To All the Founders Who Can't Find Hungry Reps — It's Probably Your Fault

To all the founders who "can't find hungry reps". It's probably your fault. Check it out. Had a call with a founder yesterday. They're frustrated their current closer won't reach out to leads unless they're already booked on his calendar. They want a fullstack closers who'll "dial for dollars". Cool, nothing wrong with that. I like end-to-end work myself. So I asked: "How do you pay them differently for leads they hunt vs leads that land on their calendar?" Crickets. "We don't." And ladies and gentlemen....theeerrrreeee it is. 10% commission whether they sit and wait for inbounds or grind through 100 dials to self-set. Same pay for RADICALLY different amounts of work. Listen. You can't say "we need hungry reps" and then pay them the same whether they're hungry or not. That's not a talent problem. That's a COMP structure problem. If there's no financial incentive to do more work, they're going to take the path of least resistance every single time. And they should. Why would they grind for the same money they'd make sitting there waiting for layups? When you build a comp plan that doesn't incentivize hustle, you're kneecapping your own growth. Here's what actually happens: You don't pay for hustle > Hustlers go elsewhere > You only attract reps who want easy inbounds > You complain about "lazy reps" > You keep the same comp plan > Rinse and Repeat. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You're selecting FOR the exact behavior you're complaining about. (P.S. nothing wrong with doing inbound only if thats how the strucuture is set up). The fix? Easy. Pay more for self-sourced deals. If an inbound is 10%, make a self-set 15%. Or whatever math works for your business. But differentiate the two. You want them hunting? Pay them to hunt. You want them dialing? Pay them to dial. You want them working your warm list? Incentivize it. Whatever you pay for is what you'll get. Everything else is just a hippy dippy wish list. Let's avoid blaming "lazy reps" when the comp plan literally rewards sitting still.