The design of the compensation plan should enable the company to attract and retain good salespeople. A well-designed plan should also provide the company the ability to encourage or focus the sales force’s efforts on specific tasks. A good plan allows for recognition of the differences between good and bad performers and provides the necessary balance between costs and results. Although a good plan ultimately should be easy to administer, it must be constructed in such a way to ensure long-term customer relationships. The three most common types of sales force compensation plans are the straight salary, the commission plan, and the combination plan.