Sales Comp Decoded

Thinking about hiring your first salesperson? Many founders and small business owners reach the same point. You are doing the selling, delivering, invoicing, following up, and managing customers yourself — and the idea of hiring someone on commission-only starts to feel like the smart, low-risk move. But commission-only is not always as low-risk as it looks. In this episode of Sales Compensation D...

ristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi made two very different compensation choices. One leaned toward guaranteed cash and certainty. The other reportedly included upside participation connected to commercial growth and value creation. But this is not really a football debate. It is a compensation design lesson. In this episode, I break down what these two deals teach us about guaranteed pay, variable...

In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded, Abimbola follows the journey from leadership intention to signed plan and explores where good ideas are most often lost. A company may begin with a clear ambition to grow enterprise sales, encourage longer contracts, improve profitability, or strengthen collaboration. But as that ambition moves through measures, formulas, financial modelling, stakeholder revi...

What happens when a seller reaches target, still has strong opportunities in the pipeline, but the compensation plan gives them very little reason to keep going? In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded, Abimbola explores how payout curves shape behaviour at every stage of performance. Thresholds can create cliffs, accelerators can either pull sellers forward or sit too far out of reach, and caps can...

How much of a salesperson’s income should depend on performance? Two roles can advertise the same target earnings while creating very different levels of financial security. The difference sits inside the pay mix: how much is fixed salary, how much is variable pay, and who carries the risk when sales do not go as planned. In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded, Abimbola explores why pay mix is not...

In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded, Abimbola explores how salespeople make everyday choices based on the economic signals inside their pay plan. A seller may choose the easier product, the faster deal, or the safer customer, even when leadership wants a different outcome. The episode looks at why compensation design should begin with behaviour rather than the commission rate, how measures and w...

Sometimes the job changes quietly. The title stays the same. The team stays the same. The pay plan still processes payouts. But underneath the surface, the work has become broader, heavier, and more complex. A seller who was once focused mainly on new customers may now be expected to protect long-term customer value. A customer success role may now carry expansion expectations. A sales manager may...

Commission often feels simple: when someone helps the business win revenue, the company shares part of that success with them. But behind every commission plan is a promise. It tells the seller what kind of performance will be rewarded, when the reward is earned, and what the company believes that performance is worth. The challenge is that different people can read the same plan and understand th...

A sales compensation plan does more than calculate pay. It sends signals. It tells sellers what deserves their attention, what the company truly values, and what kind of performance will actually be rewarded. So when leadership talks about profitable growth, customer retention, or better long term value, but the compensation plan still rewards something else, the field notices. And once they notic...

Most sales compensation plans were not truly designed. They were inherited, adjusted, patched, and carried forward until no one could fully explain why they work the way they do. In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded, Abimbola explores the uncomfortable question many companies avoid: when was your sales compensation plan last truly designed? Not simply updated or reviewed, but designed with intent...

In this episode of Sales Comp Decoded , Abimbola Olayiwola, founder of Compswell, explores what sales compensation is really doing inside a business. Many companies treat sales compensation as a formula, a commission rate, or a payout calculation. But a pay plan does much more than calculate earnings. It shapes behaviour, communicates strategy, and either builds or breaks trust. Through the story...

Sales Comp Decoded is a practical podcast by Compswell for leaders, founders, sales operations, HR, finance, and compensation professionals who want to understand sales incentives without complexity. Each episode unpacks the logic, behaviour, history, and future of sales compensation, from quotas and commissions to fairness, governance, pay transparency, and AI. Hosted by Abimbola Olayiwola, found...