Join Erin Mayer, a litigation attorney with expertise in defending (and preventing) lawsuits filed by sales employees for a session designed to help you understand common pitfalls in sales compensation practices.

Erin will highlight actions that many sales organizations believe protect them but, in reality, may increase their risk of legal action. They will provide high-level insights into how to avoid these mistakes and keep your sales compensation plans legally sound.

Key Takeaways

• Learn why a written, enforceable sales compensation agreement is essential for protecting your organization.
• Identify the top 8 legal red flags when creating or implementing sales comp plans.
• Gain practical tips for drafting, reviewing, and communicating plan terms to stay compliant and avoid disputes.

Managing sales compensation at a global organization is no small feat. Between thousands of 
sellers, regional plan variations, local regulatory requirements, teams with diverse skillsets to 
lead, and so much more, sales comp leaders must balance strategic impact with operational 
efficiency. Ensuring compliance and fairness, driving adoption of new plans, and leveraging data 
to optimize performance are all critical – but incredibly complex – tasks.

This panel brings together experts in sales compensation to share how they tackle these 
challenges at some of the world’s most sophisticated organizations. You’ll hear from sales 
compensation leaders at Siemens, Databricks, and Autodesk, along with Forma.ai’s CEO, as 
they discuss best practices for structuring and scaling comp teams, handling global complexity, 
and using technology and analytics to maximize sales impact.

Brought to you by: Forma.AI

Usage-based pricing is set to become the standard for AI solutions, transforming how companies structure sales compensation. Shifting from traditional contract-based models presents challenges, but also opportunities to drive alignment and success. In this session, you’ll gain insights from three key perspectives:

1. Best practices for compensating sellers on usage-based models
2. A real-world case study demonstrating these principles in action
3. Peer knowledge sharing to refine strategies and uncover new approaches

Key Takeaways

• Learn the fundamentals of building effective usage-based compensation plans
• See real-world examples of these plans in action
• Gain new ideas and insights from peer experiences

Traditionally, sales compensation plans are reviewed and updated on an annual basis. However, the rapid pace of change in customer markets and product availability—driven by factors such as public policy shifts, tariffs, cultural dynamics, talent availability, and economic fluctuations—demands a more agile approach. Leadership must be prepared to respond to requests for updates not only within the current plan cycle but also for future periods.
This session will feature insights from experienced sales compensation leaders on the critical importance of establishing a widely understood governance policy. Such a policy serves as a guiding framework to navigate the evolving business landscape, ensuring that sales incentive plan design and execution remain effective. Gain actionable strategies and real-world examples on how to adapt your sales compensation plan to thrive amidst continuous change.
Key Takeaways

• Understand three key reasons governance is critical for timely adjustments to a sales compensation plan
• Learn guiding principles for writing a governance policy for sales compensation
• Identify the primary sections to include in a Sales Governance Policy
   

More than 50% of incentive compensation professionals aren’t yet leveraging AI in their work or personal lives—yet AI is already transforming how organizations make decisions, drive efficiency, and optimize performance. While concerns about job displacement are common, the real risk lies in being left behind by not adopting this technology. Professionals who embrace AI are more productive, better equipped to analyze complex data, and positioned as indispensable contributors to their organizations.

Key Takeaways:

• Build a compelling case for integrating AI into your work.
• Navigate common barriers to AI adoption within your organization.
• Identify practical, easy-to-implement AI tools to boost productivity and efficiency today.
• See real examples of AI at work to augment the work you do today

Whether you’re just beginning to explore AI or looking to deepen its application in your daily work, you’ll leave this session with actionable strategies to future-proof your role and stay ahead of this rapidly evolving landscape.

What if compensation were based on the value individuals create? How would you evaluate performance, contribution, and impact? And how would you compare different roles?

This session explores a thought-provoking, non-traditional approach to compensating employees. A framework for determining value will be proposed, with specific examples and points of comparison provided. To bring the concept to life, a range of professions will be examined through this model, and the audience will be invited to rank them.

For HR, the focus shifts to viewing individuals as raw materials, with the roles they perform as byproducts. The higher the economic value of a role, the more compensation it would command. If many people can fill a role, its price sensitivity would be low.

Much like a TED talk, this session challenges conventional thinking and sparks lively discussion. Audience participation will be encouraged throughout, allowing attendees to both agree with and challenge the ideas presented.

