Why I fired my entire commission-only sales team

A lot of business owners believe commission-only salespeople are hungrier. More driven. More motivated to perform. More confident in their abilities.

After running multiple national sales teams—including one at the US Chamber of Commerce that I ultimately had to shut down—I can tell you that belief is dangerously wrong.

Commission-only doesn't attract your best performers. It filters them out.

And it creates a mercenary culture that can poison everything else you’re trying to build in your teams.

Let me share what happened when I inherited a commission-only field sales team and tried to integrate them into our high-performing, collaborative sales culture...

How I Learned This Lesson the Hard Way

When I took over as Managing Director at the US Chamber, I inherited a national field sales team that had operated on 100% commission for decades. Old guard. Old structure. Old problems.

Meanwhile, I'd spent years building something special with our other divisions—a high-performance, core values-driven culture where people were actually invested in the collective outcomes.

We hadn't missed a number in years, but more importantly, we'd created an environment where seasoned reps helped rookies ramp up. Where people stayed late to help the team hit its goal. Where winning meant everyone winning.

Then the commission-only field team joined our world.

Want to know what happened when I asked them to help onboard new hires? Cricket sounds.

Share best practices to improve team performance? "Not my problem."

Focus on selling the right customers who'd actually stick around? "I get paid when they sign up, not when they renew."

They weren't bad people. They were just responding rationally to how we paid them.

As legendary investor Charlie Munger said:

We literally incentivized them to not care about anything except their own short-term transactions. And that’s exactly what we’re got.

The Two Problems That Kill Commission-Only Models

Problem #1: Your Talent Pool Shrinks to a Puddle

You think commission-only attracts the highest and most confident performers?

Sure, you'll get a few. But here's who you're really filtering OUT:

The experienced rep with a mortgage and two kids who's been burned by commission-only plans from businesses that:

• Can't afford to pay salaries (or invest in proper sales systems)

• Burn through reps instead of training them

• Have no real value prop but expect magic from salespeople

Think about it: When you offer commission-only, you're asking someone to bet their livelihood that YOUR business has its shit together.

That your pricing is right. Your value prop is solid. Your leads are good. Your CRM works. Your customer service doesn't torpedo deals.

How many businesses can honestly make that promise?

Experienced salespeople know that.

Here's a test: Post two identical sales jobs. Make one commission-only. Give the other a healthy base plus aggressive commission. Watch which talent pool you'd rather hire from.

Problem #2: You Create Mercenaries, Not Team Members

Munger was right—incentives drive behavior. That's literally their entire purpose. If they aren’t changing behavior, they aren’t working.

So, when you pay someone for exactly one thing, and one thing only, expecting them to care about anything else is kind of irrational (and unfair).

Want them to help give you feedback that will improve your sales process? Not their job.

Need them to mentor junior reps? They don't get paid for that.

Hoping they'll flag problems with customer retention? Why would they care about what happens after the commission hits?

I pay my salespeople a salary for a simple reason: it makes them actual team members, not just commissioned guns for hire.

You don’t want to saddle salespeople with useless meetings, distracting projects, or activities that don’t move the needle. But when I need someone to mentor a new rep, document a process for a playbook, or go the extra mile for a team goal, I need to know my sales team will step up.

Without a base, every request outside of pure selling is essentially asking for free work. And professionals who value their time don't work for free.

The Real Cost of Going Cheap

Every commission-only advocate I meet tells me the same story: "I want hungry reps who believe in themselves."

But here's what they're actually saying: "I want to transfer all my business risk to my salespeople while keeping all the upside."

And here's what quality salespeople hear: "I either can't afford real talent, or I don't value it enough to invest in it."

When someone with options chooses a base-plus-commission role over commission-only, it doesn't mean they lack confidence. It means they have enough experience to know that success in sales requires more than just skill—it requires systems, support, and a company that has its fundamentals figured out.

What This Means for Your Business

If you're running commission-only because you genuinely can't afford base salaries, I get it. We've all been there. But understand what you're trading: short-term cash conservation for long-term cultural debt.

Every mercenary you hire makes it harder to build a real team. Every top performer you repel makes it harder to scale. Every "not my problem" attitude infects the culture you're trying to build.

Build a comp structure that says: "I'm investing in you because I believe we'll both win." Not one that says: "Prove yourself while I watch from the sidelines."

If you’re trying to build a real sales team, you want partners in growth who are aligned with your long-term objectives. Not lone wolves who happen to use your logo to get what they want.

The Bottom Line

Eighteen months after inheriting that commission-only national sales team, I shut the entire division down. Not reformed it. Not restructured it. Shut it down.

Because sometimes the cost of fixing a fundamentally broken model is higher than starting fresh. And the commission-only mindset had metastasized too deeply to save.

If you’re just starting out, you don’t need to let that happen to your team.

Your next great salesperson isn't looking for a commission-only lottery ticket. They're looking for a company that's as invested in their success as they are in yours.

Give them that, and watch what happens.

Adios,

Ray

P.S. - To be clear, I'm not against aggressive commission structures. My best reps have frequently made 60-70% of their income from commission. But that base salary isn't just a paycheck—it's a contract that says we're in this together. And that makes all the difference.