The document discusses several sample pay plans for an Internet sales manager position. Sample Plan 1 is a straight salary between $35,000-$40,000 for a new dealer without sales history. Sample Plan 2 is a salary plus matrix bonus, with 60% salary and bonuses for achieving goals like setting up a website. Sample Plan 3 is a salary plus unit bonuses, with a base salary plus sliding scale bonuses from $800-$2,800 based on the number of units sold per month, aiming for 12-13 units. The plans provide options that balance salary with performance incentives tailored to a dealer's experience level and goals.
2. Pay Plans
The best way to start is by creating a job description for the Internet sales manager.
Internet salespeople may need to get a salary until the department is fully developed. If a
dealer pays straight commission on sales that start at around 10 units a month, the money
won’t be enough to attract qualified candidates. After the Department is set up most
dealers shift the pay plan to a performance based model that includes part salary and part
commission.
1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month
Leads 100 100 100
Lost 0 10 10
Carry over 0 81 146
Working 100 171 246
Sales 9 15 22
Back to the Basics
In order to create an effective pay plan you may want to know the answers to the
following questions:
1. What is the value of this position relative to other jobs in the dealership?
2. Based on the value of the position, what should be the annual earnings of a
person who meets or exceeds our expectations for the job?
3. How should that income be earned?
Pay Plans for Internet managers are likely to be all over the board. Dealers who stick to
the basics, create pay plans commensurate with the value of the job, and establish
achievable, measurable goals will be solidly on the right track.
Some ideas…
• Salary plus flat fee for each unit sold
• Appointment bonuses
• Customer satisfaction bonus
• Gross average bonuses
• Trade in bonuses
• F&I bonuses
3. Sample Pay Plans #1
Straight salary – Target income:
$35,000 - $40,000
For a dealer who is new to Internet sales, a straight salary
might be the best approach. Without a prior Internet sales
history, it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish
incentive targets. You can tie some performance-based
bonuses to incentives the initial steps to setting up a
department. (i.e. $500. to set up site)
4. Sample #2
Salary plus “matrix” bonus – Target
income $35,000 - $40,000
For dealers who aren’t comfortable with a straight salary but who
don’t have enough data to develop workable incentives, a more
subjective approach can be used. A base salary equal to 60 percent
of the target should be paid. Three or four achievable goals should
also be agreed to. Note that the goals under this scenario may not
always be measurable. The goals listed here are presented as
examples only.
Base salary: $400 to $500 per week
Incentives:
Goal #1 – Get Web site up and running in accordance with
approved dealership strategy.
Goal #2 – Achieve 100 percent “response within two hours of
inquiry” performance.
Goal #3 – Average 10 “Internet” deliveries per month during the
year.
Each goal carries a bonus of up to $5000. So full achievement of
all goals earns bonuses of $15,000 for the year. Some prorating of
the bonus payments or a draw against the bonuses will be
necessary to ensure an adequate income for the employee.
5. Sample #3
Salary plus unit bonuses – Target
income $35,000 - $40,000
A dealer with some Internet sales history can set up a more
traditional sales plan. Since Internet sales tend to be on a “best
price” basis with little or no negotiation, a percentage-of-the-gross
commission may not make sense. Here is the Saturn approach of a
small base salary and a sliding bonus scale based on the number of
units delivered. For this example, the Internet performance
standard is 12 deliveries per month.
Base salary: $300 to $500 per week
Unit bonus: 0-7 $0
8.9 $800
10.11$1,500
12.13$2,000
14.15$2,300
16.17 $2,800
In this example, a consistent 12-13 car-per-month producer, one
who is meeting our expectations for the job, would earn $16,000 to
$17,500 in salary and another $2,000 per month in incentives for
total annual income of just over $40,000.