Key Takeaways

• Explore alternative models to traditional job evaluation and pay range establishment
• Learn how to assess economic value and price sensitivity in compensation
• Compare and contrast traditional versus non-traditional methodologies for job evaluation and pay setting

SPIFs—Good or Bad? This session explores the pros and cons of short-term sales incentives and introduces an innovative tool: the SPIF Success Scorecard. We’ll draw parallels between SPIFs and everyday incentives like flash sales and loss leaders, highlighting how these tactics can drive short-term gains but also come with risks such as overpayment and misaligned focus.

At the heart of the discussion is the SPIF Success Scorecard—a five-dimensional framework designed to evaluate SPIF effectiveness across five key metrics: short-term impact, focus, self-funding/positive ROI, rarity, and simplicity and clarity.

This tool helps organizations model the desired outcomes, set appropriate incentive rates, and ensure SPIFs deliver measurable, cost-effective benefits without diverting attention from core sales activities.

By showcasing this tool, the session offers a strategic approach to designing SPIFs that work, ensuring they maximize value while minimizing potential pitfalls.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to use the SPIF Success Scorecard to evaluate effectiveness and align incentives with strategic goals.
• Design purposeful, measurable SPIFs by focusing on outcomes, ROI, and sales alignment.
• Avoid SPIF fatigue with smart structures and targeted use to maximize impact and minimize waste.

Sales compensation plans are designed to deliver numerous benefits, but when they multiply without control, they lead to complexity, inefficiency, and misalignment. In this session, we’ll explore a real-world transformation at JLL, where they cataloged, analyzed, and consolidated seller incentive plans across North America. This process uncovered duplicative structures, governance gaps, and misaligned performance thresholds.

By using an interactive dashboard to visualize these findings, JLL laid the groundwork for a global initiative aimed at streamlining incentives, reducing administrative burden and implementation costs, and strengthening strategic alignment.

Key Takeaways

• Identify common pitfalls in incentive design and governance
• Build the business case for rationalization, focusing on ROI, cost savings, and improved effectiveness
• Learn how to assess and document incentive plans effectively
• Gain insights from lessons learned in scaling from regional to global initiatives

 Incentive programs often falter, not due to flaws in the compensation models, but because the data driving those models is riddled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies. This session delves into how data integrity issues can silently undermine the effectiveness of sales compensation plans and provides actionable strategies to address these hidden challenges.
We’ll explore real-world case studies where improving data—not just tweaking incentive structures—made the most significant difference. Discover how organizations can streamline their processes without the need for costly new systems, by leveraging existing resources, automation, and intelligent incentive management tools.
Join us to rethink your approach to data within your sales compensation strategy and leave equipped with the tools to ensure your incentive programs deliver the results you’re aiming for

Key Takeaways

• Understand how data inconsistencies silently disrupt your incentive programs and hurt sales performance.
• Learn practical tactics for verifying data quality, anomaly detection, and setting up monitoring systems without overhauling your current infrastructure.
• Discover how automation and RPA (Robotic Process Automation) can fix data discrepancies from the source to streamline manual adjustments.
• Equip your organization to handle data preparation and adjustments within your existing incentive systems for better accuracy and analyst satisfaction.
   

We all have beliefs, rules of thumb, and benchmarks about pay mix. For example, reps with short cycles tend to have more aggressive pay mixes to motivate them to sell more. Right?

Maybe not.

In this session, we’ll explore the critical distinction between pay mix and actual at-risk pay. You’ll learn how to analyze your own plan designs and identify opportunities to drive better alignment with your sales roles, ensuring more effective compensation strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Challenge conventional rules of thumb about pay mix
• Analyze your actual at-risk pay and compare it to your designed pay mix
• Gain practical strategies to improve alignment between sales roles and at-risk pay

 In this session, you’ll gain insight into 7 key sales job factors that may require you to update your sales compensation plans. Discover how growth rate, revenue segment planning, sales processes, role objectives, sales methods, sales channels, and AI all influence the effectiveness of your pay plans.

Before diving into market data and formula design, learn how to ask the right questions of sales leadership to assess the alignment of your sales compensation strategies. These 7 job factors will help you initiate the right conversations and ensure your compensation plans are properly aligned with organizational goals.

