The Sales Compensation Show

Forma.ai
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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.

  1. How Netflix runs sales compensation: Designing for culture, deciding with speed

    FEB 4

    How Netflix runs sales compensation: Designing for culture, deciding with speed

    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.

    38 min
  2. Expedia Group's sales compensation playbook: Designing for one direction

    JAN 19

    Expedia Group's sales compensation playbook: Designing for one direction

    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.

    40 min
  3. Stop fixing comp plans—fix the system: Trustpilot’s approach to durable incentives

    JAN 5

    Stop fixing comp plans—fix the system: Trustpilot’s approach to durable incentives

    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.

    37 min
  4. From payout crisis to global playbooks: Turning comp chaos into repeatable systems

    12/15/2025

    From payout crisis to global playbooks: Turning comp chaos into repeatable systems

    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.

    40 min
  5. Aligning sales comp with strategy, not just products (with Stephen Long)

    12/02/2025

    Aligning sales comp with strategy, not just products (with Stephen Long)

    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.

    32 min
  6. Inside Rogers’ Sales Comp Engine: How Les Reif Runs Incentives at National Scale

    11/17/2025

    Inside Rogers’ Sales Comp Engine: How Les Reif Runs Incentives at National Scale

    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.

    36 min
  7. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation in sales: Ryan Farber on pay curves, quotas, and culture

    11/03/2025

    Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation in sales: Ryan Farber on pay curves, quotas, and culture

    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.

    45 min
  8. FBI-grade influence for compensation leaders: how to reduce friction & win buy-in

    10/21/2025

    FBI-grade influence for compensation leaders: how to reduce friction & win buy-in

    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.

    37 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Forma.ai
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    56
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyrights © 2024 All Rights Reserved by Forma.ai
  • Show Website
    The Sales Compensation Show