Driving Sales Behavior with Effective Compensation Plans with Jose Fernandez

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Oct 16, 2025

Jose Fernandez, co-founder of EasyComp and former sales ops leader at MongoDB and Google, explores the art of sales compensation plans. He reveals how well-designed incentives can drive seller behavior and align with company strategy. From simplifying plans to the importance of clarity, he emphasizes the need for actionable and motivational structures. Jose discusses the challenges of consumption-based models and shares tech tools for real-time visibility in compensation. His insights can transform how organizations motivate sales teams and boost productivity.

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ADVICE

Show Reps Real‑Time Pay For Deals

Use tools that show reps expected pay per deal in near real time so they know the outcome before closing.
Avoid over‑complexity that forces reps to pull out calculators during customer conversations.

ADVICE

Keep A Discretionary SPIF Bucket

Reserve a discretionary incentive bucket (SPIF/recognition) to address unplanned priorities like acquisitions or new products.
Keep the bucket locked and accountable to avoid budget overruns while enabling tactical pushes.

INSIGHT

Sellers Optimize Effort Versus Reward

Sellers constantly balance effort versus reward and will avoid harder tasks unless compensation compensates fairly.
You must overpay for difficult but strategic behaviors (e.g., new logos) to drive them.

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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

Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to receive new episodes straight to your inbox: https://hubs.li/Q02R10xN0

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."

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

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