These 12 sales jobs offer the potential to bring home over $700,000 per year.
Is it still possible to make over a million dollars per year in sales, or even half a million? We analyzed over 10,000 compensation data points to answer that question.
To determine which sales jobs can earn you the most commission, we analyzed which jobs had the highest previous year gross earnings. The higher the gross earnings, the higher the commissions.
What is Commission?
Sales employees compensation packages typically consist of three components: base salary, commissions, and signing and stock bonuses.
A sales rep earns commission for closing a deal for their company. Commission rates vary widely by industry, account size, and company. In SaaS sales, an Enterprise Account Executive commonly earns 10% commission on each deal. If you’re in sales at a company where several million dollar deals are commonplace, such as Salesforce, and you consider these commission rates, it’s certainly possible to close half a million a year.
For example, at Salesforce, it’s common to see compensation packages like this for Enterprise Account Executives:
- $300,000 On Target Earnings
- $150,000 Base Salary
- $150,000 Commission Earned at 100% of Quota
If the rep closes a few major deals and hits 500% of quota, the total commission earned would be $150,000 * 5x Quota = $750,000. Add in the base salary of $150,000 ($150,000+$750,000) and you’re at $900,000, just shy of around a million dollars gross earnings on the year. And this is not even including commission accelerators, which increase your commission payout rate.
While it is very uncommon to hit 500% or even 250% of quota, it certainly does happen. You just need to find the sales jobs that consistently put you in that position to get that million dollar commission potential.
Note: Base Salary, Signing Bonus, and Stock Bonuses are fixed amounts for sales reps and do not change with performance. Only a sales rep’s commission pay is variable and will reflect performance.
How do I find high commission sales jobs?
The highest commission sales jobs typically meet the following criteria:
- You’re selling into Enterprise Accounts
- You’re selling an expensive solution or service (think 7 figure deals)
- Your product is a SaaS solution (software licensing works too)
- The company you sell for is a market leader
When you look for high commission sales jobs, if they meet all of the above criteria, odds are that you can clear $500,000 or more per year if you do 200%+ of your quota.
Here are the 12 Highest Commission Sales Jobs
1. Snowflake – Enterprise Account Executive
- Gross Earning Potential: $1,300,000
- Average Compensation Package: $377,000
- Base Salary: $138,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $138,000
- Signing + Stock Bonus ($ Value / Year): $101,000
Snowflake Enterprise Account Executives top our 2022 list of highest commission sales jobs with a gross earning potential of $1,300,000.
As an Enterprise Account Executive at Snowflake, which is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, you’ll be required to generate new business within a set of large enterprise accounts. You’ll interact with C-Suite executives at your target companies and position Snowflake’s cloud data warehouse (DWaaS) to companies looking to modernize their IT data infrastructure and accelerate their digital transformation.
Because you’ll be working with large enterprises focused on making IT a revenue generating center instead of a cost center, and Snowflake is uniquely positioned to do just that, you’ll have the potential to close that whale of a deal that brings home the million dollar commission check.
View all Snowflake Account Executive Salaries.
2. Workday – Account Executive, Key Accounts
- Gross Earning Potential: $1,119,000
- Average Compensation Package: $395,000
- Base Salary: $140,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $255,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $0
$1,119,000 is the Gross Earning Potential for Workday Account Executives, earning the HCM giant the second place spot on our list.
Workday’s Account Executives covering the Key Account Segment are required to close deals with Workday’s most strategic clients. You’ll be in charge of growing the HCM and financial management footprint within companies who are already large users of Workday’s software.
Because you’ll be selling into some of the largest enterprises in the world, many deals you’ll propose involving Workday will likely be in the seven figure ball park, representing an opportunity for commissions in the hundreds of thousands per deal.
The Pleasanton, CA based Workday hires Account Executives in several cities and states in the US and often lets account executives work remote.
View all Workday Cloud Account Executive Salaries.
