need to vent

[dm18k]

Thunder8671, I feel for you, I'm pretty new as the Internet manger at our dealership for the past six months...

Our last six Internet managers just up a left.. And know I feel like the devolution internet manager video somedays.. At first no clue where to start, grow, reach out to so on, and our GM and sales managers are dinosaurs.. I would rather sit down and have each one of my teeth pulled one by one then try to explain how to improve things in my department, but if I want the change I had to.. Breaking it down in a simple business plan worked well for me, keeping it short and sweet, I had to do one just to change our web page colors...

They kept saying....Because it was working, why change it..

Honestly it was an all black web page white font.. I compared it to buying a car in an dark ally... Or on a sunny car lot and it clicked to them...

Currently I am 100% commission paying back the bucket if I go negative.. I get split deals if I my appointments overlap and days off, wait yes said days off, That never happens anymore because of no salary to fall back on, I currently avg about 4 Internet leads daily, all direct Internet calls come to my cell, and chasing down other reps ready to skate me any chance they can pictures of all vehicle used and new 150 avg new and 75 used, boost vehicle details for daily data feeds, and I'm sure this can go on and on... But in the eyes of the GM us Internet guys are lazy and just sit in front of the computer or playing on our cell phones..

Keep that chin up slam a red bull, and keep it short and sweet and to the point, Sell and don't tell...

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Here's an appropriate video made by Joe Webb for this thread.

 

[ajholland]

I feel your pain. I agree that it might be useful to write a business and take it to the owner and GM. With that being said, there are still a lot of dealerships that just don't buy in. That's why you see the talented people either end up with a dealer that does buy in or they end up on the vendor side.

 

[jon.berna]

Writing a plan for the department is going to help you whether you end up staying their or not. While you are still employed take out your frustrations on making the best plan possible for the department. Your plan should include a real budget, goals (with conversions), staff levels, responsibilities...etc...etc.

The plan will not only show your initiative but how well you will be able to market yourself to other perspective employers. If ownership/GM works with you on your plan, great (don't expect to get everything you want). If they don't then you have just prepped yourself for your next opportunity.

 

[ryan.leslie]

(I wrote all of this and took a call, forgot to check for new posts before submitting mine. Looks like Jon and I were thinking the same thing, even though he said it much better than I did )

Tom makes a very valid point and I'd only add the following and hope that it offers you a little encouragement to follow through with Tom's suggestion. You are either writing a business plan for your current employer or one heck of an application addendum for your future employer. If your current employer doesn't see the value in your plan and your ABILITY to plan, you are certain to impress a future employer with your efforts to clearly identify your goals and KPI's. If your current manager doesn't "get it," you've built your own litmus test for finding one that does.

"The grass may be greener, but you still have to mow it!" You are proving that you can operate a lawnmower!

 

[abby.campbell]

I feel your pain. I started over two years ago as a part-time sales manager. It seemed that my position (which was new at the time) was not taken well. In fact, the sales managers and salesmen thought that my job was a joke. They are also very old-school in their thinking. It wasn't until several months had passed that they could see that my presence was somewhat valuable as I was bringing in 20 percent of the business but they still weren't very receptive of me or my job. (I'm sure 20 percent may seem like a small number to some of you, but we had 6 full-time salesmen. I was only part-time.). After about 16 months, the sales manager felt that anyone could do my job. He wanted to save money as I was very well paid (salary and commission), and they hired someone for less than half I made. After five month and going through three new and full-time ISMs, the owner called me back in with a very attractive package. She wants to expand the internet department and has asked me to be the ISD. When I stepped into the dealership after being gone for five months, EVERYONE was extremely receptive and happy to see me (when they weren't so much before). Some even apologized and told me that they need me desperately. LOL. They finally understood that I actually performed my job when I was there previously (and not just automatically receiving customers). This time around, I put together a business plan for my department and job descriptions for each job. This wayand from the get-go , the owner and anyone else can see what the internet department actually does. This is a HUGE help! So, I encourage you to build your plan and job descriptions. Then go in confidently and present it to whomever you're needing to meet with. Good luck!

 

[ewalraven]

Thunder,

I'm very familiar with your dealership and how things work down there.

Kinda of need to look at the pros and cons of the situation. IMO, you
1. Have a job
2. Have a "internet department"
3. Know that you are the guy for the job and if they ever decide to pull the trigger. You can put it into action almost overnight.

Fact is that it's an old school dealership and they have their traditional beliefs. Even worse, you have managers that are paid a lot of money based off the setup now. If things start changing, the pay plans, setup, and maybe even hierarchy of the dealership may change. I'm not saying that it needs to be that way, but that's how it may be viewed.

My advice is simple, keep chipping away slowly at what you believe to the decision maker. Show examples of other dealerships that have it in place and the proven results. Even if it's slow to move maybe you'll eventually get some things your way. Either way, you are getting a paycheck.

Now, with that said, if you aren't happy and really want to make a change. There's plenty of GM's and Owner's that are looking for people who actually have skills. You just need to reach out to them.

Keep in mind, everybody has their battles and challenges when it come to this industry. So you aren't alone.

 

[thunder8671]

Thanks you nailed it right on the nose