Many people believe that working in direct sales is a reward in and of itself. For one thing, you get to make your own hours and are accountable to no one but yourself. For another, there's virtually no cap on what you can rake in; it all depends on just how hard you choose to work.

That said, direct sales isn't always the cat's pajamas. Should you have a slow week, month, or even year, there's no safety net in place to help you make your mortgage payments. If you get sick, you can always take the day off, but nobody pays you for your time in bed, at the doctor's office, or waiting in line at the pharmacy. To make matters worse, you may not even have medical benefits unless you pay for them yourself through a private health insurer, which is the case with many 1099 workers and other contractors.

From the Manager's Perspective

From the point of view of a direct sales manager, the scenario above provides all the motivation necessary to go out and sell. What better impetus could there be for a so-called hot streak than the need to put food on one's table? Nevertheless, some direct sales managers must come up with secondary forms of incentive just to keep the spark alive for their reps.

Since direct salespeople are almost entirely in business for themselves (they may have a company that covers overhead and supplies leads and training), reps can oftentimes take a disproportionately high commission on their sales volume. While an inside or outside sales rep at a major corporation may earn a salary and a small commission, a direct sales representative may keep half of what he or she makes--or even more. Thus, one of the best ways to maximize performance is for managers to offer a progressive commission scale that rewards high volume with consistently higher pay.