3. Sumo Logic – Enterprise Account Executive
- Gross Earning Potential: $1,000,000
- Average Compensation Package: $320,000
- Base Salary: $137,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $145,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $38,000
Enterprise Account Executives at Sumo Logic can hit seven figure W2’s, with all-in compensation reaching as high as $1,000,000. This figure brings them to third place on our list.
Sumo Logic Enterprise Account Executives are assigned to sell to the Analytics giant’s major enterprise customers. You’ll build relationships with C-suite executives and help them understand the value of Sumo Logic’s enterprise machine learning based log management and analytics solutions, with the end goal of that relationship being a big time seven-figure deal.
Although Sumo Logic’s headquarters are in Redwood City, California, you’ll have the flexibility to find an enterprise account executive role on either coast.
View all Sumo Logic Account Executive Salaries.
4. Salesforce – Account Executive, L9
- Gross Earning Potential: $1,000,000
- Average Compensation Package: $300,000
- Base Salary: $150,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $150,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $0
Salesforce Account Executives (Level AE9) come in at fourth on our list of highest commission sales jobs.
As an AE9 Account Executive at Salesforce, which is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, you’ll be required to generate new business within a select few large strategic enterprise accounts. You’ll interact with C-Suite executives at your target companies and position Salesforce’s cloud software solutions, whether it be their renowned CRM or one of their specialty products such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud. AE9’s will often quarterback large deals involving multiple different product lines.
Because you’ll be working with large enterprises with IT budgets in the hundreds of millions, you’ll have the potential to close that whale of a deal that brings home the million dollar commission check.
View all Salesforce Account Executive Salaries.
5. DocuSign – Enterprise Account Director, P5
- Gross Earning Potential: $967,000
- Average Compensation Package: $300,000
- Base Salary: $150,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $150,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $75,000
DocuSign Enterprise Account Directors have a gross earning potential of up to $967,000, earning them the fifth place spot on our list of highest commission sales jobs.
DocuSign Enterprise Account Directors focus on selling the e-signature platform to large corporations, most of which are in the Fortune 500. Enterprise Account Directors are full cycle sellers, although you will have sales development, engineer, and other support to help you find and close deals.
With the quickly evolving B2B business landscape, more traditional Fortune 500 enterprises have adopted DocuSign, and many will continue to do so, meaning high commission potential for years to come.
DocuSign, like many other large tech companies, is based in San Francisco, California, and has account director positions all throughout the US.
View all DocuSign Account Executive Salaries.
6. Paycom – Executive Sales Representative
- Gross Earning Potential: $850,000
- Average Compensation Package: $347,250
- Base Salary: $106,667
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $226,500
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $14,083
Paycom Executive Sales Representatives will see gross earnings top out around the $850,000 ballpark, thanks to large commission checks from closing huge enterprise payroll software deals. This puts them in the sixth place slot in our top earning sales rep rankings.
Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Paycom provides a variety of solutions including payroll, talent management, and labor management software. Paycom’s Executive Sales Representatives are tasked with closing giant deals with the company’s largest customers.
Paycom, whose stock has 7x-ed since 2017 as of 2022, has a true global footprint with executive sales representative jobs all over the globe.
View all Paycom Account Executive Salaries.
7. LiveRamp – Senior Account Executive
- Gross Earning Potential: $800,000
- Average Compensation Package: $320,000
- Base Salary: $150,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $150,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $20,000
Senior Account Executives at LiveRamp, the San Francisco, CA based SaaS phenom, can clear upwards of $800,000 per year for blowing out their quota, putting them at seventh place on our list of sales jobs with the top commissions.
Senior Account Executives are responsible for closing deals in a set of LiveRamp’s largest global accounts. LiveRamp’s account executives will be trying to get senior management at these global enterprises to adopt their unique SaaS data connective platform.
LiveRamp has account executive roles available in both the US and internationally.
View all LiveRamp Account Executive Salaries.
