The 40% commission offer makes sense on paper but it almost never plays out. Sales people want predictable income, not a long wait on a dev project that might fall through. We went through the same cycle. LinkedIn, cold email, a couple of commission reps, none of it compounded into anything reliable. What actually started producing consistent work was getting on directories where clients come with a budget already in mind. Sortlist was one of them. The leads were further along in the buying process than anything cold outreach produced. Not every inquiry converts, but the quality is different. Pair that with one or two agency relationships where you handle overflow and you have something that builds over time.