deep disconnect between planning and execution. Hybrid quota models fix this by tying pay to both results and the behaviors that produce them.
This guide gives you a complete framework to go from idea to rollout. You will learn what hybrid models are, see four practical examples you can adapt for your team, and get a step-by-step process for designing and implementing a structure that drives predictable revenue growth.
What Is a Hybrid Quota Model?
A hybrid quota model measures and rewards sellers on two or more metrics, not just revenue or volume. In practice, it gives you a fuller and more accurate view of a seller’s impact.
Unlike a traditional sales quota that focuses exclusively on a lagging indicator like Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), a hybrid model balances outcomes with the behaviors that create them. It aligns individual incentives with company goals like customer retention, product adoption, or strategic market penetration.
The Data-Backed Shift to Hybrid Performance Structures
The move to flexible, multi-metric plans matches how work has changed. As companies embrace hybrid work and digital-first sales motions, they need compensation models built for modern buying cycles. Adaptability wins.
For example, one 2024 analysis found that 35% of hybrid firms achieved double-digit annual revenue growth, compared to only 22% of fully in-office companies. Flexible systems help people do their best work. Hybrid quotas apply the same logic to performance management, adapting to today’s complex sales cycles.
4 Common Types of Hybrid Quota Models (With Examples)
While there are many different types of sales quotas, hybrid models offer the most strategic flexibility. You can tailor them to your goals and your revenue roles. Here are four structures GTM leaders often use.
Model 1: New Business Revenue + Customer Retention
This model fits SaaS teams where Account Executives land new logos and influence long-term success. It pushes reps to close right-fit deals that stick, which reduces churn and increases net revenue retention (NRR).
A portion of variable pay ties to new ARR. Another portion ties to the renewal or expansion of the accounts they closed.
Model 2: Total Contract Value (TCV) + Product Mix
Use this to drive adoption of new or higher-margin products. A seller carries a primary quota on overall bookings (TCV) and earns accelerators for selling a specific strategic product. This steers focus toward deals that strengthen the portfolio, not just the easiest path to a signature.
Model 3: Activity-Based Metrics + Conversion Rates
Ideal for SDR/BDR teams. It balances output with quality. For example, measure meetings booked (activity) and the percentage that convert to qualified opportunities (efficiency). This prevents a flood of low-quality meetings just to hit a volume target.
Model 4: Regional/Territory Attainment + Individual Quota
Enterprise sales is a team sport. Combine an individual quota with a team target tied to Regional/Territory Attainment. This encourages collaboration and shared ownership of the market.
Quick comparison:
- New Business + Retention: Land right-fit logos and protect NRR
- TCV + Product Mix: Grow bookings and promote strategic products
- Activity + Conversion: Drive quality pipeline, not just activity volume
- Territory + Individual: Reward teamwork and market health
Pick the model that reinforces the few behaviors that matter most for your business right now.
How to Design and Implement a Hybrid Quota Model: A 5-Step Framework
To switch to a hybrid quota model, use a clear process that keeps the plan fair, simple, and aligned to your numbers. The widening performance gap in sales makes this urgent.
On an episode of The Go-to-Market Podcast, host Dr. Amy Cook spoke with Guy Rubin about this trend. Rubin noted, “The delta between the top performing sellers and the rest of our sales team has got wider and wider over the last four years… just 14% of sellers are now responsible for 80% of new logo revenue.” Hybrid quotas can motivate a broader set of positive behaviors, not just outcomes from a small top tier.
Follow this five-step framework to build a model that works.
Step 1: Define Your Core Business Objectives
Before you pick metrics, set the outcomes you need. Are you entering a new market, reducing churn, increasing multi-product adoption, or speeding up cycle time? Make these goals the base of your quota structure.
Step 2: Select 2-3 Balanced Metrics
Choose 2–3 metrics that reflect those goals. Pair leading indicators (activities, pipeline created) with lagging indicators (revenue, retention). Using more than three adds noise and confusion.
Step 3: Assign Weighting to Each Metric
Decide what percentage of variable pay each metric represents. For a New Business + Retention plan, you might assign 70% to new ARR and 30% to the NRR of closed accounts. The weighting should make your priorities obvious.
Step 4: Model the Financial Impact
Run scenarios to see payouts and cost under different attainment levels. A good plan stays financially sound across outcomes. When you model the financial impact, you ensure the compensation plan fits the company’s broader financial strategy.
