Talk to ANY Manager at a CarMax - we are NOT a one-price store but ARE reviewing their pay plans as a possible future solution to a question we know is coming!

Don't worry! If you belong to a 20 Group you are under-paying them already! Your profits are safe as long as you want to be competitive (which is code for the same) as the competition.All of us, I am at the front of the line, have fallen prey to the pointy headed accountants involved in 20 Groups. They have nothing to really offer so they came up with a percentage of gross (17% domestic and up to 23% in some imports).The funny thing is none of us is satisfied, in fact I would say most of us whine, about the quality of today's salespeople. If you pay them like dirt you will get that in return! I have a lot of experience with one price pay plans.....$250 Weekly Salary (no, you can't charge it back to them)$200 Per Delivery$500 Bonus at 12 Deliveries$750 Bonus at 16 DeliveriesThis delivers $60,000 annually to a 16 car per month salesperson and that is what the job is worth....no more and no less.

We just revamped our pay plans to give our sales team more consistant pay. We are paying everyone a $21000 a year salary which they get paid $800 every two weeks. We then pay them a bonus payout every month (similar to a manager) with a combination of units and gross. For used car sales people we start at 7 cars sold to pay bonuses and $24000 gross and pay a combined payout based on gross and units. Seems to be working out well for our salespeople, they are liking the consistancy.

I don't know the actually salaries of the salesmen here. But I do know that for each sell they make they receive a minimum of $200. If we have to write the contract that adds another $25. If they mention Gap, Accident Health, or extended warranty, in front of F&I and the customer purchases any of those above that is an added bonus. They get a monthly draw (goes by experience and how long they have been here) and that is guaranteed every month. If they want an actual commission check then they have to sell enough to go OVER their draw. I am hourly so I don't receive a true commission on the ones that I sell. I get $100 per car and they take out the taxes for me so I don't have to pay them at the end of the year. My commission is made up in all the overtime that I get paid as compared to the salesmen who don't get overtime since it's calculated into their annual salary.

We are still on commission. Get a draw check or weekly advance of 290 week and then a washout end of month where they take out the draw or advance. They are paid 25% of front end gross, 50 bucks if the f and i sell a warranty, 25 bucks if the paint guard add on sticks (that gross goes to back end). Mini is 100 new and used. If they hit 15 units they get 500 bonus and if they hit 15 three mos in a row they get 1000. They also get 1% for every sold unit over 10 for a max of 15% on top of the 25% retro. We do have a 1700 used pack and 1300 new pack and have to price very competitively.

Why tie a salesperson's pay plan to gross when it is something they can't control? The only thing they will do is look at what used cars you have that have a large gross and then shoe horn there customer into that vehicle even though it may not be the one that is right for them. We are one priced, we pay a base and then on volume. Those both vary based on tenure.

Talk to ANY Manager at a CarMax - we are NOT a one-price store but ARE reviewing their pay plans as a possible future solution to a question we know is coming!

Don't worry! If you belong to a 20 Group you are under-paying them already! Your profits are safe as long as you want to be competitive (which is code for the same) as the competition.All of us, I am at the front of the line, have fallen prey to the pointy headed accountants involved in 20 Groups. They have nothing to really offer so they came up with a percentage of gross (17% domestic and up to 23% in some imports).The funny thing is none of us is satisfied, in fact I would say most of us whine, about the quality of today's salespeople. If you pay them like dirt you will get that in return! I have a lot of experience with one price pay plans.....$250 Weekly Salary (no, you can't charge it back to them)$200 Per Delivery$500 Bonus at 12 Deliveries$750 Bonus at 16 DeliveriesThis delivers $60,000 annually to a 16 car per month salesperson and that is what the job is worth....no more and no less.

We just revamped our pay plans to give our sales team more consistant pay. We are paying everyone a $21000 a year salary which they get paid $800 every two weeks. We then pay them a bonus payout every month (similar to a manager) with a combination of units and gross. For used car sales people we start at 7 cars sold to pay bonuses and $24000 gross and pay a combined payout based on gross and units. Seems to be working out well for our salespeople, they are liking the consistancy.

I don't know the actually salaries of the salesmen here. But I do know that for each sell they make they receive a minimum of $200. If we have to write the contract that adds another $25. If they mention Gap, Accident Health, or extended warranty, in front of F&I and the customer purchases any of those above that is an added bonus. They get a monthly draw (goes by experience and how long they have been here) and that is guaranteed every month. If they want an actual commission check then they have to sell enough to go OVER their draw. I am hourly so I don't receive a true commission on the ones that I sell. I get $100 per car and they take out the taxes for me so I don't have to pay them at the end of the year. My commission is made up in all the overtime that I get paid as compared to the salesmen who don't get overtime since it's calculated into their annual salary.

