Commission only sales jobs are great if you've got an established company with established sales territories.

When you're a startup... what exactly makes YOU think a good salesman thinks your stuff (product/service, whatever) will sell?

When we first started up, we signed all sorts of sales agreements with all sorts of people and to-date, nobody has done a gosh-darned thing... In fact, as our agreements come up to their anniversary dates, I find myself writing cancellation letters to those sales people.

I do our sales and marketing, with the help of my husband. We have just started with someone in whose best interest it is to make us work (he found himself unemployed and is available to us and believes in our product). But I can't tell you how that will work out until we've actually had a go at it.

I don't know what the optimum answer is, all I know is that you either have to pay someone sufficiently that they will do the work that brings you the sales or at the very least someone who will do the work with a draw against commissions.

I look forward to reading the responses to this question myself as our new salesman and I intend to build a sales team.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!