sales comission

Considering hiring a sales "person". Those of you who have an outside sales person, do you pay them comission on the complete sale, or the sale after expenses. I.E. film, istallation, sales tax, ect...

I pay my salesmen 15% and pay outlets 10% all before exspenses

Would that be 15% straight across the board, or 15% above a base minimum? For example, lets say my base minimum price to hang a certain film is 4.50 per square. Dude sells a 300 s/f job at that. OR...................

Dude sells that same 300 s/f at 7.00 per s/f. do you pay him/her the same 15%?

I am thinking that I'm gonna pay a salesperson 10%, based on sales figures at or around my BASE minimum. The more they sell ABOVE that base min. the higher the percentage (Up to 20%, or if they REALLY do well, 25%)
That way, there is an incentive to sell at more. Your way, there is no incentive to sell higher. The only way they make more money is to sell more square footage. So they go in at the base minimum (safer, especially when the custy is shopping with a couple other shops) You COULD be swamped with work at your "survival" price, or you could have a reasonable amount of work at a nice price. Pros and cons with both. Kinda like, "yeah, I CAN do a Camaro for $99, but do I really want to?
I still gotta figure this out, 'cuz it's getting to the point I really need a salesman, at least part time.

not only do you need a salesman. knowledge of the industry helps as well. to make the sale. we are in a profession not every joe out there knows about, sell, and install.

Amen brother.

why can you hire just the average joe that doesnt know anything about the industry...the film companies do..

our sales person is a former window tinter .. and we pay him 1.00 a sq ft and 2.00 sq ft on safety films and it makes him hustle a little bite more