A Stair Step, or Breakaway, MLM plan rewards distributors with increasing commission percentages as their personal and team sales volume crosses defined rank thresholds ('stepping up' the stairs). Once a team leader hits a senior rank, their team can 'break away' into its own semi-independent unit, with the original sponsor earning an override on the breakaway team's continued volume.
Stair Step focuses on rank-based commission percentages and breakaway team structures, while Generation plans pay overrides across successive 'generations' of qualified leaders below a distributor - the two are often combined in mature compensation plans.
You continue to earn an override commission on the breakaway team's ongoing volume, even though they now operate as a semi-independent unit - the exact override percentage is configurable.
It's more commonly used by established businesses since the rank-threshold economics work best with proven, steady sales volume - newer launches often start with Binary or Unilevel and migrate to Stair Step as they mature.
Yes, but changing thresholds after distributors have qualified at existing ranks needs careful communication and, ideally, grandfathering rules to avoid disputes.
Yes, once a team crosses the breakaway threshold, the system automatically routes the configured override percentage to the original sponsor on all future team volume.
Get a free live demo built around your compensation plan.
Book Free Demo