For a new Internet sales rep without a sales history, the document recommends a straight salary of $600-700 per week supplemented by bonuses (Paragraph 1). For reps with some history, it suggests a base salary of $300-350 per week plus monthly bonuses from $800-2800 based on the number of monthly sales from 0-17 (Paragraph 2). For reps where incentive data is not available, it proposes a base salary of 60% of the target, plus bonuses up to $5000 each for meeting 3-4 achievable annual goals like quick responses, sales numbers, and website development (Paragraph 3).

1. Straight Salary
For a dealer who is new to Internet sales, a straight salary approach might be the best avenue.
Without prior Internet sales history, it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish incentive targets. As an
investment in the future, a dealer could pay the Internet rep a salary of $600 to $700 a week
supplement by some spot bonuses. Caution; do not get locked into a straight salary for the long term.
A suggestion is to agree with the employee to review the plan after 12 months.
Salary plus bonus
A dealer with some Internet sales history, like you, can set up a more traditional sales plan. Since
Internet sales tend to be generated with “ Internet Price” basis with little or no negotiation, a percentage
of gross commission will not make sense. Here we favor a Saturn like approach of a small base salary
and a sliding scale based on the number of sales each month.
I.e. base salary: $300 to $350 per week
Monthly Deliveries Bonus Monthly Deliveries Bonus
0-7 $0 8-9 $800
10-11 $1500 12-13 $2000
14-15 $2300 16-17 $2800
In this example, then a consistent 12 to 13 car per month producer would earn $16000 to $17500 in
salary and another $2000 per month incentives for total annual income of just over $40000.
Please note: These numbers are for discussion purposes only.
Salary plus matrix bonus
For dealers who are not comfortable with a straight salary but, who do not have enough data to
develop a workable incentive, 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.
Base salary: $400 to $500 per week
Incentives:
Goal #1. Achieve 100% response time within two hours of inquiry performance.
Goal #2. Average 10 deliveries per month during the year.
Goal #3. Create an interactive web site that is in accordance with approved dealership sales
strategies.
Each goal carries a bonus up to $5000. Therefore, full achievement of the goals would
achieve a $15000 bonus for the year (some dealers are reviewing the bonuses at alternate times in the
year so that there is emphasizes on a quarterly basis).
Pay plans tend to be all over the board but we recommend the dealer stick to the basics. Create a pay
plan that is commensurate with the value of the job, and establish achievable, measurable goals. Pay
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2. plans that are simple and easy to understand, that speak to results for the effort will be solidly on the
right track.
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