Advertise on podcast: The Sales Compensation Show

How does an entertainment company like Netflix design sales incentives when speed is part of the strategy? In this episode, Forma.ai CEO Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Nathan Rosas (Director, of Global Sales Incentive Compensation at Netflix) to unpack how elite comp professionals build plans that fit company culture, stay flexible through constant change, and use listening mechanisms to catch friction early. Plus Nathan shares Netflix’s “data-informed vs. data-driven” mindset for making decisions faster without losing trust. Having built compensation programs across Microsoft, Amazon, and now Netflix, Nathan brings a rare vantage point you don't want to miss.

Sales comp should be simple, fair, and aligned to strategy. But at enterprise scale, those “obvious” principles collide fast. In this episode, Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Sid Ganguly (Director, Global Compensation & Head of Sales Incentive Design at Expedia Group) to discuss what really holds up when you’re designing incentives for thousands of sellers. They dig into why “equitable” doesn’t mean endlessly custom, how comp either builds trust—or quietly erodes it—and get into a thought exercise on what dynamic, personalized incentives could look like in a future state where AI is deeply embedded and the data foundation exists.

Comp plans are usually the first thing to get blamed when growth stalls—because they’re where every upstream issue becomes impossible to ignore: messy territories, unclear roles, uneven segmentation, and sales motions that don’t match reality. In this episode, Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Kaleb Carter, Director of Sales Compensation – FP&A at Trustpilot, to share a more durable path forward: stop tinkering with comp plans and start fixing the connected system that produces comp outcomes in the first place. Listen in as Kaleb breaks down the shift from comp teams as “payroll processors” to strategic advisors and architects of behavior. He unpacks how to create stability by tightening the GTM foundations—segmentation, territories, targets, role clarity, and operating cadence—so your comp plan can execute cleanly, scale confidently, and earn real trust from both leaders and sellers.

Imagine stepping into a new role leading sales compensation and within twenty days, the entire sales org gets paid wrong. That was Gavin Tapper’s “welcome” to this niche space—and it was this high-stakes experience that was a catalyst in shaping him into a global sales compensation leader today. In this episode, Gavin joins Nabeil Alazzam (Founder & CEO of Forma.ai) to unpack how he turned an 18-month payout crisis, years of plan changes, and countless stakeholder debates into durable playbooks he's used to lead compensation at global orgs. Listen in for insights on selling tough plan changes, being "Switzerland" as a sales comp leader, hot takes on attainment data, and what a 1,000-mile bike ride taught Gavin about transformation.

In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, global sales compensation expert Stephen Long joins Forma.ai CEO Nabeil Alazzam to unpack how senior leaders should really think about plan design. They dig into why over-rotating on products backfires, how to build a 3–5 year roadmap to account for needed data infrastructure, and what fair, explainable quota setting really looks like at scale. You’ll hear Stephen’s real-world examples of: - The biggest misses executives make in sales comp plan design, - Why you shouldn’t put money on anything you can’t track (and explain to reps), - The importance of a 3–5 year sales comp and infrastructure roadmap across Sales, RevOps, IT, and Finance, - A practical way to approach quota setting that reps actually trust, and - How complex crediting and pricing autonomy create gaming—and how to redesign around contract “health,” not just headline value. If you enjoy the show, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow sales compensation leader.

When you’re running sales compensation for thousands of reps, every plan change is a bet on behavior at national scale. In this episode, we sit down with Les Reif, Senior Director of Sales Compensation at Rogers Communications, for a deep dive into how Rogers designs, governs, and operates sales comp inside one of Canada’s largest telcos. From why sales compensation is really a data and definition problem, to Les' take on the real differentiator for a sales comp function — don't miss this rare look inside how this national carrier runs comp.

What if the very thing you use to motivate sellers is unintentionally distorting behavior? In this episode Barracuda’s Director of Sales Compensation, Ryan Farber, joins host Nabeil Alazzam to pressure-test sales incentives—then rethink or offer up pragmatic models and guardrails. The two get into intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, exponential vs. logarithmic pay curves, what comp plans simply can’t replace, and how to fix segmentation, pricing, and delivery so the plan stops getting blamed for upstream problems. The episode closes with a peek at adaptive, deal-level incentives powered by cleaner data. Listen in for real quotes, usable frameworks, and a debate that lands in a place with ideas you can actually ship.

