I've worked with 3 different companies and each one had the same policy others have mentioned- whoever tours the prospect and records the tour in the system/guest card gets the lease. Thankfully, I've always had managers and coworkers who emphasize respect for one another. If a person comes in seeking information, each leasing agent does their part to stand up and greet them. We've made it a habit to ask in the first few questions whether they have spoken to someone in the office before. Regardless, each person, NO MATTER WHAT, must be entered into the system. If they have called or contacted before, they recorded info from previous contacts pops up and we respect each other enough to say, 'oh! It looks like you may have spoken with so-and-so! Let me see if he/she is available to help you!' Even if the prospect doesn't understand or says that they don't care who helps them, we always try to be fair to each other and may even tell them, 'of course I would love to help you, but I just want to be fair to my coworker.' If the agent who spoke to them previously is not in, then the prospect becomes fair game. It's fair because it happens to everyone at some point or another.
Additionally, if my coworker shows a prospect and that person calls or comes back in and their agent isn't available, we still help them as if it was our own lease. Customer service is paramount, period. If everybody has that mentality, the rest falls into place. Occasionally we will have instances when an initial tour goes super smoothly, but another agent has to handle a lot more than anyone bargained for at or leading up to move-in. In those instances, sometimes we'll approach each other and ask if the other agent is willing to split the commission with them. If so, great. If not, bummer, but no hard feelings.
You mentioned the idea of taking away commissions and paying roughly what each agent would be paid in their hourly rate instead. The only thing that pops up in my mind is, how sure can you be that you'd be paying a fair wage based on prior performance. If you're looking at last year's numbers, what if they don't perform as well (get as many leases, generate as much money for the company, qualify for as many commissions) this year or X month as they did last year? Also, is it fair to assume that just because someone under-performed last year, that they will also underperform next year? How do you account for seasonal changes in pay with commissions (higher commission checks in the summer, etc)?