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salespersons who solicit escrows and equals 10 to 20 percent of
revenues generated from escrows they solicited (sales
commission). Chicago Title did not pay the sales commission to
its escrow officers who solicited and closed their own escrows.
Rather, Chicago Title would increase the officers' percentage for
the closing commission within the 25- to 31-percent range. Jones
also stated that Chicago Title has employee benefits, including
retirement and health insurance, of about one-third of an
employee's pay.
Jones applied this compensation formula to the revenue
figures that petitioner provided. Jones set a base salary for
Kleindienst at $60,000 and a threshold for the closing commission
of $200,000. Jones determined $310,0000 as Kleindienst's closing
commissions based on her having closed escrows which generated
$1.2 million in fees and applying a 31-percent commission--the
highest possible percentage. Next, Jones stated that he would
have to pay the sales commission to the salesperson who solicited
the $1.2 million of escrow revenues, so he would be willing to
pay Kleindienst an equivalent amount for her marketing efforts.
According to this calculation, he would pay Kleindienst more than
$500,000 not including the 2- to 4-percent management commission.
Although Jones' opinion provides some insight into the
compensation structure of the escrow industry, we decline to
accept his methodology in its entirety. Jones' formula would pay
Kleindienst a closing commission of 25 to 31 percent. However,
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