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CUSTOMER STORY

How an oncology team eliminated retroactive payouts and realigned 40+ reps around new patient growth

Solution area

40+ field reps

Thereupeutic area

Commercial operations Oncology

Company

A U.S.-based oncology-focused biopharma company with multiple products in the market was expanding its commercial organization. As the field sales team grew, the team began navigating the complexities of specialty therapy distribution.

CHALLENGES

After several quarters of inconsistent performance, the incentive plan was no longer holding up in practice.

Payouts had to be rewritten every quarter

Leadership had to step in at the end of each quarter to correct compensation, making the plan hard to trust or defend.

Top payouts did not reflect real growth

Incentives were tied to volume, so the highest earners were not always the reps driving new patient starts.

A key growth driver could not be measured

Limited visibility in the direct sales channel meant new patient starts were not being captured or rewarded.

Payouts drifted out of balance across territories

Some territories consistently over-earned while others had limited upside, raising fairness concerns and putting pressure on the IC budget.

Our Approach 

The Beghou team focused on building an incentive model that could withstand real-world performance without relying on end-of-quarter adjustments. 

Shifted incentives toward new patient growth
instead of fixed targets
Moved away from goal-based structures and anchored the plan around new patient starts, so performance could be rewarded without depending on targets that no longer reflected reality.
Established a reliable way to
measure new patient starts
Used specialty pharmacy and GPO data to track the majority of new patient activity, and developed a validated method to estimate it in the direct channel where visibility was limited.
Realigned payouts to reflect true performance
across territories
Adjusted the structure so both large and small territories were rewarded for growth, while still preserving upside for high-performing regions.
Built a model that adjusts with
performance over time
Introduced a structure that adapts as results shift, reducing the need for leadership to step in and correct payouts each quarter.
Integrated additional incentives into the
core plan upfront
Designed SPIFFs as part of the overall program, ensuring they reinforced the same behaviors instead of adding complexity later.

IMPACT

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100% of retroactive payout adjustments eliminated

Payouts no longer require end-of-quarter corrections, removing a recurring source
of disruption for leadership and the field.

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Top earners aligned with new patient growth

Territories driving the most new patient starts became the highest earners,
reinforcing the behaviors that mattered most to the business.

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~80% of new patient starts became measurable

A previously untracked growth driver became part of the incentive structure,
giving leadership clear visibility into field-driven demand.

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Model expanded across additional products

The approach was adopted beyond the initial brand, reflecting confidence
in its ability to scale.

If your sales force isn't rewarding the reps driving real growth,
the problem runs deeper than the numbers.

Beghou works with life sciences teams to diagnose and redesign IC plans that align field behavior with business outcomes.

Get Your IC Plan Diagnosed
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