The best sales compensation leaders are agents of change (requiring strong skills in influence), so in this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, former FBI agent and bestselling author Dr. Jack Schafer—who helped catch spies and flip assets—joins Nabeil Alazzam to translate field-tested influence into boardroom wins for sales compensation leaders. Listen in to learn psychology-backed tactics to align your exec team, lower resistance to new plan proposals, and secure buy-in for higher-stakes comp changes. We cover how to use rapport and elicitation techniques like the bridge-back method, preemptive statements, how to read rooms to spot resistance early, and prime stakeholders to cut friction before a meeting even starts.

Ever wondered what truly great sales performance really looks like in practice? In this special episode we break from our usual format to spotlight a candid conversation with enterprise leaders building world-class global sales performance programs. Forma.ai's own Shawn Rossi, VP of Strategic Services, sits down with Dennis Johnson, the CFO at Qlik, and Dr. Robert Bieshaar, Head of Go-to-Market Performance Management at Autodesk. Together they unpack what it takes to run effective sales compensation at scale — beyond the expected baseline of processing payouts. From quota setting to territory design, to system modernization and governance, the discussion gets tactical and unfiltered. Topics include: ✔ Admin excellence as table stakes—and where you need to be shifting your time instead ✔ The toughest parts of sales planning (and how to get it right) ✔ How you know it’s time to leave Excel behind ✔ How to spot misalignment before it derails performance ✔ How to involve sales leadership (and the field) early and ensure sales planning runs on schedule ✔ Managing complexity while keeping plans simple ✔ Breaking the habit of “rogue comp” and last-minute incentives As you up-level your SPM strategy or work to earn cross-functional buy-in, this episode is packed with real-world insights you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Melissa Fenner, Sr. Director of Global GTM Strategy, Planning and Compensation, from Docusign to go behind the scenes at her current organization. The two discuss Melissa's career journey, the critical importance of over-communication, practical takeaways on piloting programs to test comp strategies, and some hot takes on whether comp plans really need to change as often as best-practice suggests (or if consistency could be even better).

When your company is growing rapidly, sales planning can quickly turn into chaos. In this special episode from our Sales Planning Summit event, you’ll hear how two industry leaders navigate constant change without losing alignment or sales team momentum. Sid Kumar (Area Vice President, GTM Strategy & Planning, at Databricks) and Michael Duncan (Sr. Director, GTM Strategy & Operations, at Gong) share proven tactics for scaling processes, keeping Sales, RevOps, and Finance in sync, and driving execution at speed.

Finance and revenue leaders don’t always see eye to eye—but when it comes to setting sales targets, quotas, and comp plans, alignment is non-negotiable. In this special episode of The Sales Compensation Show, senior leaders from ZoomInfo, Red Hat, and Klaviyo share how their teams navigate the complexities of cross-functional planning. Moderated by Forma.ai’s David Gerardi, the conversation explores: How finance and revenue teams approach sales planning differently, balance growth targets with fiscal responsibility, consider quota setting, comp plan design, and forecasting risk, plus how these leaders recommend building trust—and avoiding misalignment—between GTM and finance. This candid panel will give you a window into how real, high-performing companies tackle the planning process *together*.

Knowing how and when to change your sales plan mid-year—based on performance signals or market shifts—can make the difference between hitting quota and missing it. In this timely episode, leaders from Zoom, Snowflake, and Siemens share how they detect early warning signs, realign territories and quotas, and adjust comp plans without derailing performance. If you’re in the thick of sales planning, this is the episode you need to hear!

Midway through planning season, sales compensation leaders are under pressure to get it right—aligning with RevOps and Finance, building data-driven plans, and adjusting for what didn’t work in H1. In this special episode of The Sales Compensation Show, recorded live at our Sales Planning Summit, leaders from LinkedIn, Docusign, and Atlassian share how they navigate these exact challenges at scale. Tune in to hear how world-class organizations coordinate cross-functional planning, build trusted data foundations, and leverage past performance to inform their strategies. You’ll also hear how AI and automation are reshaping planning cycles—and what to watch for to avoid the most common breakdowns. If you’re deep in the weeds of planning or trying to future-proof your approach, this conversation is a must-listen! Subscribe to catch even more episodes from the Sales Planning Summit series.

In this special episode, three powerhouse compensation and revenue operations leaders from Microsoft, HP, and SAS share how they use data—not gut instinct—to design smarter territories, quotas, and incentives. Recorded live at the Sales Planning Summit, the discussion features insights on analytics-driven planning, AI forecasting, and real-world strategies from best-in-class orgs.