Business Growth Strategies For CEOs: Top CMOs On Marketing Strategy Implementations

Outsider Insights | The Comp Plan Is Quietly Telling Your Sales Team Not to Hunt

Fri, Jul 24, 2026 | Posted by Dawn Werry

Executive Takeaways

Sales reps focus on what they're paid and measured on, even if that strays from business strategy and goals.
Many compensation plans and account structures quietly reward protecting revenue, not creating it.
Adding a quota target without changing the underlying structure just adds pressure, not pipeline.
Fixing this starts with the comp plan and account map, not a pep talk about hustle.

Outsider Insights

Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.

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Growth Opportunity: The Demand Chain

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Growth Insights for CEOs