SPIFF
What is a SPIFF in sales?
A SPIFF — Special Performance Incentive for Field Force — is a short-term, deal-specific incentive paid on top of a rep's standard commission to drive a particular behavior. Companies use SPIFFs to push a specific product, clear aging inventory, or get deals closed before a quarter-end deadline. The defining features are that it is tactical, targeted, and time-bound: a SPIFF exists to spike a defined activity for a defined window, not to serve as a permanent part of the comp plan.
Because it is layered on top of variable compensation rather than replacing any of it, a SPIFF is a lever sales leadership can pull quickly without redesigning the whole plan. That flexibility is exactly why it is popular — and why it is so often confused with the other "extra incentive" mechanics, the accelerator and the kicker, which reward different things entirely.
SPIFF vs accelerator vs bonus
These three get used interchangeably in conversation, but they trigger on different things. Getting the distinction right is what keeps a comp plan legible:
The short version: an accelerator is attainment-based and ongoing; a kicker fires on a deal condition like a multi-year term; a SPIFF is a timed, targeted push. A rep can earn a SPIFF without being anywhere near their accelerator threshold.
A SPIFF example
A software company wants to push a newly launched add-on product. It announces a SPIFF: $500 to the rep for every add-on sold in the next 60 days, on top of normal commission. A rep who sells eight add-ons in that window earns an extra $4,000 in SPIFF, regardless of their overall quota position. When the 60 days end, the SPIFF disappears and commission returns to normal. That is a textbook SPIFF — product-specific, time-bound, and layered over the standard plan to create a short burst of focus.
What this means?
A SPIFF is a steering tool. Its value is speed and focus: leadership can redirect rep attention toward a product or a deadline in days, without touching the base comp plan. The risk is the flip side — leaning on SPIFFs too often can train reps to hold back ordinary effort until an incentive appears, and a stack of overlapping SPIFFs quickly becomes hard to track and pay accurately. Used sparingly and calculated cleanly, they are effective; used constantly, they erode the plan they sit on top of.
SPIFF the concept vs "Spiff" the software
One point worth clearing up, because it causes real confusion: SPIFF is both an industry term for a short-term incentive and the name of a sales-compensation software vendor (Spiff, now part of Salesforce). When someone says "SPIFF," they may mean the incentive mechanism or the tool. This page is about the concept — the tactical, limited-time incentive — which any commission platform, including Visdum, can model regardless of the vendor that happens to share the name. If you are comparing software, that is a separate question from what a SPIFF is.
How Visdum handles SPIFFs
SPIFFs are deceptively hard to administer: they are short-lived, run on their own rules, often overlap with the base plan and with each other, and still have to be paid accurately alongside regular commission. Visdum models a SPIFF as its own plan component with a defined trigger, amount, and active window, calculated from live CRM data and shown to reps as a distinct line on their statement rather than blended into commission. That means leadership can launch a 60-day product SPIFF without a spreadsheet scramble, reps can see exactly what they earned from it, and finance keeps a clean, auditable record of every incentive paid — including the short-term ones that usually escape tracking.
Take a self-guided product tour → to see SPIFF and incentive components in action, or read how to build a SaaS sales compensation plan.
Related terms
Accelerator · Kicker · Variable Compensation · Commission vs Bonus · Quota Attainment
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Frequently asked questions
What is a SPIFF in sales?
SPIFF stands for Special Performance Incentive for Field Force. It is a short-term, deal-specific incentive paid on top of a rep's normal commission to drive a particular behavior — such as pushing a specific product, clearing old inventory, or closing deals before a quarter-end deadline. SPIFFs are tactical and time-bound, used to spike activity for a defined period rather than as a permanent part of the comp plan.
What is the difference between a SPIFF and an accelerator?
An accelerator rewards overall quota attainment by raising the commission rate on revenue above a threshold; a SPIFF is a fixed, short-term incentive tied to a specific product, deal, or deadline regardless of attainment. The key distinction: accelerators are attainment-based and ongoing, while SPIFFs are time-bound and targeted at a particular behavior. A rep can earn a SPIFF without being anywhere near an accelerator.
What is the difference between a SPIFF and a bonus?
A SPIFF is a short-term, targeted incentive for a specific product or timeframe, while a bonus is usually a broader, sometimes discretionary reward for hitting a goal or milestone. SPIFFs are almost always tactical and tied to a defined sales push; bonuses can be strategic, periodic, or one-off. In practice a SPIFF is a specific type of short-term bonus aimed at driving immediate sales behavior.
Why do companies use SPIFFs?
Companies use SPIFFs to create urgency and focus around a specific goal — launching a new product, moving slow inventory, hitting a quarter-end number, or rewarding a competitive win. Because they are short and targeted, they let sales leadership steer rep behavior quickly without changing the underlying comp plan. The risk is overuse, which can train reps to wait for SPIFFs before pushing.
Is SPIFF the same as the software company Spiff?
The confusion is common: SPIFF is both an industry term for a short-term incentive and the name of a sales-compensation software vendor (Spiff, now part of Salesforce). When people say SPIFF they may mean either the incentive mechanism or the tool. As a concept, a SPIFF is simply a tactical bonus — separate from any specific software product that happens to share the name.
Can you give an example of a SPIFF?
An example: a software company wants to push a new add-on product, so it offers reps a $500 SPIFF for every add-on sold in the next 60 days, on top of normal commission. The incentive is short-term, product-specific, and time-bound — once the 60 days end, it disappears. That is a textbook SPIFF: a targeted, temporary push layered over the standard plan.