Step 5: Communicate Clearly and Enable Your Team
Roll out the plan with clear documentation, training, and tools. Every rep should know how they’re measured, which behaviors earn more, and how commissions are calculated. Transparency builds trust and adoption.
The Challenge of Complexity: Why Spreadsheets Fail at Hybrid Quotas
The hardest part of hybrid models is complexity. Tracking multiple metrics, applying different weightings by person, and calculating commissions across plans is unrealistic in spreadsheets. It’s slow, error-prone, and offers zero real-time visibility.
Modern revenue teams use dedicated quota management software to automate the process. A unified platform removes busywork and gives leaders and reps one reliable place to plan, measure, and pay. Qualtrics, a global enterprise company, uses Fullcast to manage its entire “plan-to-pay” motion in one system.
The next step is using AI in quota setting to analyze historical data and recommend the best metric mix and weighting for your model. Spreadsheets cannot match that level of analysis.
From Arbitrary Targets to Strategic Performance
Moving to a hybrid quota model shifts how you align selling behavior with the outcomes that matter most. It replaces arbitrary targets with a system built for performance. Teams with the right structures and tools see up to 25% higher quota attainment.
Designing and managing these plans means moving beyond spreadsheets. Fullcast’s Revenue Command Center gives you one platform to plan confidently, manage performance, and pay teams accurately. We focus on improving quota attainment and keeping forecast accuracy within ten percent, turning your GTM plan from a document into a predictable revenue engine.
To build a plan that wins, start by seeing how you compare. Download our 2025 Benchmarks Report to see how your team stacks up and where your GTM strategy has gaps. The report found that even with lowered targets, 76.6% of sellers still missed quota, reinforcing the need for a smarter, more strategic approach.
FAQ
1. Why are traditional sales quotas no longer effective?
Traditional revenue-only sales quotas fail because they create a disconnect between planning and execution. They focus solely on final outcomes rather than the behaviors and activities that drive sustainable growth. Organizations consistently miss targets because these single-metric structures do not account for the complexity of modern sales environments.
2. What is a hybrid quota model?
A hybrid quota model is a performance structure that incentivizes sales teams based on multiple metrics, not just revenue targets. It balances final outcomes with the key behaviors that produce them, such as customer retention activities or product adoption efforts, aligning individual seller incentives with broader company goals.
3. How do hybrid quotas improve sales team performance?
Hybrid quotas reward the complete series of actions that drive sustainable growth, not just the final sale. By blending different performance indicators, they motivate a broader range of positive behaviors across the entire team rather than only rewarding top performers who close deals.
4. Why is the performance gap widening between top sellers and the rest of the team?
The performance gap is widening because single-metric structures often fail to motivate and develop the full range of seller capabilities across an entire organization. This can lead to a situation where a small group of high-performing sellers carries a disproportionate amount of revenue responsibility, while the rest of the team struggles with traditional quota models.
5. What makes hybrid quota models difficult to implement?
The primary barrier is complexity. Hybrid models require managing multiple metrics, sophisticated calculations, and real-time performance visibility. Traditional tools like spreadsheets are too slow and error-prone to handle these requirements, forcing teams to stick with overly simplistic quota structures.
6. Are hybrid quotas part of a larger trend toward business flexibility?
Yes. Just as rigid workplace mandates are becoming obsolete, rigid single-metric quota structures are failing in modern business environments. Companies that embrace flexibility and adaptability in their performance models see better results because they can respond to changing market conditions and diverse seller strengths.
7. What tools are needed to successfully run hybrid quota models?
Moving beyond spreadsheets is essential for hybrid quota success. You need systems that can handle complex multi-metric calculations, provide real-time visibility into performance across different indicators, and adapt quickly as business priorities shift.
8. Is lowering quota targets the solution to missed quotas?
No, lowering targets is not the solution. Even when organizations lower their targets, many sellers still miss quota. The problem is not the target level but the fundamental approach, which is why a strategic shift to hybrid models that incentivize the right behaviors is necessary.
9. What business goals can hybrid quotas help align with sales behavior?
Hybrid quota models allow you to align sales incentives with any critical business priority. This includes customer retention, new product adoption, account expansion, customer satisfaction scores, or strategic market penetration. This alignment ensures sellers focus on activities that matter most to your company’s long-term success.
10. How do hybrid quotas change the way sales teams are managed?
Hybrid quotas change the entire approach to sales motivation. Instead of rewarding only closed deals, this model incentivizes the full spectrum of behaviors that create customer value and sustainable revenue. It transforms quota design from a simple math exercise into a strategic tool for driving the specific outcomes your business needs.
