By

Simon Hazeldine

Let’s talk about a painful truth in sales leadership: most incentive schemes are broken.

We dangle carrots. We wave commission cheques. We build leaderboard contests with dramatic flair. And yet… performance stays flat, disengagement creeps in, and top talent quietly walks out the door.

Here’s the kicker: it’s not that your people don’t want to perform. It’s that your motivational tactics are outdated.

The problem isn’t effort. It’s misalignment between how we try to motivate and what actually works in the brain, in behaviour, and in high-performance cultures.

This blog unpacks the science of sales motivation and lays out what truly works if you want a team that performs at the top of their game.

1. The Limits of Extrinsic Motivation

Traditional incentives are based on what psychologists call extrinsic motivation: do this, get that.

And yes, commission and bonuses can drive short bursts of action, especially in transactional sales environments. But they plateau. Why?

Because:

• They don’t satisfy deeper psychological needs
  
• They often lead to short-term thinking
  
• Over time, they crowd out internal drive

In fact, research from Deci & Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory shows that once money becomes the primary motivator, people lose the deeper sense of purpose, autonomy, and mastery that sustains consistent high performance.

2. Salespeople Aren’t Machines. They’re Human.

Too many sales leaders think in levers, dials, and dashboards.

But selling is a deeply human endeavour. It involves rejection, resilience, emotion, uncertainty, and trust.

So if you want consistent performance, you must think beyond extrinsic triggers and tap into the intrinsic forces that truly sustain drive.

Those are:

• Autonomy: the desire to have control over how we work
  
• Mastery: the drive to improve and grow
  
• Purpose: the need to contribute to something meaningful

High-performing sales cultures align incentives with these needs.

3. The Neuroscience of Motivation: Dopamine Isn’t What You Think

Salespeople are often described as “dopamine-driven.” But dopamine isn’t a pleasure chemical. It’s an anticipation chemical. It spikes when we expect a reward, not when we get one.

This means:

• Long-term reward cycles (like quarterly bonuses) create too little dopamine anticipation to sustain day-to-day effort.
• Unpredictable, smaller wins create stronger motivational effects.

Actionable insight: Introduce frequent, smaller recognition wins that spark momentum. Weekly “wins” sessions. On-the-spot praise. Visible progress.

4. Leaderboards: Motivation or Manipulation?

Leaderboards are a go-to tactic in sales. But they often do more harm than good.

Research shows that:

• They demotivate the middle 60% of performers (“I’ll never catch up”)
  
• They create anxiety in the top 10%
  
• They don’t drive behaviour in a sustainable way

What works better:

• Personal progress dashboards (track performance vs. personal bests)
  
• Peer-to-peer recognition programs
  
• Team-based challenges that emphasise collaboration, not competition

5. Why Most SPIFFs Don’t Work

SPIFFs (Sales Performance Incentive Fund programs) sound exciting.

“Sell this new product, get a weekend away!” “Hit this stretch goal, get an iPad!”

But SPIFFs often fail because they don’t align with what motivates the rep:

• Timing: the reward is too far off or too vague
  
• Relevance: the prize isn’t meaningful
  
• Disconnect: the behaviour doesn’t connect to their values or goals

Fix it by:

• Letting reps choose from a menu of rewards
  
• Making rewards immediate and specific
  
• Tying it to a meaningful, clearly explained goal

6. The Role of Identity in Motivation

Here’s what neuroscience and behavioural economics tell us:

We behave in ways that are consistent with how we see ourselves.

So if your rep sees themselves as a “trusted advisor” or “top performer,” they will behave in alignment with that identity. But if they see themselves as someone who “fights to hit target every month,” they may fall into boom-and-bust cycles.

Actionable tip:

• Reinforce empowering identities in your language: “You’re someone who always finds a way.”
  
• Use storytelling to shift beliefs: “Remember when you closed that deal by being resourceful…”
  
• Run workshops around “who we are” as a team—not just what we do

7. Build a Culture of Progress, Not Pressure

Pressure wears people out. Progress builds them up.

You don’t motivate people by piling on more expectations. You motivate them by showing they’re growing, learning, and moving forward.

Ideas:

• Run regular reflection sessions: What have we learned? How are we better than 90 days ago?
  
• Track and celebrate micro-wins (new conversations, new skills, bold attempts)
  
• Publicly praise improvement, not just outcomes.

8. Recognition: The Free Fuel You’re Not Using Enough

According to research from Gallup, 65% of employees report receiving no recognition in the past year.

Let that sink in.

And yet, recognition is one of the strongest motivators available, especially when it’s:

• Specific
  
• Personal
  
• Timely

Make it a habit:

• End every team meeting with 60 seconds of shout-outs
  
• Send voice notes or handwritten thank-you messages
  
• Recognise values, effort, and progress, not just revenue

Final Word: Stop Incentivising. Start Inspiring.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you have to constantly “incentivise” your team to perform, you’ve got a deeper cultural issue.

The best sales leaders don’t just build comp plans. They build belief.

They:

• Create meaning in the mission
  
• Coach to identity and mindset
  
• Celebrate progress over pressure
  
• Reinforce mastery, purpose, and autonomy

Yes, compensation matters. But it’s only one part of the motivational engine.

If you want high performance that lasts, you must move beyond manipulation and towards motivational mastery.

Because when salespeople are driven from within, you don’t need gimmicks to push them. You just need to clear the path.

Now go build a culture that pulls people forward—not one that pushes them to breaking point.

Want to inspire your sales team beyond targets? Book Simon Hazeldine for your next sales event.
Learn more at www.simonhazeldine.com

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About the author

Simon Hazeldine works internationally as a revenue growth and sales performance speaker, consultant, and coach. He empowers his clients to get more sales, more often with more margin.

He has spoken in over thirty countries and his client list includes some of the world’s largest and most successful companies.

Simon has a master’s degree in psychology, is the bestselling author of ten books that have been endorsed by a host of business leaders including multi-billionaire business legend Michael Dell and is co-founder of leading sales podcast “The Sales Chat Show”.

He is the creator of the neuroscience based “Brain Friendly Selling”® methodology.

Simon Hazeldine’s books:

• Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
• Bare Knuckle Selling
• Bare Knuckle Negotiating
• Bare Knuckle Customer Service
• The Inner Winner
• How To Lead Your Sales Team – Virtually and in Person
• Virtual Selling Success
• How To Manage Your People’s Performance
• How To Create Effective Employee Development Plans
• Virtual Negotiation Success