Key Takeaways

• Understand how job factors influence sales compensation design
• Improve engagement with senior management through informed strategic conversations
• Transition from a data/formula role to a strategic partner in compensation planning

For those who exceed quota, accelerated payouts seem like a straightforward incentive. But is it really that simple? How much acceleration should you offer? How many accelerators should be included in the payout curve? Are there conditions to prevent costs from spiraling out of control? And is there ever a case for deceleration? Does the answer change between monthly vs. annual plans?
There are clear, evidence-based answers to all of these questions—rooted in the behavioral principles that drive sales motivation, combined with practical cost management strategies for compensation.
In this session, we’ll take a step-by-step approach to determining which metrics should have accelerators, where to place them on the payout curve, how fast to accelerate, and how to assess whether adjustments are needed for next year.
Bring your ideas, tough questions, and unresolved internal debates about acceleration. Together, we’ll dive into this essential sales compensation topic, and everyone will walk away with new insights and experience.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to identify the performance range for a specific measure and align it with sales goals.
• Understand how pay mix interacts with acceleration to drive desired sales outcomes.
• Explore the ideal payout curve shapes for effectively communicating and motivating your sales team.
   

Changes to sales compensation are rarely simple. Most years, companies approach the process cautiously, making incremental adjustments to avoid unintended consequences. However, few events drive significant, rapid change like a large acquisition or the post-merger integration of two distinct sales plans or models.

There is a time-tested playbook for anticipating and managing the challenges that come with mergers and acquisitions. Mastering this playbook can yield significant rewards for savvy leaders, enabling them to navigate complexities and align compensation strategies effectively in times of transition.

Key Takeaways

• Identify common sales compensation pitfalls during mergers and acquisitions
• Learn how to align comp strategy with the deal’s investment thesis and goals
• Get a practical playbook for assessing and integrating sales comp post-deal

As sales organizations grow through mergers, acquisitions, or the expansion of product offerings and customer segments, they often end up with diverse, complex, and sometimes convoluted incentive programs. Eventually, the idea of simplifying these plans becomes overwhelming.

In this session, we will explore the key factors that contribute to this complexity and offer a step-by-step approach to transforming your sales compensation structure. We’ll cover the creation of a dedicated core design team, how to develop a template and set design criteria, and identifying the initial sales group to address first.
The simplification approach will guide decisions around roles, base/incentive mix, performance metrics, weighting, and plan structure in a streamlined model.
Next, we’ll focus on creating plan design standards that complement the simplified model and clarify role expectations. The syndication model will show how to roll out the new designs across all groups, ensuring participant enrollment and buy-in. Finally, we’ll discuss how to automate this simplified system, reducing administrative burdens while boosting sales focus and results.

Key Takeaways

• Identify where to begin your sales compensation transformation and which roles or teams to prioritize first for maximum impact
• Apply a proven audit framework and templated methodology to simplify complex plans and uncover hidden inefficiencies
• Leverage standardization and cross-functional syndication to drive consistency in design, performance expectations, and automation across the organization

Sales compensation systems are excellent at tracking and forecasting results, but they often fall short in providing the performance management processes needed to maximize productivity. As revenue targets outpace organizational budgets, sales teams are increasingly tasked with doing more with less.

This panel will explore how leading organizations are implementing efficient and effective performance management processes to close this gap, ensuring that sales compensation strategies directly drive revenue growth. Panelists will share actionable insights on aligning data, tools, and methodologies to foster a culture of accountability and success, even in resource-constrained environments.

Key Takeaways

• Learn the value panel participants have gained from their Performance Management Programs
• Discover how to implement similar programs within your organization (take-home handout)
• Explore thought starters on enhancing sales compensation/performance programs and the role of practitioner teams

In this session, you will discover how to leverage both advanced and basic financial modeling techniques to predict the outcomes of sales compensation plans. Learn how to apply advanced methods like bootstrap, jackknife, agent-based modeling, and AI/ML simulations, alongside foundational techniques such as analyzing past data and using Monte Carlo simulations.
These models are essential for understanding the potential cost implications of plan changes and identifying any issues with your current plan before they impact your sales team—helping you avoid costly mistakes and prevent both revenue loss and talent turnover.

Key Takeaways

• Improve cost estimation and risk identification through advanced modeling
• Learn when to apply different simulation methodologies (e.g., Monte Carlo, bootstrap, jackknife, agent-based modeling)
• Understand various advanced simulation techniques and their applications

Sales compensation programs come with a cost premium over standard "corporate" pay plans and introduce unique risks. As companies face inflation and rising costs, one of their largest internal expenses is the sales compensation program. Increasingly, organizations are asking, "Does sales compensation really work? Is it worth the cost?"

In this session, we’ll examine the impact on companies that have moved away from (either partially or entirely) their sales compensation programs. Using a mix of data, empirical evidence, and case studies, we will explore the advantages and disadvantages of sales compensation plans. You’ll learn when and how they work best, how to maximize their benefits, and when it may be time to consider alternative approaches.

