The Sales Compensation Show
Aligning sales comp with strategy, not just products (with Stephen Long)
December 2, 2025
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.
In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, global sales compensation expert Stephen Long joins Forma.ai CEO Nabeil Alazzam to unpack what really breaks inside sales compensation plans—long before a single payout runs.

They dig into how unclear end goals, weak data infrastructure, and rushed quotas quietly erode trust, invite gaming, and push reps to work around the plan instead of through it. Stephen shares practical patterns from decades in global sales comp, plus concrete examples of redesigning incentives around contract “health,” not just top line numbers.

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If you enjoy the show, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow sales compensation leader.


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