The Sales Compensation Show: Recent Episodes
Forma.ai
Welcome to The Sales Compensation Show with Nabeil Alazzam!
A podcast where we dive deep into the world of sales, incentives, and enterprise performance management in some of the most in-depth, data-driven conversations in the industry.
Stay up to date on the research, advice and philosophies of leading experts, so you can drive your business forward in any economic environment.
Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Alex Gousinov, an accomplished sales compensation leader currently serving as the Head (Senior Director) of Go-to-Market Planning, Programs and Sales Compensation at Twilio. With a background in software development and physics, Alex brings a data-driven and analytical approach to sales comp.
Throughout the conversation, Alex reflects on his path into sales compensation and the function's ability to drive meaningful change in sales behavior. He underscores the importance of aligning incentives with overarching go-to-market strategy and business objectives.
Alex shares best practices for the sales comp planning process, such as starting early, collaborating closely with stakeholders, leveraging data to inform plan design, and preparing for the unexpected. He also discusses tactics for effective change management and rep communication when rolling out new plans.
Looking ahead, Alex emphasizes the power of analytics and real-time dashboards in sales comp. He advises sales comp professionals to broaden their knowledge of go-to-market strategy and trends to elevate their impact and career.
This episode is packed with real-world examples and practical guidance. It is a must-listen for anyone looking to design sales compensation plans that drive the right behaviors and support strategic objectives.
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Nabeil Alazzam sits down with Christina Straggas, an accomplished sales compensation leader with extensive experience at companies like Equinix, AWS, and AT&T. Currently Head of Global Sales Compensation at Equinix, Christina brings a wealth of expertise in go-to-market strategy, partnerships, and team management.
Throughout the conversation, Christina reflects on her path into sales comp and the function's evolution into a recognized domain of expertise. She underscores the pivotal role of sales compensation in enabling digital transformation, advocating for comp's early involvement in strategic planning.
Christina shares best practices for managing change, such as maintaining transparency, articulating the "why" behind plan changes, and providing robust communication. She also discusses tactics for testing new plan components and metrics.
Looking to the future, Christina envisions the increased adoption of AI and machine learning in sales comp, enabling predictive insights, flag-raising alerts, and greater personalization. She emphasizes the importance of upskilling teams to focus on strategy and glean insights from data, rather than manual administration.
This episode is packed with real-world examples and practical guidance. It is a must-listen for anyone looking to align sales compensation with digital transformation objectives. Don't miss Christina's insightful predictions for the function's future!
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam welcomes Pauline Xu, a distinguished sales compensation leader currently at Unity Technologies and formerly Director of Global Sales Compensation at Flexport. With an impressive career spanning roles at companies like Aetna, Markel, and Adobe, Pauline brings a wealth of expertise in sales comp, financial planning, and operational excellence.
Throughout the conversation, Pauline shares her journey into the world of sales compensation and the surprising aspects of the role. She emphasizes the importance of business acumen, common sense, and using data effectively to tell a story and spot trends.
Pauline reveals best practices for designing effective sales compensation plans, including aligning with sales strategy, keeping things simple, and thinking through crediting rules upfront. She recommends documenting "what if" scenarios in an FAQ doc during plan design to proactively address potential issues.
When it comes to plan rollouts, Pauline believes in partnering with sales leaders and top reps to communicate the plan effectively. She shares examples of how this approach has worked well in her experience.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Welcome to The Sales Compensation Show, where we explore the latest trends, insights, and innovative solutions in the world of sales performance management. In this episode, we are delighted to welcome Don Hubbartt, the Head of Sales Compensation Center of Excellence at Siemens.
With over 17 years of experience at Siemens and diverse leadership roles in compensation and HR across renowned companies, Don brings a wealth of expertise to the realm of sales incentives. As a WorldatWork member and former president of the Chicago Compensation Association, Don is widely recognized for his contributions to the field and his innovative approaches to incentive design, governance, and industry best practices.
In this engaging conversation, Don shares his journey into the sales compensation space, highlighting the evolution of sales roles and strategies over the past 15-20 years. He delves into the importance of building a global sales compensation center of excellence to drive consistency, simplification, and automation across the organization.Discover the three key lessons Don has learned in implementing this transformative initiative: assessing the current state and readiness of the organization, understanding leadership's appetite and vision, and fostering a collaborative network of cross-functional stakeholders. Gain valuable insights and practical advice that will empower sales compensation leaders to revolutionize their strategies and unlock the full potential of their sales teams.