Key Takeaways

• Identify the benefits of a sales compensation program and assess when they justify the cost
• Learn how to measure the effectiveness and ROI of an incentive compensation investment
• •     Understand when to transition away from sales compensation and how to manage that shift

Join us for an insightful discussion with Trent Akagi, VP of Sales Compensation and Readiness at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. With 28 years of experience, Trent has played a key role in shaping HPE’s compensation programs. His expertise lies in harnessing sales compensation as a strategic tool to tackle business challenges, spotlight key priorities, and drive both change and growth.

Trent has implemented innovative changes, including adjusting sales crediting rules to foster a strong sales culture, revising measures and weights to emphasize high-priority recurring revenue, and introducing a mega deal program to manage payouts for significant, binary deals. He will also share insights into how HPE executed these transformations and the lessons learned along the way.

Moderated by Rachel Parrinello, Sales Compensation Solutions Lead at the Alexander Group, this session will highlight how HPE’s practices align with central market trends and guiding principles. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into effective sales compensation strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Understand how sales crediting influences seller behaviors
• Learn how to use measures and mechanics to drive strategic behaviors
• Explore strategies for handling mega deals effectively
• Gain insights on successfully implementing major crediting, measurement, and policy changes

Learn how to make your sales compensation assessment and design faster and easier. Our panel, with decades of experience working with a variety of companies and sales plans, will reveal simple shortcuts that make you more effective in less time.

This session focuses on actionable content you can immediately apply with your team—no massive spreadsheets, proprietary tools, or deep dives into theory. Just practical, real-world hacks developed over years of experience to help you streamline your process and drive results.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to quickly assess the efficacy of last year’s sales plans by identifying key elements impacting performance, from Go-to-Market strategies to goal-setting.
• Walk away with actionable "how-to" instructions you can implement immediately upon returning to the office.
• Gain insights on how to prioritize sales teams—know which reps need attention, which to monitor, and which to focus on later during critical times.

As The Gorilla Glue Company’s brands, Gorilla Glue and O’Keeffe’s, experienced rapid growth, leadership faced a critical challenge: sustaining momentum, but not at the expense of one brand over the other. Complicating matters, sales strategies varied by channel, yet rewards and performance had traditionally been evaluated as a whole. To stay competitive, sales leadership needed a targeted approach to incentives—one that aligned account managers with strategic goals while preserving the company’s unique culture.
In this session, we’ll take a deep dive into The Gorilla Glue Company’s journey of refining its sales rewards strategy. Explore the key decisions, challenges, and lessons learned as the company transitioned from one growth phase to the next. Walk away with insights on how successful organizations evolve their rewards structures to drive long-term, balanced growth.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to design effective sales compensation strategies tailored for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
• Explore ways to align rewards with company culture and brand values while driving sustained growth
•  Discover key do’s and don’ts to apply when evolving your own organization’s sales incentive programs 

Embark on an exciting journey into the dynamic world of biotech sales with our interactive deep dive session, "Building the First Salesforce: Harmonizing Sales Compensation with the Unknown." Designed for HR and Sales Operations leaders, this session will explore innovative strategies and collaborative approaches essential for launching a successful salesforce in the ever-evolving biotech industry.
You will learn how to prepare for launch, sustain success, and develop key communication strategies and agility within your team. Additionally, we’ll cover the processes you need to implement for long-term success and future growth.
Join us to discover how to align sales compensation with the unknown, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and success.
 

Key Takeaways

• Design a data-driven sales compensation plan that aligns with strategic launch objectives and supports successful biotech product introductions.
• Develop adaptable compensation structures that respond to evolving market conditions and sustain long-term sales team motivation and performance.
• Apply effective communication techniques to strengthen cross-functional collaboration and enable agile, informed decision-making in dynamic biotech settings.
• Evaluate emerging trends and technologies to evolve and future-proof your sales compensation processes in a rapidly advancing industry.

The team has invested countless hours refining quotas, optimizing territories, finalizing incentive designs, and preparing plan documents—all in time for the January 1 deadline. Now, the focus shifts to communication and change management. But here’s the challenge: you’ve just discovered that there’s no communication plan in place, and no historical communications have been saved.

This simulation will present three distinct scenarios of incentive plan changes, offering actionable steps to quickly identify and prioritize the core elements needed for a rapid, successful roll-out. By integrating this tactical plan of action into your repertoire, you’ll be ready to navigate the full spectrum of sales compensation changes—whether they’re smooth, challenging, or unexpectedly complex.

