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Sales · 14 min

Commission and quotas

Most salespeople who sell to businesses earn a salary plus a share of what they sell, against a goal their boss sets. Here's how the plan works, and how one paycheck's commission gets worked out.

HOURS
Ticket 01 · The guess

What does selling cost a big company?

Salesforce sells software to businesses, with thousands of salespeople. In its 2026 fiscal year, what share of its revenue went to sales and marketing together?

70%
0%100%
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Salesforce, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026 (Item 7, results of operations: total revenues and sales and marketing expenses) · Salesforce, Inc. (filed with the SEC), 2026

Every number

  • 35%sec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's sales and marketing expenses (together, one line) as a percent of total revenues, fiscal 2026 (the year to the end of January 2026), as its 10-K's table gives it.
  • $14.3Bsec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's sales and marketing expenses, fiscal 2026 (the 10-K gives it in millions of dollars).
  • $41.5Bsec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's total revenues, fiscal 2026 (the 10-K gives it in millions of dollars).
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. Sales
  • ·Before this: How a sale happens
  • ·Next: The big deal
Skip to the lesson
Back to the home page and map, from TryOwning · Sales · Lesson 2
Part 1 of 3Part 1 of 3, 0 done

Sales · 14 min

Commission and quotas

Most salespeople who sell to businesses earn a salary plus a share of what they sell, against a goal their boss sets. Here's how the plan works, and how one paycheck's commission gets worked out.

HOURS
Ticket 01 · The guess

What does selling cost a big company?

Salesforce sells software to businesses, with thousands of salespeople. In its 2026 fiscal year, what share of its revenue went to sales and marketing together?

70%
0%100%
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Salesforce, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026 (Item 7, results of operations: total revenues and sales and marketing expenses) · Salesforce, Inc. (filed with the SEC), 2026

Every number

  • 35%sec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's sales and marketing expenses (together, one line) as a percent of total revenues, fiscal 2026 (the year to the end of January 2026), as its 10-K's table gives it.
  • $14.3Bsec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's sales and marketing expenses, fiscal 2026 (the 10-K gives it in millions of dollars).
  • $41.5Bsec.gov ·2026 · Salesforce's total revenues, fiscal 2026 (the 10-K gives it in millions of dollars).
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. Sales
  • ·Before this: How a sale happens
  • ·Next: The big deal