Wholesale retail pay plans

[D. WARREN]

Hi I am a new user so i hope i am doing this correctly. I was hopeing that someone out there could tell me how you pay your w/s and retail counter people. We are presently paying a percentage of individual generated gross profit, but this seems to discourage them from helping the customer and each other. We seem to be having a lot of customer complaint because they are in a hurry to get to the next customer because of the way they are paid. I would appreciate any help you could provide. THANK YOU!!!

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[j_oneil]

All of our countermen including myself are paid $200.00 per week salary plus a commission payable on the 10th of the following month based upon departmental gross profit to include stock order allowance. Not to include tires and oil. Everyone is working on the same page and there isn't a blood bath to make the most sales in a month. If someone is out the other guys pitch in to finish what he had started. This pay plan creates more of a team atmosphere and you can get much more done working together.

[This message has been edited by j_oneil (edited 05-15-99).]

[Chuck Hartle]

Hi D. Warren,
Paying your parts advisors off the gross profit generated is the only way to get unity. Your retail parts advisors, wholesale parts advisors, and mechanical advisors all have different niches. The role they fill in your sales scenario is not as important as how well they fill in in the other scenarios.
Your retail advisors will always be the lowest in gross sales generated. Your mechanical advisors will always be the biggest gross profit generators. Your wholesale advisors will always be great is gross sales and lower profits.
We moved around the advisors from time to time into the different positions just so they would be cross trained and able to work the position in case of sick time, vacations, and training.
We paid about 50% base and 50% commission based on gross sales less the stock order discounts. We didn't pay off of stock order discounts because there was very little they could do to affect this process.
We also paid less inventory adjustments based on return fees to the manufacturer for special orders ordered in error on their part. This way the whole department pays for special order errors, not just the manager and dealer.

[Garry House]

If you have "dedicated" Back-Counter Personnel (Servicing only Mechanical Techs), we recommend you pay THEM (at least in part) on Total Shop Hours Billed. This method is the best to ensure that the Technician gets the "right part" and gets "quickly" back to his stall so that he can be most productive "turning hours". "Dedicated" Front-Counter Personnel should be incentivized on Front Counter Gross.
Garry House
NCM Consulting Division

[dennis wood]

we pay our counter people as well as myself of the total gross profit generated in the parts department.
it's the only way to get everyone working together as a team.
it has worked out really well for us in our small dealership.

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dennis wood