Question: What types of sales or service incentives does your dealership offer for precision farming specialists, and how are these structured?

Answers:

“I start off with a base sales commission, so if I don’t sell anything this month, I still make ‘X’ amount of dollars. On top of that, I’m getting a percentage of profit off of the list price on whatever I sell. 

“It’s a nice benefit that way because I can make a comfortable living at it. If I start selling a $1 million worth of products that would be great, but I don’t think we’re at that point. Last year we were just shy of $200,000 worth of precision sales.” 

— Justin Premo, Waupun Equipment, Watertown, Wis. 

“We pay commission based on the amount a salesperson sells. The more they sell, the higher the commission. As for the service side, we set goals for each service that we offer and they receive a commission on the services that they sell as well. 

“However, I have found that money is not always a motivator, especially with the technically orientated people who we tend to hire. Feeling of accomplishment and purpose, in my opinion, is critical.  

“Knowing that they are part of a good work team, having a good work environment and that they are truly helping our customers is often times a better motivator then a monetary incentive.”

— Tim Norris, Ag Info Tech, Mount Vernon, Ohio

“I’m on a straight salary. We don’t currently have any sales incentive on the PLM [Precision Land Management] side. For the most part, our sales staff is pretty similar. I know this goes against the grain compared to most situations, but it seems to work out pretty well for us.” 

— Josh Blatz, Gellings Implement, Eden, Wis.

“We offer commission to our precision salespeople. There is someone at each of our stores that gets a commission for the precision products sold. Our precision business is run through our parts department, so if a customer comes in asking about an auto-steer system, one of our precision specialists will handle the sale.

“They are compensated so they can do double-duty on the parts counter and they get a commission for precision products sold. We found that to be the easiest way to handle things because if a customer asks about a parts back order and a precision monitor in the same breath, we don’t have to worry about keeping track of it separately. We have our precision specialists, but all of their time isn’t dedicated solely to precision.”

— Tom Janson, Janson Equipment Co., Reese, Mich.