Sounds lik...

Question

Sounds like HubSpot's clawback policy is a major source of frustration for current employees. What exactly makes these clawbacks so bad? Every company I've worked for has implemented clawbacks in one way or another. Is there something about HubSpot's policy that is especially egregious?

Former Employee · Accepted Answer

They dont just take the money they take your attainment. So you can easily have a churn and get PIPD. No company I know does that.

Current Employee · Answer

Claw back is 100% of comms even if the customer pays for 10 months of a 12 month contract and churns in month 11. And that clawback then gets added onto your current quota for that month, so it’s very unlikely you will hit your target for that month. A big churn could kill your whole year.

Current Employee · Answer

Clawbacks are especially problematic because, even if a client has paid for almost the entire contract duration, you’re still penalized. The amount is deducted from both your commission and attainment, which can hurt your performance metrics and potentially place you on a pip

Former Employee · Answer

12 month clawback period on both commission and attainment is truthfully pretty bananas. A client could opt to not renew on month 11, cancel their contract and pay their final month and the sales rep loses both money and attainment which goes towards performance, promotions, etc.

Current Employee · Answer

HubSpot has always had a clawback policy that would remove commissionable earnings from your paycheck the month after a clawback, standard for any software sales organization.  The issue is that at the beginning of 2024 HubSpot instituted a change in the policy that not only effected commissionable earnings but also your annual attainment.  If you had a deal that accounted for 50% of your quota that clawed back 10 months later, you then start that month of the clawback at -50% attainment and have to work up from there.  This change essentially doubled the impact of the clawback and has resulted in hundreds of reps being put on PIPs for clawbacks that are entirely outside of their control.

Former Employee · Answer

It’s because they make them commit to a one year, if they decide they don’t wanna move forward with next year at month 6, they still make them pay for the remainder of their contract but claw you back. So they still are getting paid. Also it’s hard enough to hit quota without any clawbacks

Current Employee · Answer

HubSpot’s clawback policy for years has been commission clawback if a customer doesn’t pay their bill (due to any scenario-including bankruptcy) for a yr after purchasing. As of 2024 you receive clawback on attainment AND commission for the year. This applies to new/current customer accounts.

Former Employee · Answer

Before 2024, clawbacks only influenced commissions - as of 2024, clawbacks influence both commissions and your trailing attainment (stays on your trailing attainment for 9 months in Mid Market), so it can make it quite unpredictable when it comes to accurately forecasting, hitting your goals for promotion and avoiding a PIP. Often the clawback is beyond the control of the salesperson and due to business circumstances on the customer end, which leadership does not take into consideration (salesperson takes the hit, their rationale being if HubSpot doesn't realize the full 12 months of revenue, neither should the salesperson keep the commission or attainment). In my personal experience, a huge eCommerce clawback (never spoke to the customer) placed me at a -100% on my monthly target and made it near impossible to overcome a PIP.

Current Employee · Answer

The clawbacks aren't prorated , which means if you sign a deal in January for 2k MRR, they could pay all though August and then stop and you'll STILL lose the full 2k on both your commission and attainment. You could hit quota on the last day of the month and then lose all your progress due to a cla

Current Employee · Answer

The clawback policy is similar to other companies. if you sell to a company, it has to spend for a year. If they cancel / you missold you get a clawback

Current Employee · Answer

Similar to other companies, they need to spend for a year.

Notifications

HubSpot

RepVue Score

0

HubSpot

85.47

Anonymous Q&A

Sounds like HubSpot's clawback policy is a major source of frustration for current employees. What exactly makes these clawbacks so bad? Every company I've worked for has implemented clawbacks in one way or another. Is there something about HubSpot's policy that is especially egregious?