We are still on commission. Get a draw check or weekly advance of 290 week and then a washout end of month where they take out the draw or advance. They are paid 25% of front end gross, 50 bucks if the f and i sell a warranty, 25 bucks if the paint guard add on sticks (that gross goes to back end). Mini is 100 new and used. If they hit 15 units they get 500 bonus and if they hit 15 three mos in a row they get 1000. They also get 1% for every sold unit over 10 for a max of 15% on top of the 25% retro. We do have a 1700 used pack and 1300 new pack and have to price very competitively.

Why tie a salesperson's pay plan to gross when it is something they can't control? The only thing they will do is look at what used cars you have that have a large gross and then shoe horn there customer into that vehicle even though it may not be the one that is right for them. We are one priced, we pay a base and then on volume. Those both vary based on tenure.

I am a sales consultant. Why have your people been leaving? I would normally leave if management berates me. I have found a dealership that I like right now. Just gotta sell more cars. It's also good to have great leadership in management. Positive folks that know what they're doing. People that we can learn from. etc.

Hi Bryant. Your dilemma is not uncommon and something we hear frequently when we first work with a new client. One thing you can pretty easily do on your own is to add a "jobs" tab to your current dealership website. This will serve as a landing place for customers and other interested parties to be abreast of opportunity within your organization. This is an relatively easy way to obtain resumes. The resources you mentioned are good, but you need to massively ramp up your exposure. The culture of your dealership is certainly important. Use examples of successful salespeople within the organization who at first never considered auto sales as a profession. High quality individuals are more abundant than you might realize. Let me know if we can help.

Bryant, this will be controversial: Scrap your pay plan, ignore your 20 Group and look to a more successful business model OUTSIDE the car business! Imagine investing in a four year education for your child only to have them come home to tell you they took a job in the car business as a salesperson? You and every other concerned parent would be horrified! What a waste of an education! My son is going to get into a business with 90% turn-over? Today, tomorrow's new workforce is taught about career paths, advancement, continuing education, growth, etc... and our business with the archaic pay plans is not on the list of jobs they will consider so what does that leave us with? Imagine this: "hey Mom and Dad, I got a job! It pays $50,000 Salary and I get a company car!" How would you compete with that? You wouldn't, you couldn't and it is about to happen to you unless you get smart and make some changes.

indeed.com will allow you to go and find people that looking for a job change, make a contact with those people to come in and talk about your career opportunities and see if you are a fit.

Bryant, according to the NADA Workforce study, sales consultant turnover at non-luxury dealerships increased to 80% last year...you are not alone with this problem. After having numerous conversation with both management and sales consultants regarding turnover at dealerships, I wrote an eBook on the topic: The Auto Dealer’s 10-Step Guide to Hiring the Best Employees. You can find the link to download it on my profile. It has tips on how to attract and retain people at your dealership. Over the years, I found that the most common mistakes dealers make when hiring sales people are rushing the hiring decision, believing what is on a candidates resume and what they say in the interview, hiring based on a gut feel, not fully vetting candidates, and not having defined expectations for new employees. If you are not getting the response you are looking for out of your online posts, try revamping your job advertisements. Spend less time talking about what you want out of a candidate, and spend more time telling the candidate what they will get out of you (career growth, company culture, earnings potential). Put a similar level of effort into advertising your job openings as you do into advertising your cars. If you are really stuck, there are recruitment companies out there that specialize in the placement of automotive professionals.

I am a sales consultant. Why have your people been leaving? I would normally leave if management berates me. I have found a dealership that I like right now. Just gotta sell more cars. It's also good to have great leadership in management. Positive folks that know what they're doing. People that we can learn from. etc.

Hi Bryant. Your dilemma is not uncommon and something we hear frequently when we first work with a new client. One thing you can pretty easily do on your own is to add a "jobs" tab to your current dealership website. This will serve as a landing place for customers and other interested parties to be abreast of opportunity within your organization. This is an relatively easy way to obtain resumes. The resources you mentioned are good, but you need to massively ramp up your exposure. The culture of your dealership is certainly important. Use examples of successful salespeople within the organization who at first never considered auto sales as a profession. High quality individuals are more abundant than you might realize. Let me know if we can help.