Whether you're a seasoned sales compensation professional or looking to elevate your organization's approach, this episode is a must-listen, packed with expertise and innovative perspectives from an industry trailblazer.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Welcome to another episode of The Sales Compensation Show, a podcast that explores the world of sales, incentives, and enterprise performance management with some of the industry's most in-depth, data-driven conversations. I am your host, Nabeil Alazzam, and today, our guest is Dal Sidhu, Head of Global Sales Compensation at Zoom.
Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of sales compensation. We discuss multiple touchpoints related to sales compensation and the shift from on-premise to SaaS models. Dal shares his journey into the sales comp space and highlights the challenges and opportunities that come with it. Discover the importance of simplicity, automation, and aligned motivations in compensation design, and gain valuable insights and practical advice for navigating this evolving field.Dal is the Head of Global Sales Compensation at Zoom. He has over 20 years of experience in sales and business operations in the high-tech industry, both at regional and global capacities for large and mid-size companies. He has a proven ability as a trusted advisor and thought leader. He has well-earned experience assessing situational needs and developing and implementing creative solutions to problems. As a problem solver, Dal is data-driven and very effective under pressure. As the global lead for sales incentives for Zoom, he owns the end-to-end sales compensation experience for over 2,100 sales and service resources. The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Welcome to another episode of The Sales Compensation Show, a podcast that explores the world of sales, incentives, and enterprise performance management with some of the industry's most in-depth, data-driven conversations. I am your host, Nabeil Alazzam, and our guest today is Josh Miller, Head of Sales Compensation at CVS Health.
Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of sales compensation. Discover the importance of understanding the business, building relationships, and using data to drive effective sales compensation design. Gain valuable insights into motivating sales professionals and the future of sales compensation. Don't miss out on this insightful conversation!
Josh is the Head of Sales Compensation at CVS Health, where he is responsible for strategy, design, budgeting, quotas, technology and related sales operations special projects. Over the past two decades, he has worked as a consultant and project manager in a variety of different industries, including software, technology, telecommunications, insurance and financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing at companies like Aetna and Time Warner.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by Kat Walenty, Senior Manager of Compensation, Incentives Strategy, and Operations at HubSpot to navigate the various complexities of sales compensation. She discusses the importance of intentional and consistent actions as a sales compensation leader, explores the role of empathy in managing compensation plans, and delves into the impact simple adjustments to a compensation structure can have on sales rep behavior.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by John Waldron, Director of Total Rewards - Global Compensation at PepsiCo to discuss the evolution of sales compensation, the impact of AI, having a strategic vision for your sales compensation processes, and the four pillars of effective sales compensation design.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by Bethany Rucker, Director of Sales Operations to discuss an empathetic, people-first approach to leading high-performing teams, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in sales compensation, and how to apply principles of psychology and personal development to your work.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by Stephen Long, Head of Global Sales Compensation at Blue Yonder to explore the role of sales compensation in driving business growth and the importance of end-to-end involvement of the sales compensation team, from the design to the implementation of the go-to-market (GTM) strategy.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by Leo Rocha, Head of Incentive Design & Governance at Moody's Analytics to explore the best practices for communicating your sales compensation plan, the importance of securing buy-in from key stakeholders in the organization, and more.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nabeil Alazzam is joined by John Capin, Senior Director of Strategy, Planning & Rewards at Genesys to discuss his experience moving from the sales floor to an operations role, his involvement with sales compensation, and more.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Welcome to this special episode of the Sales Compensation Show. In this episode, we look back with great joy and pride at completing the first and highly successful season of the Sales Compensation Show. This journey would not have been possible without the participation of our ever-increasing audience base; thank you for making this show a success. With your continued support, Forma.ai will go forward and make season 2 even bigger and better.As the season finale, Forma.ai have hand-picked insights from seven guests to give a holistic view of sales compensation, including strategies, challenges, solutions, and what lies beyond the horizon in sales compensation. So sit back and enjoy the show.
Let’s meet our seven guests on today’s show:
- Nabeil Alazzam is the Founder and CEO at Forma.ai.
- Samantha Jozwik is the Sales Compensation and Analytics Manager at ICC.
- Mark Donnolo is the CEO and Managing Partner of SalesGlobe.
- Bettina Kaemmerer is a Sales Compensation Expert at Bee-Comp.
- Christoffer Goff is an Author, Speaker, and Founder of Sales Compensation Guy.
- Nick Lee is a Professor at the Warwick Business School.
- Maria Oczko-Canant is the Head of Global Sales Planning at Workiva.
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Vince DaCosta, Director of Global Sales Compensation Strategy, Operations and Systems at Databricks, joins host Justin Lane to discuss the complexities of sales compensation management, data quality, and business operations. Vince gives insights into best practices for assessing and improving compensation programs, the importance of collaboration and continuous improvement, and the significance of quality data.
