What Is a Milestone Bonus in Insurance Agency Pay?
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A milestone bonus pays a producer when their running total reaches a big target.
What it is
The target is a total over a stretch of time, such as "$100,000 of written premium this year". The bonus pays when the running total reaches it.
How often a milestone can pay depends on the stretch of time it is measured over.
A worked example
Example. The milestone is $100,000 of written premium this year, for a $1,000 bonus. A producer writes $30,000 in January, $40,000 in February and $35,000 in March. The running total passes $100,000 in March, so the $1,000 bonus is earned in March.
How it differs from other bonuses
| Bonus type | When it pays | Starts again? |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly target | Each month the target is hit | Yes, every month |
| Streak | After several periods in a row at target | When a period is missed |
| Milestone | When the running total reaches the target | Depends on what it is measured over |
A milestone measured over a whole career is "once achieved, never again". One measured over each pay period starts again with the next period.
Milestones suit long targets: a total that is visible from January pulls a producer through slow months, where a monthly bonus feels routine.
How Producify works it out
In Producify, a milestone is a bonus for reaching a target, and its scope decides how often it can pay. This year counts from January 1 and pays once, in the month the running total reaches the target. All time counts everything the person has written and pays once, ever. Any 3 months looks back the number of months you enter (3 to start) and pays in every month those months together meet the target, and Each pay period pays in every pay period the target is reached, then starts again. You set the scope under Measured Over: see Add a milestone bonus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I announce milestones publicly?
Yes. Much of a milestone's value is the recognition. Announce at team meetings, in company-wide emails, in the team's group chat.
What if a producer reached the milestone before I set it up?
Pay it if they reached it while your current plan was in place. Don't pay for a target that was never in a plan.
Can a milestone pay in the same month as other bonuses?
Yes. A producer can earn a milestone and a monthly bonus in the same month. One does not affect the other.
Put a milestone in your plan
Milestone Bonus is one of the rule cards in Producify's commission plan builder.
Producify is commission tracking software for independent and captive insurance agencies.