Bryant, this will be controversial: Scrap your pay plan, ignore your 20 Group and look to a more successful business model OUTSIDE the car business! Imagine investing in a four year education for your child only to have them come home to tell you they took a job in the car business as a salesperson? You and every other concerned parent would be horrified! What a waste of an education! My son is going to get into a business with 90% turn-over? Today, tomorrow's new workforce is taught about career paths, advancement, continuing education, growth, etc... and our business with the archaic pay plans is not on the list of jobs they will consider so what does that leave us with? Imagine this: "hey Mom and Dad, I got a job! It pays $50,000 Salary and I get a company car!" How would you compete with that? You wouldn't, you couldn't and it is about to happen to you unless you get smart and make some changes.

indeed.com will allow you to go and find people that looking for a job change, make a contact with those people to come in and talk about your career opportunities and see if you are a fit.

Bryant, according to the NADA Workforce study, sales consultant turnover at non-luxury dealerships increased to 80% last year...you are not alone with this problem. After having numerous conversation with both management and sales consultants regarding turnover at dealerships, I wrote an eBook on the topic: The Auto Dealer’s 10-Step Guide to Hiring the Best Employees. You can find the link to download it on my profile. It has tips on how to attract and retain people at your dealership. Over the years, I found that the most common mistakes dealers make when hiring sales people are rushing the hiring decision, believing what is on a candidates resume and what they say in the interview, hiring based on a gut feel, not fully vetting candidates, and not having defined expectations for new employees. If you are not getting the response you are looking for out of your online posts, try revamping your job advertisements. Spend less time talking about what you want out of a candidate, and spend more time telling the candidate what they will get out of you (career growth, company culture, earnings potential). Put a similar level of effort into advertising your job openings as you do into advertising your cars. If you are really stuck, there are recruitment companies out there that specialize in the placement of automotive professionals.

Start tracking each step of your recondition process. Find the area of slow downs and then change the process to become more efficient. We got ours down to 4 days for the last 3 month (included weekends). Keep in mind all the cars were in very good cosmetic condition. When our acquisitions have more cosmetic issues, the reconditioning slows down and can easily go back up over 7 days.

Tell the Service Department that based on their turnaround time, you can't wait and you have no choice but to start putting the vehicles on the lot, as soon as they come in. Tell them they can come and get it off the lot, when they get to it. As long as it is safe to drive, send it straight to detail and get it on the lot. No car should sit more than 48 hours, unless it needs 3rd party recon, etc...You can't sell a car off the back row. If Service thinks there is a chance that you will sell the vehicle, and they will get cut out, they will speed it up quickly. Remember, Service works for YOU. Not the other way around. Without Sales, the Dealership grinds to a halt. You can do without a Service Department.

Make an excel spreadsheet with the categories below. Update every morning. Email Service writers, Service, Manager, Self, Used Car Manager, GM, GSM an updated daily sheet. Keep it in their face every day without all the running around. Before you do this, have the car detailed before service if possible. Those that can be detailed should have photos online being marketed at least while it's in service. Your digital time to market isn't affected this way. stk# | year | make | model | color | trade date | service date | days to get to service | service aging | service writer | notes

The problem will never go away because your dealer or general Manager does not care. In my travels as an Educator I ran across one of the largest dealerships in the country. Their policy was amazing: Service had 72 hours from when the vehicle "get ready" was time stamped and handed to an Advisor or the Service Department absorbed the entire cost of reconditioning including all outside services. Guess what? Problem solved and was never an issue in the 9 years I was associated with them. Nothing else will work.

I can help you with this Bryant and it will be worth a look.  There are tons of one-off's that you can try to speed up the process: forms, spreadsheets, tracking devices.  We have all of that in one piece of software that will track, monitor, assess, control, display, and allow unlimited access and archiving.  

Let me know if you would like to have a conversation about Condition HUB

Scott (conditionhub.com)

Start tracking each step of your recondition process. Find the area of slow downs and then change the process to become more efficient. We got ours down to 4 days for the last 3 month (included weekends). Keep in mind all the cars were in very good cosmetic condition. When our acquisitions have more cosmetic issues, the reconditioning slows down and can easily go back up over 7 days.

Tell the Service Department that based on their turnaround time, you can't wait and you have no choice but to start putting the vehicles on the lot, as soon as they come in. Tell them they can come and get it off the lot, when they get to it. As long as it is safe to drive, send it straight to detail and get it on the lot. No car should sit more than 48 hours, unless it needs 3rd party recon, etc...You can't sell a car off the back row. If Service thinks there is a chance that you will sell the vehicle, and they will get cut out, they will speed it up quickly. Remember, Service works for YOU. Not the other way around. Without Sales, the Dealership grinds to a halt. You can do without a Service Department.

