Has anyone hired a commission-based sales rep for their business?

Before hiring a full-time sales rep, I’d separate the two problems:

1. Finding new opportunities
2. Following up, quoting and closing them

A good salesperson can help with the second part, but commission-only reps usually struggle if they’re also expected to create all their own leads from nothing.

You may be better off first building a consistent source of warm opportunities, then paying someone to respond quickly, qualify the homeowner and quote the job.

I built Find Prospects Now for this reason. It monitors local Facebook groups and alerts landscaping companies when homeowners are actively asking for recommendations or quotes, so you don’t have to manually search groups every day.

You could then have a part-time rep handle those alerts, contact the homeowner and book the estimate. That would probably be less risky than immediately hiring someone full-time.

There’s a 7-day trial here if it’s useful: https://findprospectsnow.com/
Hope this help!! Good Luck

I like the idea of starting with a part-time or trial arrangement. It lets both sides see if there's a good fit before making a long-term commitment.

100% commission sounds great for cash flow, but in landscaping, it almost always backfires.

​Here’s why, along with what actually works:

​Why Straight Commission Fails

• ​Bad Incentive Structure: Reps paid solely on commission care about closing volume, not margin. They’ll under-quote jobs or over-promise on timelines just to land the deal, leaving your crews to deal with the headache and destroyed margins.
• ​Turnover: Top sales talent rarely takes a 100% commission gig for a mid-sized contractor. You usually end up with people who churn fast or treat your leads like a side hustle.

​Compensation Models That Actually Work

​If you bring on a rep, keep them tied to profit, not just contract size:

• ​Base + Commission (Standard): A modest base salary to cover admin/site visits, plus 3%–8% on gross sales.
• ​Margin-Based Commission: Higher payout (e.g., 10%–15%), but calculated strictly on gross profit margin. If they price it too cheap, their payout drops.
• ​Split Payouts: Pay 50% when the contract/deposit is signed, and 50% after the job is finished and paid in full.

​A Quick Reality Check

​If you don't have the capacity for another crew lead yet, selling a ton of extra work right now might just create a bottleneck in production.

​Before taking on a sales rep's overhead, consider:

1. ​Pre-qualifying over the phone: Filter out tire-kickers and set job minimums before driving out to estimate.
2. ​Hybrid Role: Have an experienced crew lead do site visits/estimates a couple of mornings a week and work field operations the rest of the time.

​Bottom line: If you hire someone, you must own the pricing formula. Give them set per-man-hour rates and material markups so they are just plugging numbers into your system, not guessing on the fly.