Paying Techs Commissions: Best Practices and Pitfalls for MSPs

Compensation models for technical staff in MSPs require careful alignment with business objectives and operational capacity. Both James Kernan and Amy Babinchak emphasized that financial incentives such as commissions or bonuses can be appropriate when technicians are directly responsible for generating additional monthly recurring revenue (MRR) or securing new accounts. However, they noted that proper monitoring tools are essential to track productivity and ensure fairness—without adequate systems, variable compensation based on efficiency or project profitability can introduce operational risk and potential inequities. Supporting this, Amy Babinchak described implementing a tiered productivity incentive where technicians received additional pay for surpassing utilization rates above 80%, but expressed concern over excessive overtime. Both speakers underscored the necessity of clear job role definitions; rewarding sales activities for technical staff may be appropriate if it aligns with broader company goals and does not compromise core technical duties. Non-monetary recognition, such as trophies or gift cards for ticket resolution or utilization, was also mentioned as an effective, low-cost incentive. The episode expanded to analyze current challenges in industry education and vendor-driven events. Citing a survey from the "All Things MSP" group, Amy Babinchak reported that 86% of respondents believe MSP conferences are now allocating too much budget to entertainment at the expense of substantive educational content. Comments from participants indicated skepticism toward vendor-led sessions, noting that paid speaking slots are typically used for product promotion rather than useful training, raising questions about increasing conference costs and the dilution of actionable takeaways. Key operational topics included shifting preferences among AI tools, with both speakers confirming recent moves toward Claude and Copilot, and persistent debate over MSP documentation practices—ranging from ad-hoc tools like OneNote to industry solutions. The discussion concluded with an observation about payment processing costs: James Kernan highlighted a case where $24,000 in annual credit card fees significantly reduced firm profitability, stressing the importance of passing such costs on to customers or utilizing ACH to preserve margins. MSP leaders are encouraged to assess compensation structures, conference participation ROI, and vendor relationships in order to minimize risk, align incentives, and ensure operational resilience. Question of the week:  Should I pay my tech commissions? Rod Trent Substack: learning to talk to our apps https://rodtrent.substack.com/p/the-new-normal-talking-to-your-apps?r=h2641&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action   Do you think that MSP conferences are spending too much on entertainment and not enough on education?  All Things MSP survey   What is your favorite AI tool right now? Blog post: AI Image Generators Can Now Spell: https://www.thirdtier.net/2026/03/20/breaking-news-ai-image-generators-can-spell/   What tool do you use for Documentation? This is more for the smaller MSPs or internal IT folks not running something like IT Glue or Hudu. GitHub: https://github.com/       TALES FROM THE FIELD: Payment processing fees of 24K reviewing financials during valuation.  Alternative Payments and other payment automation firms help reduce/eliminate these fees by giving customers options for EFT or passing fees to them.https://www.alternativepayments.io/   UPCOMING CHANNEL EVENTS: Reinvent Telecom – May 12-14th, 2026 Mastermind Event – July 30-31st,2026 Amy’s Podcast Appearance Book Tour happening! Learn more about the book here: https://www.thirdtier.net/20-questions-every-msp-owner-asks-before-selling-their-business/                        Do you have a story from the field that you’d like to share? Or a question you’d like us to answer? Email it or send it as a voice memo or video to [email protected], and we just might use it in an upcoming show. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.