OK, so when you hire the person to sweep the floor, take out the trash, move
the dirt, dig the hole, carry the bricks or whatever other non skilled job
you can think of. You hire the guy because he looks like he has the ability
to do the job. After 6 months it becomes obvious that this person is not
going to be able to do any job except the one you hired him for, do you
recommend he be fired even though he is able to do the job you hired him
for?

I would never hire anybody simply to do the most menial job in the joint
forever. (Maybe a charity case, a person with some sort of mild disability or
what not- different story). Part of the job is to grow out of it- if a guy or
gal can't do that, he or she would not being doing what I had hired them to do.
You always need somebody to sweep the floor, dump the trash, etc- but that
should be a person just passing through on the way to something more rewarding
in the company as soon as they are able. I never hired anybody without a vision
of their first promotion or two already in mind, and a commitment to outline a
path by which they could achieve advancement. You don't make serious money on
the cheap help.

Now what if you hire a salesman and he is able to do the job, and is able to
sell the average number of cars that is sold on your lot. After 2 years it
becomes obvious that he is never going to become a manager, and 50% of your
employees will always sell more than he does. You know in your heart that
he will always be an average performer, do you fire him?

When it comes to a commission salesperson, it's a lot like employing an
athlete. Some guys are going to sell anything that isn't nailed down- every
Eskimo in town is going to order *two* icemakers, and be grateful. Those guys
are the Pedro Martinez,
Alex Rodriguez sort of people that exist in any field, and you can't count on
having an entire sales crew made up of people at that level. Aren't enough to
go around, and they tend to get bitchy with each other if there are too many
"stars" on the floor at any one time.

Do you fire the average performer? Depends on what average is.
Is that average guy closing every second or third decent prospect and making
$90,000 a year? I'd say that average was acceptable in most fields and leave
him or her well enough alone, unless they are some sort of high maintenance
character creating trouble elsewhere.

If the average salesperson is closing at a 15 or 20 percent ratio and making
$35,000 a year, the problem most likely isn't with the salesman at all. There
are more likely some serious problems with the business model, the sales
training and supervision, or maybe the corporate atmosphere isn't sufficiently
motivating.
You want your commission structure to be competitive, and you want your
commission salespeople to make boatloads of money.

Step one: Create a business atmosphere with a positive charge and genuine
opportunity.

Step two: Hire managers who can hire salespeople able to capitalize on the
opportunity.

Step three: Examine results of step two. Repeat if necessary.