Key Takeaways

• Develop a communication plan tailored to your scenario
• Understand best practices for communicating sales incentive plan changes
• Gain clarity on distilling complex changes into clear, audience-specific messaging

Let’s face it, sales crediting can quickly become a tangled mess—multiple contributors, subjective decisions, and inevitable conflicts. Who should get credit for a sale? How much should they receive? And when is the right time to award it? While recognizing contributions as close to the sale as possible is ideal for motivation, real-world complexities such as uncertain revenue, delayed payments, or team-based efforts, make it tricky.

In this session, we’ll explore practical strategies for designing a crediting system that aligns with your go-to-market model, revenue streams, and sales roles. We’ll break down key considerations for assigning credit fairly, minimizing conflict, and reducing the need for manual adjustments. Join us to untangle the challenges and create a system that works—most of the time!

Key Takeaways

• Understand when to split credit, double-credit, or withhold credit to ensure fairness and clarity.
• Learn how to balance revenue uncertainties while maintaining motivation and avoiding unintended annuities.
• Explore strategies to minimize exceptions while preserving fairness in unique situations.
• Discover how different incentive structures (commission vs. quota bonus) should shape your crediting rules.

Join Oracle’s Global Compensation and Operations leaders for a candid look at how they streamlined complex, global sales compensation programs into a single Incentive Compensation Management solution. With 25,000 sales reps on variable pay plans across a 150,000+ employee enterprise, this transformation was no small feat.
In this session, we’ll break down what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently—no sales pitches, just real insights! Learn how we balanced global and regional needs, structured teams, and tackled system setup, testing, and adoption. Discover how transparent communication, executive sponsorship, and rigorous testing kept stakeholders aligned and ensured accurate, on-time payments.
We’ll also share first-year post-implementation insights, including unexpected challenges, process improvements, and future integration plans. Plus, take part in small-group discussions with Oracle practitioners and peers to explore how these lessons can apply to your own organization.

Key Takeaways

• Map your cloud compensation journey with key steps to streamline and scale
• Optimize compensation across revenue streams for accuracy and consistency
• Strengthen governance and reduce risk with smart policies and controls
• Turn insights into action with peer discussions and practical strategies

The sales landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, with Usage-Based Pricing quickly becoming the dominant model for software and services. This transformation fundamentally changes the dynamics for sales teams and compensation structures. Traditional plans based on upfront sales volume will need to evolve.
This session will guide you through the necessary adjustments, offering innovative strategies to future-proof your sales compensation, boost sales team engagement, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.

Key Takeaways

• Understand the unique challenges of usage-based pricing for sales compensation
• Reimagine incentive structures to align with a usage-based model
• Learn proven strategies to design compensation plans that drive success
• Get practical tips for navigating the change and keeping your sales team motivated

After two days of intelligent insights and structured learning, it's time to shift gears. This final session of Sales Comp’25 puts you, the participants, at the center of the experience. You'll have the chance to shape the agenda, engage in spontaneous discussions, and collaborate with peers.

In this highly interactive session facilitated by a WorldatWork team member, you will:

• Set the Agenda: Start by proposing topics that matter most to you based on what you have heard and discussed during the preceding two days.
• Engage in Open Dialogues: Participate in informal, peer-led discussions that encourage knowledge sharing and innovative thinking. Exchange insights with fellow experts who are facing similar challenges. You’ll leave the conference with actionable plans to implement what you’ve learned fueled by connections that will continue once you head back to your day-to-day.
• Collaborate and Network: Work together in small groups to brainstorm solutions, develop new strategies, and create actionable plans. Build connections with like-minded professionals who can offer valuable perspectives and support.

This session is your opportunity to break away from the traditional conference mold and engage in a collaborative, participant-driven experience, and is the perfect opportunity to synthesize all you have learned. Come prepared to contribute, learn, and be inspired by the collective expertise of your Sales Comp’25 peers.

Session Structure:

1. Review Structure: Understand the format and objectives of the unconference.
2. Propose and Select Topics: Attendees propose topics based on their interests and needs, then select which ones to discuss. Topics can be anything from the official conference agenda or extensions of discussions from previous sessions.
3. Open Discussions: Engage in open, fluid discussions around the room. Attendees can move freely between topics, allowing for diverse input and collaboration.
4. Second Round of Discussions: Repeat the topic selection and discussion process to explore additional areas of interest.
5. Synthesize and Plan Next Steps: Reconvene to share insights from the discussions and outline actionable steps for implementing new ideas and strategies.

The goal of this unconference workshop is to empower you to choose what to discuss and with whom in a guided yet flexible manner. This is your chance to shape your own learning experience and leave Sales Comp’25 with concrete plans and new professional relationships.