Incentive design is one of the most powerful levers in RevOps.
It’s also one of the most misunderstood.
Too often, we assume that a well-structured comp plan will automatically drive results. But incentives don’t work in a vacuum—they interact with human nature, social dynamics, and team identity.
That’s why the best RevOps leaders aren’t just comp architects.
They’re behaviorists.
The key question isn’t just “What do we want to reward?”
It’s “What kind of group are we rewarding?”
Let’s break it down.
🐺 The Pack: Competitive, Agile, Status-Driven
A pack-style sales team thrives on performance hierarchy. Think wolves.
There’s a clear pecking order, healthy (or sometimes ruthless) competition, and a strong push to outperform peers.
Behavioral economics tells us that in competitive environments, relative performance matters as much—if not more—than absolute outcomes.
(Festinger, 1954; Social Comparison Theory)
🧠 Best Incentive Strategies:
- Leaderboard-based SPIFs
- Tiered bonuses (Top 10%, Top 3, Top 1)
- Recognition-driven rewards (e.g. Salesperson of the Month)
🔥 What motivates them:
Status, visibility, and the thrill of the chase
💡 Leaptree Incentivize Tip:
Use real-time leaderboards to fuel momentum. Visibility is the pack’s currency—so make it loud.
🦁 The Pride: Collaborative, Strategic, Loyal
A pride-style sales team (like lions) shares resources, celebrates group wins, and takes a more long-term, strategic view of success.
This team values cohesion. They close deals as a unit. They pass warm leads. They coach the rookies.
Research from Organizational Behavior Review shows that shared rewards increase collaboration and reduce internal friction—if team trust is already high.
🧠 Best Incentive Strategies:
- Team-based bonuses
- Split commissions for joint deals
- Milestone-based incentives (e.g. quarterly team goals)
🔥 What motivates them:
Belonging, group success, and collective recognition
💡 Leaptree Incentivize Tip:
Use goal alignment features to set up team-wide targets. Pride dynamics respond best to shared wins.
🐄 The Herd: Cautious, Risk-Aware, Process-Driven
A herd-style sales team isn’t a knock—they’re pragmatic, metrics-driven, and risk-averse by nature.
This group excels with predictable systems and low-variance incentives. They don’t chase lions—they optimize grazing patterns. Think: sales teams in highly regulated industries, or long-cycle B2B environments.
According to Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), risk-averse individuals respond better to guaranteed gains than probabilistic rewards.
🧠 Best Incentive Strategies:
- Guaranteed tiered bonuses
- Low-risk accelerators (e.g. modest uplift at quota milestones)
- Process adherence incentives (CRM hygiene, forecasting accuracy)
🔥 What motivates them:
Security, stability, and system-based rewards
💡 Leaptree Incentivize Tip:
Use rule-based plans with clear thresholds and guaranteed outcomes. Avoid “all-or-nothing” mechanics.
🚨 Warning: Misalignment Kills Motivation
Here’s where most incentive plans go wrong:
- Designing a leaderboard system for a herd = disengagement
- Offering team bonuses to a hyper-individualistic pack = resentment
- Throwing big SPIFs into a pride = internal politics
Your plan might be flawless on paper—but if it clashes with your team’s culture and psychology, it won’t stick.
“People don’t resist change—they resist incongruence.”
—Daniel Pink, Drive
🎯 Final Thought: Incentives Aren’t Universal. They’re Evolutionary.
Your team isn’t a spreadsheet.
It’s an ecosystem—with instincts, history, and identity.
So ask yourself:
- Are your reps chasing solo wins (🐺)?
- Building something together (🦁)?
- Or optimizing stable, sustainable progress (🐄)?
Whatever the answer, Leaptree Incentivize can help you design plans that actually work—because they speak to how your team thinks, moves, and sells.
Let’s stop rewarding imaginary salespeople—and start incentivizing real human behavior.
📚 References
- Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140.
- Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291.
- Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Riverhead Books.
- Organ, D. W. (1990). The Motivational Basis of Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Research in Organizational Behavior, 12, 43–72.