Hello, I'm not sure if this is in the right area or not but I have been offered an ism role at a local ford dealership in Ontario, Canada. I'm currently a sales rep at a import dealer so this would be new territory for me although I'm computer literate and have a marketing background. The dealer has told me this would be commission based, my question is how hard can I expect it to be? What should I be asking for from management?
Offered a ism position
- Thread starter tcsg
- Start date
You need to find out exactly what they are expecting you to do. An ISM role varies greatly depending on the dealer your working for. You should find out if they have an established Internet department already. Is there an Internet Director? Are there other Internet Managers currently working there? Do they want you to strictly work Internet leads and sell cars, or are they wanting you to sell cars as well as manage the website, crm, website inventory, and all the vendors that will be constantly on your back if you are the go to go for the Internet department. If you've never done this before I would assume they are offering you an Internet Sales job, and not an Internet Director / Manager position. However, this is what you need to find out, and if they dont already have an established department you should ask for a base salary since it will take a while to get everything up to par.
There is currently no ISM there.. and they have no internet sales guys. They are part of a dealer family and have the departments at two of their 6 other dealers. I think they offered it to me based off my current sales numbers. I will definitely ask them for about that, if they are getting someone else to set things up what kind of pay structure should I ask for? I'll ask for salary if they need me to set everything up.
I would recommend creating a job description for yourself that includes all of your responsibilities. There are probably 25+ threads just like this on here that will be useful in building one. The conversation about pay needs to be grounded by what you are going to do to increase sales and build that department aside from just selling cars.
- Aug 13, 2013
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- First Name
- Jay
The role of an Internet Sales Manager varies depending on who you ask. There are Internet Directors, Internet Sales Managers, and Appointment Coordinators/BDC Reps. Traditionally, an Internet Directors role would consist of handling all of the Internet Marketing, Web Sites, Reputation Management, Sourcing, Reporting, and Managing your staff of ISMs or a BDC.
An Internet Sales Manager is usually either a person who manages BDC reps, OR is just an appointment coordinator, OR is a salesman who works internet leads from A to Z (sets appt and handles the sale). This title has a different definition at every dealership.
You need to figure out which type of ISM they expect you to be. If you are handling EVERYTHING (from the Internet Directors role to the ISMs role) you better be compensated accordingly. Since you have no experience other than sales, you may just be an ISM who sells his own leads. Make sure they are clear about your responsibilities before you accept the position otherwise you may find yourself over worked, under appreciated, and underpaid.
An Internet Sales Manager is usually either a person who manages BDC reps, OR is just an appointment coordinator, OR is a salesman who works internet leads from A to Z (sets appt and handles the sale). This title has a different definition at every dealership.
You need to figure out which type of ISM they expect you to be. If you are handling EVERYTHING (from the Internet Directors role to the ISMs role) you better be compensated accordingly. Since you have no experience other than sales, you may just be an ISM who sells his own leads. Make sure they are clear about your responsibilities before you accept the position otherwise you may find yourself over worked, under appreciated, and underpaid.
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,883
- 480
- First Name
- Yago
Jay Juliano offers a great explanation of what the ISM role has evolved into, pretty complicated.
However if the offer came because of your sale numbers and you are commission only I think the expectation is going to be--at least for now--to manage less and to sell more.
I imagine the owners thought of you for your sales ability and because they feel there is an opportunity in the e-commerce arena.
My recommendations:
Short term Job description >>> Sell as much as you can
However if the offer came because of your sale numbers and you are commission only I think the expectation is going to be--at least for now--to manage less and to sell more.
I imagine the owners thought of you for your sales ability and because they feel there is an opportunity in the e-commerce arena.
My recommendations:
Short term Job description >>> Sell as much as you can
- Apr 6, 2009
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- First Name
- Mitch
I'd definitely make sure to do some research on expected responsibilities and what they would expect of you. As a commissioned based role I'd have two priorities after the JD.
1) How is the digital strategy laid out? If I were you I'd be asking questions about how many leads their website gets, how many leads they receive in inFord, if they have CBB or chat leads coming in, kijiji strategy, autoTrader strategy etc..
2) CRM. There haven't been good one's til lately so hope they have a good one or are ready to switch. (before I'm flamed I know that no CRM is good or bad, but most Canadian offerings didn't even know what adf/xml was til DealerSocket moved north a few years ago)
1) How is the digital strategy laid out? If I were you I'd be asking questions about how many leads their website gets, how many leads they receive in inFord, if they have CBB or chat leads coming in, kijiji strategy, autoTrader strategy etc..
2) CRM. There haven't been good one's til lately so hope they have a good one or are ready to switch. (before I'm flamed I know that no CRM is good or bad, but most Canadian offerings didn't even know what adf/xml was til DealerSocket moved north a few years ago)
