Pay Plans for Internet Sales Managers

[dodge1]

I agree with patti. A flat is your quickest way to find another dealer to work for. If the Dealer is unwilling to negotiate you have the wrong dealership to work for. As I said before I have patti's pay plan, what I did not mention was that I am paid at 5% more commision base and no pac. this allows me a better commision rate and I see far fewer Mini's. Our dealership averages 1400 a deal via the internet, even at 1000 a deal a 30% commision no pac would give you a much better incentive to make this work.

Compare the pay plan already in effect at your dealership, and ask for more than the current plan. If you dont ask you will not recieve.

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[mjacobs]

Pat, I have a question for you. When you say that your dealership averages 1400.00 per Internet deal, is that payable or including holdback? It seems that most of the deales I am able to put together are because my price was cheaper than the other 5 guys they submitted to. How do we make money in this kind of bidding war?

[Patti Schnecke]

mjacobs:
I am not sure if you requested a reply from myself or dodge1.

My average also was $1400. This did include holdback, but it did not include floor plan or advertising.

When you process the Internet "purchase Request" (I referred to them as "purchase orders") you need to not only process the order for a vehicle, but the aftermarket products and the service contracts as well.

I sold many Dodge Durango's with runningboards, Ram Pcikups with bedliners. I always offered to assist them with financing. I gave each customer a discount on fabric/paint/rust. Any product the dealership sold, I sold!

Since I was motivated via commission on additional products and services....guess what? I sold them. The dealership made more money so.....I made more money.
Automotive Internet sales is more than selling vehicles at the lowest price. It is about the process and the people.

It is NOT about meeting the expectations of the Internet customers, it is about EXCEEDING them.

[dodge1]

Patti Has it right (I hope we are not twins seperated at birth). This avg is based on payable, no dealer incentives included. Perhaps this is due to the Dodge Brand, eh Patti?

As far as avoiding a bidding war, remember that price is not the only weapon in this style of selling. The Internet Customer is not souly interested in the cheapest price, but also by how you handle them. i.e. reply in timely manner, be courtous and up front, offer relevant information, etc...

I hope Patti forgives me for quting her but she said it well when she replied to you with "It is NOT about meeting the expectations of the Internet customers, it is about EXCEEDING
them."

Hope this helps

Pat

[Patti Schnecke]

Sorry Folks for getting off track here but.........
Pat:
Very funny about the "twin" thing. I really do have a twin, his name is Ray Reilly. He also is in the Automotive Industry. He is with the Knauz Automotive Group here in Chicago.
Patti

[Rudy Mack]

From my experiences in attending various seminars on internet selling, the best pay plan was as follows:

Start the sales person with salary AND commission in the beginning, gradually pushing it towards commission and away from salary as the department grows along with the lead base, to eventually all commission. Old school theories WILL NOT WORK and that is the hardest point to make to the GM or dealer principle.

[DaveStrom]

It seems to me that a whole new approach to overall sales compensation that incorporates internet managers/personnel/activities in to vehicle aquisition process is appropriate. There are some "new" and innovative methods including the behavior/activity/results approach to compensation that can easily include and incorporate these people and activities. As this method compensates each individual for each "behavior/activity" (e.g. email response, price quote, phone follow-through, etc), it makes it easy for new processes and people to be included. And, it also makes it easy to equitably spread the responsibilities, work load, and benefits as well as ensure outstanding customer experiences all the way through the aquisition process.

Implementing this approach requires "new thinking" just as does the Internet and Web retailing. It can be done with the right approach and commitment.

Dave Strom

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[Joel]

Are any of the internet sales specialist/managers doing inventory control?
Taking pictures, filling in fields of vehicle information and uploading to a "leads provider" i.e., autobytel. How much time are you spending doing the inventory and are you compensated for it? Selling is one aspect but what about the inventory control?

[tshields]

This thread is real good. I was the internet manager at the largest Toyota dealer in NC/SC. Now I am an Internet Consultant for AutoTrader.com and the question of pay plans come up alot.

At The dealership I had two other salespeople working under me. One person handled all leads from Carpoint(100-120), the other handled all leads from Autovantage(80-95), and I handled all incomming traffic to the dealership webpage.

The general payplan was 25% of frontend with a $100 flatand unit bonuses. We were also eligible for all salespeople spiffs. This department continues to deliver 50+ units per month and clears $60,000 per month after everthing is washed out.

The Internet is not a losing proposition for any dealer money wise. It can be if you do not have process in place for the handling of leads or if you let every manager in the dealership have an input on the department.