The psychology of sales incentives: What the research says with Johannes Habel
August 17, 2026
Sales compensation is certainly influences behavior. But what does academic research tell us about the behavior it creates? In this episode, University of Houston Associate Professor Johannes Habel joins Nabeil Alazzam to explore the underlying psychology behind seller performance, including the unexpected consequences of stronger incentives, whether top performers should be compensated differently, and how AI may reshape incentives and the sales force itself.
Sales compensation leaders spend enormous amounts of time deciding which behaviors to reward, how aggressively to reward them, and how to motivate very different sellers with a common plan. But many of the assumptions underlying many decisions come from experience and convention rather than firm research.
Fortunately, Johannes Habel studies exactly this. An Associate Professor at the University of Houston, Johannes researches sales management, seller psychology, and performance. In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, he joins Forma.ai Founder and CEO Nabeil Alazzam for a research-backed exploration of what makes sellers perform best and what incentives can change beyond the number on an attainment report.
The two examine one of the fundamental assumptions behind sales compensation: that stronger incentives should create more effort. Research shows they can. But Johannes explains another factor they've discovered matters just as much, including research suggesting highly aggressive incentives can change how sellers interact with customers and even contribute to worse downstream outcomes.
The conversation also gets into the differences between sellers themselves. Are extroverts better at sales? Should high performers and lower performers receive the same incentive structures? What happens when a top seller reaches an incentive cap? And how far could organizations eventually go in personalizing incentives to the individual seller, deal, or market?
Tune in to hear Johannes and Nabeil explore:
- Which types of salespeople perform best? (and whether a 10X style seller is born or made)
- What happens as incentives become more aggressive?
- Whether high performers need different incentive structures
- If there's a true one-size-fits-all incentive plan
- The potential of more dynamic, personalized sales incentives
- How manager conversations influence whether sellers actually understand and use their plans
- What AI and agentic technology could mean for sales productivity, incentive design, and the future size of the sales force
They also tackle a question every sales compensation leader encounters eventually: when performance isn't where the business wants it to be, is compensation actually the problem?
Listen to the full conversation for Johannes' research-backed perspective on seller psychology, incentive design, high performers, dynamic compensation, AI, and the future of sales performance management.
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