Vince has a comprehensive history of successful strategic projects. He has over ten years of experience managing complex sales performance initiatives across multiple industries. Vince has directed annual (+$200M budget) Sales Compensation programs and managed various national remote Sales Compensation and Operations teams. He is the Director of Global Sales Compensation Strategy, Operations & Systems at Data Bricks. The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Maria Oczko Canant, Head of Global Sales Planning at Workiva, joins host Justin Lane to discuss a wide range of topics that pivot around key aspects of sales compensation, including designing, implementing, and monitoring sales compensation plans. Maria shares her insights on how sales compensation can help achieve broader marketing goals and improve sales compensation administration.
Maria Oczko Canant is an experienced sales performance and compensation management professional with over fifteen years of helping organizations automate and optimize complex sales compensation programs, plans, and processes. Through her work, she focuses on increasing sales performance and decreasing the cost of sales. Currently, she is the Head of Global Sales Planning at Workiva.
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Shiv Walia, Senior Manager of Global Sales Compensation and Sales Operation Manager at Mindbody, joins host Justin Lane to discuss a wide range of topics centered around sales compensation, including the importance of aligning sales compensation plans with corporate goals and future trends in sales compensation management. Shiv also touches on the metrics to track for evaluating the results of sales plans.
Shiv Walia has over a decade's experience in sales compensation with a demonstrated history of working in the wellness, SaaS, and computer technology industries. He is skilled in sales strategy planning, compensation, productivity, capacity planning, data analysis and GTM planning.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Nick Lee, Professor at Warwick Business School, joins host Justin Lane to discuss a wide range of cutting-edge studies that will impact different elements of sales, like compensation and incentive planning. Nick also shares insights from his study on the phenomenon of hot hand in selling and how we can use the findings to improve team performance by up to eighteen percent.
Nick Lee is a Professor at Warwick Business School, where he teaches marketing, sales, and research methods to MBA, executive, and doctoral students. He is also a strategic advisor at Datamind London and an honorary fellow at the Association of Professional Sales.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Christopher Goff, Founder, Author and Speaker at Sales Compensation Guy, joins host Justin Lane to discuss a wide range of topics ranging from why some common sales compensation practices aren’t best practices and the issue of salary transparency at companies. They also discuss the role of sales compensation at not-for-profit organizations and how to structure compensation for median and top performers.
Christopher Goff is a Certified Compensation Professional with over fifteen years of experience in sales operations and compensation functions, ranging from quota setting, developing salary structures development, sales compensation design, CRM reporting and analysis. He is also an author and speaker on sales compensation. Christopher has a Master's Degree in Economics from North Carolina State University.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
On this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Justin Lane hosts Matthew Flotard, the Global Finance Head of Strategic Sales at Celonis, an organization helping companies reveal and fix inefficiencies they can’t yet see.
Matthew is an exceptional strategic leader, passionate about building partnerships across organizations to create alignment. Prior to Celonis, he was the Global Go-To-Market Strategy Leader at Medidata Solutions, a position he held at the time of the episode’s recording. He was also a Sales Compensation Analyst at Stryker!
In this episode, Matthew delves into best practices for rollout and communication in the field, Medidata’s thought process in switching from TCV to ACV, how to handle contract cancellations, the concept of best practices and toolkits in relation to various contexts within the field, etc.
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Bettina Kaemmerer joins Justin Lane on the latest episode of The Sales Compensation Show.
Bettina is the Founder of Bee-Comp, a global sales compensation company that serves as an independent performance & sales incentive compensation advisor.
She is an exceptional sales compensation executive with remarkable skills in sales compensation design, operation, performance improvement, team leadership, change management, project management, integrations, go-to-market coverage models, forecasting, business analysis, and streamlined process administration. She is also exceptional in taking company strategy and translating it into Sales Compensation Plan Design. She comprehends the “big picture” and executes the organizational vision while still being able to provide hands-on assistance/supervision in the execution of the fine details.
In this episode, Bettina talks about things to consider when designing sales compensation plans for different countries, the front-row seat function of sales compensation, applying technology in sales compensation, and matching the right talent to the right position.
