AI Won't Fix This: The Real-World Guide to Sales Incentives That Actually Drive Revenue

Incentive compensation is one of the most expensive, time-consuming and politically sensitive systems in your go-to-market (GTM) engine. And for all that investment, it’s still one of the least understood.

That’s the problem tackled head-on in this conversation between Matt Gahr, AVP of Global Sales at Salesforce Spiff, Chris Fezza, Founder & CEO of Operatus, and moderator Matthew Volm, CEO of RevOps Co-op.

Their mission? Break down how high-performing orgs actually manage incentive compensation—and why getting it right is critical not just for seller motivation, but for revenue forecasting, efficiency, and long-term customer value.

Whether you're still managing comp in spreadsheets, debating the right quota structure, or rolling out usage-based pricing, this session is your tactical guide to doing incentive compensation right.

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Check out the related Guide to Strategic Sales Compensation for Real Growth.

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You’ve Outgrown Spreadsheets - Even If You Don’t Know It Yet

Both Gahr and Fezza agree: most companies wait far too long before ditching spreadsheets.

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Here’s when they say it’s time to upgrade:

• You’ve got 25+ commissionable reps or 3+ unique comp plans—that’s the operational tipping point.
• You’re seeing an uptick in commission disputes, especially around complex deals.
• Finance is bogged down with manual adjustments, and reps are spending time modeling their own payouts.
• Your GTM motion includes multiple products, pricing tiers or consumption models.

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“The moment your salespeople are spending more time in Excel than in Salesforce, you’ve got a comp problem.” – Chris Fezza, CEO at Operatus

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And if you think reps aren’t modeling their own payouts in rogue spreadsheets? Think again.

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“Every sales rep has a second screen—a spreadsheet they use to calculate what they think they’ll earn. And it’s almost always wrong.” – Matt Gahr, AVP of Global Sales at Salesforce Spiff

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Check out this related blog post on the In’s and Out’s of Revenue Operations Compensation.

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Real-Time Visibility Isn’t a Luxury - It’s the New Standard

One of the biggest drivers of rep disengagement isn’t low pay—it’s low visibility.

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In the poll conducted during the session, 25% of attendees said their reps don’t know what they’ve earned until payday. That’s a massive trust gap.

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When comp plans are opaque or delayed, they stop driving behavior and start breeding skepticism.

Modern comp tools like Spiff solve for this by embedding visibility directly into your CRM:

• Reps can see real-time earnings estimates tied to each opportunity.
• Sales leaders can track quota progress and forecast attainment by team, territory or deal type.
• Finance teams get automated reporting and audit trails for payouts.

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“Motivation decays the further away the reward is from the behavior. Real-time visibility closes that gap.” – Matt Gahr, Salesforce

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The Comp Maturity Curve: From Chaos to Confidence

Fezza introduces a four-phase framework for incentive comp maturity:

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1. Manual – Excel chaos, disputed payouts, zero visibility.
2. Consistent – Spreadsheets replaced by a dedicated ICM tool; core systems are integrated.
3. Data-Driven – Plan design is informed by LTV, churn, and historical performance.
4. Predictive/Autonomous – AI suggests plan optimizations, detects anomalies, and forecasts outcomes.

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Most orgs are stuck in Phase 1 or 2—but the biggest revenue impact comes from pushing into Phase 3 and beyond.

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For example, one Operatus client used data modeling to determine that customers who purchased specific product bundles had significantly higher retention. They then updated their comp plan to offer multipliers for those bundles—resulting in better NRR and higher LTV.

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This is the future of comp: tying incentive structures to strategic business outcomes, not just ACV.

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Usage-Based Pricing Requires Usage-Based Comp Thinking

The shift from annual contracts to consumption-based pricing has created new challenges—and new opportunities - for comp design.

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Gahr outlines several models now in the wild:

• Token-based pricing (like OpenAI or Anthropic)
• API calls or GPU minutes (like Algolia or Snowflake)
• Outcome-based pricing (e.g. pay-per-ticket-resolved in customer service tools)

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These require hybrid comp plans that might combine:

• An upfront payout on initial contract value
• A clawback or true-up based on actual usage at 6-12 months
• Incentives for adoption and cross-sell over time

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“This is where RevOps earns their keep—figuring out how to tie new revenue models to comp structures that still drive the right behavior.” – Matt Gahr, Salesforce

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Check out this related blog post Tackling the Operational Complexities of Usage-Based Pricing

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Stop Thinking of Incentive Comp as a Sales-Only Problem

High-performing GTM orgs know that incentives shouldn’t stop with sellers.

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Here’s what cross-functional incentive alignment looks like in practice:

• Marketing: Paid on pipeline from Tier 1 ICP accounts or pipeline acceleration metrics—not just MQLs.
• Sales: Core comp tied to ARR with spiffs for multi-year deals or strategic product adoption.
• Customer Success: Comp tied to NRR, expansion, or product adoption that drives retention.
• Finance: Variable bonus pools aligned to Rule of 40, CAC efficiency or LTV/CAC ratios.

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Fezza emphasizes that quality alignment between marketing, sales and CS can improve forecast accuracy, reduce churn and boost profit margins.

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“Comp is one of the few levers that touches every GTM function. Treating it as a siloed sales problem is a missed opportunity.” – Chris Fezza, Operatus

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Check out this related blog post on Payment Plan Options for Customer Success.

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Modern Tech Stack, Smarter Workflows

What does a modern incentive stack actually look like?

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Gahr outlines the essentials:

• CRM integration – Your comp system should live inside Salesforce or HubSpot, not next to it.
• CPQ/Quote sync – Reps can forecast earnings while building deals in real-time.
• Admin efficiency – Finance can run calculations, generate reports, and trace disputes with minimal effort.
• Rep transparency – Sellers know what they’re earning—and why—before the paycheck hits.

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“We’re not trying to replace spreadsheets with another siloed tool. We’re embedding incentives into the flow of work.” – Matt Gahr, Salesforce

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Bonus Section: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Fezza lists a few common mistakes he sees RevOps teams make:

• Overcomplicating plans to satisfy every stakeholder—leads to confusion and reduced adoption.
• Setting unattainable quotas—destroys trust and leads to burnout.
• Ignoring seasonal or ICP behavior—missing opportunities to align incentives with actual buyer activity.

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His advice: design plans that are simple, aligned to business goals, and flexible enough to adapt quarterly.

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Final Takeaways

Incentive comp doesn’t have to be a black box. When done right, it becomes one of the most powerful levers in your GTM strategy—fueling better decisions, happier reps, and more reliable revenue.

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Here’s how to get started:

• Audit your current maturity stage. Are you manual, integrated, or data-driven?
• Bring incentives into the flow of work. Visibility drives behavior.
• Align comp across functions. Sales, marketing and CS should be rowing in the same direction.
• Start small, iterate fast. Perfect is the enemy of profitable.

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As the GTM world evolves with AI, usage-based pricing, and cross-functional buying committees, the companies that thrive will be the ones who stop treating compensation like an afterthought—and start treating it like strategy.

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Want to go deeper?

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