All manufacturers offer incentives/bonus plans to their many dealerships worldwide. Because of this, the GM’s, FM’s, and sales teams alike aim to hit their monthly, quarterly, and even annual quotas to obtain them. Your ad Agency must be familiar with your plan and what is needed from an advertising standpoint to reach your goal and maximize your bonus payout.
Maximizing your bonus payout is key to also minimizing or eliminating your advertising expenses. Let’s just assume that a manufacturer offers each franchise a certain amount of co-op money for advertising, and that’s $15k (if you reach a Vehicle sold threshold). Imagine your dealership matches that with another $15k out of pocket (total of $30k invested now), meet the quota by selling 30 vehicles, and attribute 40% of those sales to your agencies help (12 vehicles). If the manufacturer offers $2,000 per car sold (past the threshold), you’ll obtain $24k for the vehicles sold by your ad agency. Subtracting your initial $15k investment from the moneys that the manufacturer will be rewarding your dealership with, you’re left with a $9,000 profit from selling these additional vehicles with your agency’s help. If your ad agency is not working with you closely on understanding the “bonus math”, you could be at risk of missing out on some serious profit.
Besides fully understanding the numbers and quotas, sound advice should also be a main constituent. If you’ve tapped out on your ad spend budget, the month is coming to a looming end, and you haven’t met your goal, you should expect your agency to be watching and offering advice to help you get there. An agency that truly cares for your business understands that the value of fine customer service is priceless.
The primary goal for the agency should be to help you sell more. It’s as simple as that. What sets the better agencies apart is when they understand the bonus programs (which change month to month for some dealerships) and offer exceptional customer service. These two things coupled together should put you and your ad agency on the path to more sales and a better business relationship.
