My sales people are always the hardest to manage
I'm all for hiring professional sale people. I've had sales people that could close 4 times more sales and get 4 times more money than myself, but most good sales people are very difficult to hire and difficult to do business with. Almost always, there are misunderstandings about how they will be paid. They usually have an ego problem that causes them to demand a higher commission after they close a few sales and they are usually very temperamental.
When hiring my door knocker I made it very clear several times that he would get $100 per day as a draw against a commission. I had previous experience and knew what was going to happen on his first payday, even though I put his pay schedule in writing. He thought he was going to get $100 per day plus a 7-1/2% commission and he was very disappointed (upset) when I had to make the pay schedule clear for about the 5th time. Now, only 10 weeks later, I am paying my door knocker $200 per day as a draw against a 10% commission. He is actually earning slightly more than $200 day after paying the 10% commission.
I have a few rules I try to stick with when hiring sales people. Always interview an applicant no less than two, or three times. They know exactly what you want to hear during the first interview and you see only their best side. During the 2nd and 3rd interview they loosen up and you get a feel for what they are really like. You will be surprised to find that most sales people you might have hired during their first interview won't show for a 2nd interview.
Most applicants are desperate to pay some bills and they will lie about everything. I try to hire people who don't appear desperate for a job. There are many reasons applicants who are not desperate are the type of people you want working for you.
Try to put your pay schedule and everything in writing so there are no misunderstandings. Even so, there will be, so update your policies every day.
A good and confident sales person does not need a guaranteed salary nor a draw against a commission. I am very confident that I can go to any plumbing company, sell, and earn thousands of dollars within a few weeks, so why would I need a salary? The only reason I see salesmen want salaries is because they are not confident that you can provide them with the leads, they are not confident they can close sales, or the period from when they close a sale to when they get paid is too long to wait.
Several times, I put ads in the Los Angeles Times for 3 days at a cost of $300 and got many undesirables calling. I put an ad on Craig's List for 30 days for $30 and I started getting several great sounding applicants within an hour.
I am always willing to hire a professional sales person. It is great when I close one or two sales in one day and a salesman closes a sale for a lead I would never have had time to go to.