Paying on What Sellers Can Control

In this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, our hosts John Kaplan and John McMahon dive into the intricacies of sales compensation plans with special guest Jose Fernandez, co-founder of Easy Comp. The discussion covers the primary purpose of sales compensation plans, the impact of incentives on sales behavior, and various strategies for aligning sales incentives with company goals. Jose shares examples from his experience at MongoDB, Intap, and Google, highlighting how tailored compensation plans can drive desired behaviors and increase sales productivity. The episode also touches on the challenges of transitioning to consumption-based models and the importance of clear, motivational, and actionable compensation plans for sales teams.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Connect with Jose Fernandez.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseluisfernandez/

Learn more about EasyComp: https://www.easycomp.ai/

Read the Guide on Six Critical Priorities for Revenue Leadership in 2026: https://hubs.li/Q03JN74V0

Read the Guide on Winning Government Contracts: https://bit.ly/3UYAOvO

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HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT

[00:01:44] Understanding Sales Compensation Plans
[00:01:59] Driving Sales Behavior with Compensation
[00:06:43] Aligning Compensation with Company Strategy
[00:08:50] Simplifying Compensation Plans
[00:12:19] Planning and Implementing Effective Compensation Plans
[00:20:31] Leveraging Technology in Compensation Planning
[00:27:01] Incentivizing Overachievers and Managing Churn
[00:32:42] Understanding Sales Performance Metrics
[00:33:49] The Debate on Sales Compensation Caps
[00:35:30] Challenges with Sales Compensation Plans
[00:36:46] Coaching Technical Founders on Sales
[00:38:07] Celebrating Big Wins in Sales
[00:45:32] The Role of Technology in Sales Compensation
[00:49:01] The Shift to Consumption-Based Models
[01:00:16] The Importance of Collaboration in Sales
[01:01:26] Introducing EZ Comp and Its Mission

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:02:04] "Incentives drive behavior, and it does it in a very strong way."
[00:03:09] "The first place they're going to go to figure out what they're supposed to do is their compensation letter."
[00:05:14] "Simplicity is key. If they have to write it down, it's never gonna work."
[00:06:36] "The number one way to lose sellers: comp plans that don’t represent things I have control over."
[00:31:05] "Any good sales rep, really the top-notch salespeople, are not going to your company if you have a cap in the sales plan."
[00:34:41] "If they're not getting value, they're turning it off. That's number one in consumption."
[01:06:53] "AI is gonna unleash wave after wave of business transformation, and we want to be part of those waves."

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