Project a year of revenue from the sales executives you have, the hires you plan and their ramp-up. Then see the gap to target.
Key terms
Productive sales executives
Sales executives at full productivity at the start of the year.
Sales per executive
Average monthly sales one productive sales executive delivers, in rupees.
New executives
Sales executives you plan to add, taken to join at the start of the year.
Ramp-up period
Months a new executive takes to reach full productivity, rising in equal monthly steps.
Effective months
Months of full sales a new executive delivers in year one: 12 - (ramp-up months - 1) ÷ 2.
Ramp-up cost
Revenue the year gives up while new executives are below full productivity.
Revenue gap
The annual target minus projected revenue. Zero or below means the plan covers the target.
Working example
A pharma division starts the financial year with 200 medical representatives, each selling ₹4,00,000 a month on average. It plans to hire 40 more in April. A new medical representative takes 6 months to reach full productivity. The annual target is ₹120 crore.
Step 1. Existing team: 200 × ₹4,00,000 × 12 = ₹96,00,00,000
Step 2. Effective months for each new hire: 12 - (6 - 1) ÷ 2 = 9.5
Step 3. New hires: 40 × ₹4,00,000 × 9.5 = ₹15,20,00,000, with a ramp-up cost of 40 × ₹4,00,000 × 2.5 = ₹4,00,00,000
Step 4. Projected revenue: ₹96,00,00,000 + ₹15,20,00,000 = ₹1,11,20,00,000, with a month 12 run rate of 240 × ₹4,00,000 = ₹9,60,00,000
Step 5. Gap to target: ₹1,20,00,00,000 - ₹1,11,20,00,000 = ₹8,80,00,000, or 7.33%. Spread over 240 executives for 12 months: ₹8,80,00,000 ÷ 2,880 = ₹30,556 a month each
The answer
The plan projects ₹111.2 crore, ₹8.8 crore short of target. Each medical representative would need about ₹30,556 more a month, a 7.6% lift, or the division needs more hires earlier.
$0
Total Growth in revenue
0%
Total Growth in revenue
Projected revenue = (Productive executives × Sales per executive × 12) + (New executives × Sales per executive × Effective months). Use the gap tab to see what each executive must add to reach target.
A revenue projection plans what the team can deliver from its capacity: headcount, sales per executive and ramp-up. A sales forecast estimates what will close, from trend or pipeline. Use a projection to set the annual plan and targets, and a forecast to track the plan once the year is running. The sales forecast calculator covers the second job.
Multiply productive executives by average monthly sales per executive and by 12. Add each new hire at their effective months, which is 12 minus half of one less than the ramp-up months. Two hundred executives at ₹4,00,000 a month give ₹96 crore, and 40 hires on a 6-month ramp-up add ₹15.2 crore. Take sales per executive from the last two or three quarters, not the best month.
Each new executive gives up half of one less than the ramp-up months in full sales during year one. On a 6-month ramp-up that is 2.5 months. Forty hires at ₹4,00,000 a month cost ₹4 crore of revenue in the first year. Hires who join later cost more, since fewer months remain. Faster territory handover and coaching recover part of it.
Start from the annual target, not the projection, and split it by territory using each territory's run rate and potential. Then compare each target with what the executive delivered last year. Where the gap per executive is large, add hires or adjust the target before launch. A target set out of reach weakens the incentive tied to it. The sales target calculator helps with the split.
Yes, plan it alongside the revenue. Each rupee of projected revenue carries a payout once targets and slabs are set, so a higher projection raises incentive cost too. Price the scheme on the gap you need to close, not on total sales, so the payout follows growth. The sales lift calculator shows whether a scheme paid for itself.
Last reviewed: 28 October 2026
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Kennect holds over 10% market share in India's pharma and life sciences sector. It turns the annual plan into individual targets and runs the incentives tied to them, with every change on record.
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