The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Mark Donnolo joins Justin Lane on the latest episode of The Sales Compensation Show. Mark is the Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner of SalesGlobe, a leading sales effectiveness consulting and innovation firm focused on designing and implementing strategies for revenue growth.Mark is focused on helping leaders rethink their sales challenges, and he has decades of hands-on experience helping companies and leaders with a focus on data-driven and creative problem-solving to reach new performance levels. He speaks on sales and marketing topics, and he has been published in numerous business periodicals and books. He is the author of The Innovative Sale, Quotas!, What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation, and Essential Account Planning. Mark hosts the Rethink Sales Podcast and is a certified LinkedIn Learning Instructor.In this episode, Mark talks about streamlining sales compensation across the board, connecting strategy to salespersons, the economic benefit of sales compensation and its metrics, and how to incentivize salespeople to influence sales within their control.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
The theme for this episode of The Sales Compensation Show is the evolution of sales compensation across industries and the guidelines for designing a good Sales Performance Management Plan, which helps sales reps achieve targets and the company to achieve its overall business growth objectives. TSCS host, Justin Lane, speaks with Dr. Robert Bieshaar, who outlines the nuts and bolts of developing an effective sales compensation plan based on the historical performance of sales reps coupled with AI. The idea is to create a win-win solution that motivates the sales reps and helps the company achieve its growth objective.
Dr. Robert Bieshaar has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and is a Senior Director at Autodesk in charge of sales incentive compensation roles and mergers and acquisitions. He has spent over eight years at Autodesk, a software company for design and engineering. Before his tenure at Autodesk, he was Microsoft's Worldwide Sales Incentive Compensation Director. He was also the Engagement Director and VP of Customer Advocacy for Central Europe at Openwave, a software innovator.
Tune in to the full episode to learn more about developing efficient sales compensation plans from Robert Bieshaar and his insights on the topic.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, TSCS host, Justin Lane, speaks with Samantha Jozwik to discuss the importance of data in enabling an organization's sales compensation plan, which improves employee performance and the company's bottom line.Samantha Jozwik is a Sales Compensation and Analytic Manager at Intermedia Cloud Communications. The firm focuses on helping thousands of businesses connect better through chats, video calling, business email, etc. Samantha has been finding ways to improve compensation plans for the past few years. Though new to the sales compensation business, she has been at the forefront of bringing into place compensation strategies that help employees make better sales. She is always working on compensation models to make businesses better.
Listen to the full episode above to hear more from Samantha Jozwik about how good compensation plans can improve a salesperson's performance.The Sales Compensation Show is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
The theme for October on The Sales Compensation Show is the benefit of a Good Sales Compensation Plan in business growth. TSCS host, Justin Lane, speaks with Donya Rose to discuss how to map out a Sales Compensation plan for employees of an organization and the benefits of a good compensation plan on the morals of sales reps.Donya Rose is the Managing Principal at Cygnal Group, a consulting firm that focuses on designing sales compensation plans and is based in the USA. Rose has been designing compensation for the past 25 years. Throughout her career, she has always been at the forefront of developing and putting into place business systems that help employees make sales in places like the USA, Canada, and many others around the world. She is always working to improve her methods for making businesses better, and she is happy to share them with everyone.
Listen to the full episode above to hear more from Donya Rose about the role of a good compensation plan in ensuring business success.
Paul Reiman joins Justin Lane on the latest episode of The Sales Compensation Show. Paul is the Founder and Managing Partner at Novo Insights, a technology-enabled services and retained advisory solutions company that helps growing companies address their people's priorities. Prior to Novo Insights, Paul was the Vice President of Rewards and HR Operations at CDK Global. Having spent more than a decade as an HR consultant and then more than a decade as an HR executive, Paul has a unique perspective on how organizations work and can invest in efficient growth. Known as a huge data nerd and someone who can laugh at work. Paul's teams, coworkers, and clients can attest to the impact he can make.In this episode, Paul talks about the challenges in developing a data-driven sales compensation process, the metrics that should be used in creating a sales compensation plan, and methods for compensating salespeople.
The theme for October on The Sales Compensation Show is the role of a Good Sales Compensation Plan in business growth. TSCS host, Justin Lane, speaks with Nabeil Alazzam to discuss how a sales compensation plan, if well-thought-out, improves the sales team's performance individually and the benefits of the sales compensation plan on increasing business revenue.
Nabeil Alazzam is the Founder and CEO of Forma.ai, a consulting firm that focuses on creating sales compensation plans that drive good business results. Nabeil has been advising companies on the need for a good compensation plan. His career spans more than ten years. During this period, he has been designing sales compensation plans for companies after he noticed the effects of a bad compensation plan on the sales team. His clientele list includes major 500 fortune companies in the business sector. His sales compensation plan helps sales reps improve in meeting targets and making more from it. His main goal is to create sales compensation plans that drive predictable and repeatable business results through the use of science.
Listen to the full episode above to hear more from Nabeil Alazzam about the benefits of a compensation plan in improving sales team performance.