Make an excel spreadsheet with the categories below. Update every morning. Email Service writers, Service, Manager, Self, Used Car Manager, GM, GSM an updated daily sheet. Keep it in their face every day without all the running around. Before you do this, have the car detailed before service if possible. Those that can be detailed should have photos online being marketed at least while it's in service. Your digital time to market isn't affected this way. stk# | year | make | model | color | trade date | service date | days to get to service | service aging | service writer | notes

The problem will never go away because your dealer or general Manager does not care. In my travels as an Educator I ran across one of the largest dealerships in the country. Their policy was amazing: Service had 72 hours from when the vehicle "get ready" was time stamped and handed to an Advisor or the Service Department absorbed the entire cost of reconditioning including all outside services. Guess what? Problem solved and was never an issue in the 9 years I was associated with them. Nothing else will work.

I can help you with this Bryant and it will be worth a look.  There are tons of one-off's that you can try to speed up the process: forms, spreadsheets, tracking devices.  We have all of that in one piece of software that will track, monitor, assess, control, display, and allow unlimited access and archiving.  

Let me know if you would like to have a conversation about Condition HUB

Scott (conditionhub.com)

How about hiring a security guard from 9:00pm to 7:00am?

Bryant,If you are still interested in loading your lot, securing your vehicles, reducing your insurance rates, adding safety, security, and peace of mind for the dealer and customers, why not try LoJack? You have everything to gain and so do your customers with a 24 hour money back guarantee of up to $695.00 and $5000.00 if the vehicle is not recovered on the 31st day. If you use any kind of GPS ask the company for a written recovery story (most recent) and are they directly integrated with the local police and crime bureau. This is essential for , fast recovery. Unlike GPS where the installation is always in the same place and car thieves now exactly where the unit is installed. LoJack is covertly installed in many areas of the vehicle and undetected by thieves. To validate our effectiveness, may I suggest calling Victor Fernandez (dealer principal) or Xavier Cortes (gm) at Marysville Ford. Their numbers are (425) 220-4553 (206) 714-2941.I am your Area Business Director and I look forward to meeting you while in UT. Regards, Rod JonesArea Business DirectorOR. WA. UT. WA. 360.903.7301

Bryant, My area code is 360 not 369. Rod Jones 360.903.7301

How about hiring a security guard from 9:00pm to 7:00am?

Bryant,If you are still interested in loading your lot, securing your vehicles, reducing your insurance rates, adding safety, security, and peace of mind for the dealer and customers, why not try LoJack? You have everything to gain and so do your customers with a 24 hour money back guarantee of up to $695.00 and $5000.00 if the vehicle is not recovered on the 31st day. If you use any kind of GPS ask the company for a written recovery story (most recent) and are they directly integrated with the local police and crime bureau. This is essential for , fast recovery. Unlike GPS where the installation is always in the same place and car thieves now exactly where the unit is installed. LoJack is covertly installed in many areas of the vehicle and undetected by thieves. To validate our effectiveness, may I suggest calling Victor Fernandez (dealer principal) or Xavier Cortes (gm) at Marysville Ford. Their numbers are (425) 220-4553 (206) 714-2941.I am your Area Business Director and I look forward to meeting you while in UT. Regards, Rod JonesArea Business DirectorOR. WA. UT. WA. 360.903.7301

Bryant, My area code is 360 not 369. Rod Jones 360.903.7301

Bryant, I will ask you the following question; Wiil a customer looking fro a $3,000 car pay $4,000 for the right one? My experience says; YES! My philosophy, evolving every day, is that I would rather run the vehicle through my shop and increase the cost by $1,000 because I spent it with myself and to simply increase the price accordingly. The Cash & Carry market is NOT a competitive market in that if you have one you will sell one.....if you have 10 you will sell ten. The C&C get more hits, generate more phone calls and more floor traffic than any other vehicle. This is a great segment to be in because most dealers live in fear of the perceived liability if anything goes wrong.....it is an irrational fear. My advice to you is spend the money, increase the price, pay a double flat and sell as many as possible!

Bryant, I will ask you the following question; Wiil a customer looking fro a $3,000 car pay $4,000 for the right one? My experience says; YES! My philosophy, evolving every day, is that I would rather run the vehicle through my shop and increase the cost by $1,000 because I spent it with myself and to simply increase the price accordingly. The Cash & Carry market is NOT a competitive market in that if you have one you will sell one.....if you have 10 you will sell ten. The C&C get more hits, generate more phone calls and more floor traffic than any other vehicle. This is a great segment to be in because most dealers live in fear of the perceived liability if anything goes wrong.....it is an irrational fear. My advice to you is spend the money, increase the price, pay a double flat and sell as many as possible!