Why do we pay sales commissions?
<i>...and are less worried about who is going to buy right now...</i><p>So you implemented a system that makes people <i>less</i> worried about the most important thing to worry about?<p>OP makes many fine arguments about the pros and cons of commissions, but this one little nit trumps them all.<p>There are many reasons for businesses to suffer and eventually die: capitalization, profitability, positioning, etc. but insufficient revenue is the biggest poison of them all.<p>I always thought of revenue as the water level in a creek. Enough covers all the ugly rocks below. Insufficient exposes  all other weaknesses.<p>It sounds like Fogcreek must be doing rather well for this to work and I'm happy for them. But it makes me wonder: if revenue ever starts failing to meet projections, how soon will commissions be re-instituted to stop the bleeding?<p>[EDIT: Some of the replies below imply that I overlooked the words "right now", but that was exactly my point: like oxygen, "who is going to buy <i>right now</i>" is the most important thing to worry about. Enlightened organizations may be able to ascend Maslov's Hierarchy of Needs, but as soon as sales people worry less about Level 1: Revenue Right Now, I begin to worry.]