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Let's Not Be So Selfish

When Dealers Ask Too Much?

I recently sat in a meeting involving a manufacturer and several dealers. The topic was: How to improve Sales Satisfaction.

It didn't take long for the discussion to move from process improvement to incentives. This is common when dealers and manufacturers get together so I wasn't surprised. What did trouble me is when one dealer suggested that the manufacture pay his salespeople for improved SSI.

Now in and of itself this request wasn't that unusual either, until I found out that the manufacturer was already paying $100.00 per unit sold to dealers who achieved their SSI objectives for the year. A hundred dollars a unit! But did the dealer even consider sharing that money with the salesperson? That's another story.

Dealers and managers often focus too much on what the manufacturer will do for them and not enough on what they can do to fix their own problems. Don't believe me? Then answer me this:

When sales are down, what is the first question the dealer asks the manufacturers rep? How about: 'What are the special incentives this month and how much advertising money do I get?'

Rarely do they look at their own internal numbers or try to improve their people. Instead they look to the manufacturer to drive traffic to their store and provide them with all the solutions to finance and price once the customer gets there.

I'm sorry. I just don't get it!

On the other hand, if the manufacturers are going to continue to increase their incentives, advertising dollars and subventions every time a group of dealers asks for it; maybe it's not the fault of the kid who's overweight, but the parent who keeps feeding him cookies.

Got any thoughts? Post your comments here: