Performance based sales agency — define the sales outcome first
A performance based sales agency ties commercial terms to defined outcomes — meetings held or revenue closed — instead of activity alone. The written scope decides how slow months, fixed components and commission triggers are handled.
You bring the leads or pipeline — our closers work them. Closing engagements run on your existing leads. Need the leads generated and meetings booked too? That's a separate service — see appointment setting and lead generation.
What 'performance based' should mean
The phrase is used loosely. Plenty of agencies describe themselves as performance based while charging a full retainer with a small bonus attached, which is a retainer with better marketing.
Ask any provider three questions: which part of the fee is tied to the outcome, what specific event triggers payment, and what happens in a month where nothing closes. The answers tell you whether the label is real.
- How much of the fee depends on the outcome
- Which event triggers payment — meeting held, or deal closed
- How a zero-result month is treated
- Whether term and notice match the performance model
How our model works
We scope compensation around written sales outcomes. That is why we qualify engagements before accepting them: the offer, pipeline and sales process decide whether the model is viable.
It also changes the conversation during onboarding. We'll push back on positioning, pricing and qualification criteria, because those decide whether anyone gets paid.
The trade-off, stated plainly
Performance pricing is not automatically cheaper. When a campaign works, a commission-led team can cost more in absolute terms than a retainer would have — you're paying a share of revenue that exists because of the work.
What you buy is clearer alignment around the agreed sales outcome. If that's not the trade you want, a retainer model may genuinely suit you better, and we'd rather say so early.
Engagement economics
How the commercial arrangement is separated
Commission-only describes the closer's remuneration. Pearl Lemon sourcing, placement, onboarding and management are a separate commercial arrangement, agreed in writing with you before any engagement begins.
Closer remuneration
Performance-led and tied to agreed closing outcomes. What triggers it, when it is payable and how refunds or early churn are treated are all written into the agreement rather than quoted as a standard figure.
Pearl Lemon service fees
Sourcing, placement, onboarding and ongoing management are Pearl Lemon services with their own commercial terms. They are agreed separately from closer remuneration, in writing, before the engagement starts.
What you provide
The offer and its pricing, the qualified conversations or pipeline the closers work, product and pricing answers during onboarding, CRM and calendar access, and one internal decision-maker.
What Pearl Lemon provides
Sourcing and placing closers, onboarding them onto your offer and qualification criteria, and managing the working arrangement and pipeline reviews within the agreed scope.
Attribution and payment terms
Which conversations and deals count, how they are attributed, and when amounts become payable are defined in the contract for your engagement. They are not fixed site-wide.
No blanket statement covers every service. It would be inaccurate to describe all Pearl Lemon work as carrying no ongoing fee, as being remunerated purely from closed-deal revenue, or as economically identical from one service to the next. The arrangement for each service is set out in the written scope for that engagement.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Check whether closers should work your pipeline.
Use the qualification router first. Closer-ready companies continue to booking; pipeline-first enquiries go to appointment setting.