Agla, when does the large print paperback version of that post come out?
The part of Agla's post that struck me as hitting the closest to home is that most of us would not be able to suport the influx of work that a true salesperson should be able to bring in. I have good people and we can go large pretty quick when need be but...... it reminds me why we have chosen to stay small and selective.
That being said- my brother acts as a designer/salesperson/project manager in addition to his other duties as I also do. After he has completed his design it goes to the estimating dept (he and I); based on his input and our bidding process we are confident in the number which is arrived at. He is not authorized to go below that number unless the parameters change for some reason. He does not have to worry about getting more from the project because he has the number to work with from the beginning. If he thought he could get 3k more out of the project for some reason then that has been addressed prior to preparing the bid.
My point is, if we were big enough to justify a true full- time salesman, I would also want an estimator to keep him/her in check. I would not want them adjusting prices at the table for the sake of meeting quotas or padding commissions.
I would want them on a stipend draw, with a pre-defined list of project parameters, dollar quotas, and commission; all based on the reasons Agla cited above.