GTMnow (Sales Hacker)

He's Seen 300+ Sales Comp Plans. 90% Make the Same Mistake | Siva Rajamani (Everstage CEO)

The video features Everstage CEO Siva Rajamani discussing why 90% of sales compensation plans suffer from a fundamental design flaw: they become overly complex and lose their strategic purpose. He argues that a comp plan should be the glue linking corporate goals to rep actions, not a back‑office bookkeeping exercise. Rajamani highlights three recurring problems: plans start simple but accumulate exceptions, creating ten‑plus parameters that reps can’t optimize; lack of real‑time visibility forces reps to guess their earnings, reducing motivation; and misguided AI bolt‑on experiments often lower satisfaction compared with staying the course. He cites the “60‑second rule” from LinkedIn’s John Lee—if a plan can’t be explained in a minute, it’s broken. Memorable quotes underscore the pain points: “If a comp plan needs FAQs, it’s a tax code,” and the Freshworks pricing‑change anecdote shows how misaligned incentives derail revenue. Rajamani also stresses RevOps’ shift from plumbing‑level fixes to becoming true revenue architects. The takeaway for GTM leaders is clear: simplify compensation structures, give reps instant earnings forecasts, and treat comp design as a core go‑to‑market lever. Doing so aligns behavior with strategy, drives higher quota attainment, and positions RevOps as a strategic growth engine.