8. Anaplan – Strategic Account Executive
- Gross Earning Potential: $742,000
- Average Compensation Package: $305,000
- Base Salary: $136,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $136,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $33,000
Strategic Account Executives at Anaplan, best known for its enterprise cloud planning platform, have a gross earning potential north of $740,000, which is good for ninth on our list of sales jobs with the best commissions.
Anaplan Strategic Account Executives are full sales cycle sellers responsible for finding leads, developing them, and ultimately closing the deal. You’ll work with Anaplan’s largest enterprise customers as a Strategic Account Executive, which means a high potential for large commissions.
Anaplan, which is based in San Francisco, CA, has account executive roles scattered across the continental US.
View all Anaplan Account Executive Salaries.
9. Amazon Web Services – Account Manager, L7
- Gross Earning Potential: $700,000
- Average Compensation Package: $422,500
- Base Salary: $180,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $120,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $139,000
AWS L7 Account Managers place ninth on our of large commission sales jobs list with a $700,000 gross earning potential.
AWS Account Managers will work with some of AWS’s most strategic and large customers. You’ll have a large team of people to help you close monster-sized deals, including Sales Engineers, Business Development, and Demand Generation Representatives.
AWS has some customers spending in the hundreds of millions per year, so if you can bring home a deal at even 10% of the size, and that possibility does certainly exist within the enterprise space, you could find yourself with a commission payment that’ll last you a lifetime.
AWS, the leader in the IaaS cloud platform space, is headquartered in Seattle, WA, and has Account Manager roles, of all levels, available across the US.
View all AWS Account Manager Salaries.
10. SAP – Account Executive, Enterprise
- Gross Earning Potential: $700,000
- Average Compensation Package: $293,000
- Base Salary: $120,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $165,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $8,000
SAP Account Exeuctives in the enterprise space have the opportunity to claim a $700,000 year.
SAP, one of the longest standing enterprise software players, offers a variety of solutions from ERP systems to enterprise consulting services. Account executives at SAP will have no issue getting CIO’s to answer their calls thanks to their proven product market fit. Because of the wide variety of software products and expensive implementations (some range in the $100M+ year realm), sellers at SAP can make more than a great living.
SAP is based right outside of Mannheim, Germany, and has a global presence of sales reps.
View all SAP Account Executive Salaries.
11. Oracle – Technology Sales Representative, Level V
- Gross Earning Potential: $700,000
- Average Compensation Package: $280,000
- Base Salary: $140,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $140,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $0
Oracle Technology Sales Representatives, specifically Level V reps, earn up to $700,000 per year, getting them the eleventh place spot on our list of sales jobs with the highest commission.
As a Level V Technology Sales Representative at Oracle, you’ll sell Oracle’s database, middleware, security, and analytics solutions into Oracle’s top accounts. Like the other big players, Oracle equips their technology sales representatives with a virtual team of sales development reps, SME’s, and business development specialists to help you close the strategic deals which result in major commission paydays.
Austin, Texas headquarters Oracle, the database giant. You’ll find Oracle technology sales representative jobs in all major US cities.
View all Oracle Account Executive Salaries.
12. VMware – Enterprise Account Executive
- Gross Earning Potential: $700,000
- Average Compensation Package: $263,000
- Base Salary: $130,000
- Commission Earned at 100% of Quota: $128,000
- Stock + Signing Bonus ($ Value/Year): $5,000
Gross Earning Potential is $700,000 for Enterprise Account Executives at VMware, who come in at twelfth place on the list of top commission sales jobs.
VMware Enterprise Account Executives sell the company’s virtualization software which is embedded in the DNA of hundreds of large enterprises’ IT infrastructures. You’ll build close relationships with executives at the largest companies in the US and get them to buy into the virtualization mantra with the goal of landing a major commission check in the end.
VMware’s corporate headquarters are located in Palo Alto, California and hires Account Executives across the globe.
View all VMware Account Executive Salaries.
View all Sales Compensation Data.
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