Questions for the lead gen people that work on commission...

So, I know a lot of small business owners, and most are scared or too financially strapped to put much money out ahead of the sale. They don't want to invest and then have something that doesn't work. Yeah, I know these aren't the most lucrative guys to work with, but they are people that I know and want to help. I could offer to do marketing for them for a percentage of any sales that they get, let's say 10%. I know that some on here use this model at times.

Here's my questions:

1. How do you track your leads? Even if the business owner is your friend and is honest, he or she may just be disorganized and you may not always get the real story on a lead that you submit.

2. What if your lead doesn't buy today, but buys thousands of dollars worth of work to their home in a few months? Do you get commission? How, again, would you track that?

This is where I get hung up. The upside to the commission model is that it is an easy sell for some, as the customer only pays if you bring them real value, and if you bring good leads your commissions could bring in more money than a lead based model. The downside is tracking, and the reliance on the business owner to be a good salesman and not waste your leads.

So, is anyone here successful with this model. I love small business, have been in it myself for many years, and these are my people. I'd love to help them, even if it doesn't make me rich, as long as I can find ways to make it worthwhile. I know that many here are driven to search out those with the most money or margins, but I'm kind of driven toward the people I know because I'm one of them.