I have to chime in here with a bipartisan stance on this issue.
There would be no service department without sales and there would be no sales without a good service department.
At my dealership, I think the service techs are overworked and underpaid. I believe they need additional training in network connectivity and support which is involed now with every sale.
Currently, I do 90% of network support for my sales and others, as well as the initial install,training and post sales support. I am who my customers call for anything and everything. Unfortunately, I am only compensated on GP based on a set revenue goal, although I do receive a salary equal to $11.00 per hour.
I get nothing for the almost 3 million clicks my customers produce monthly.
Now, my complaint is that with these additional duties, I do not have nearly as much time to devote to sales as I would like. My boss is always talking about activity and cold calling (50 per week), which was done in his day. He doesn't understand the way it is now, next to nothing margins and 7 competitors involved in any given sale means that I am wasting my time shotgunning.
I would rather spend my time researching, qualifying and developing a relationship with fewer customers who will develop into long term multiplacement clients than wasting each and every day cold calling every company in my territory.
And I would much rather have the service techs, with the right training and certifications, assisting in presales and post sale implementation, as well as compensating them on the aftermarket revenue for handling those tasks.
I really don't think we pay our guys nearly enough.
At our dealership I would like to see some program which compensates service techs for keeping the service calls at a minimum and incentives to help increase placements and clicks within an account. It should be a team effort. I want all of our people to make a healthly living, not just myself.
Most of my guys really are good and could be more valuable with the right ideas implemented.
How about paying us an ongoing click compensation based upon target total monthly volume of our accounts.
Maybe $.0005 per click after the first million and have that be graduated in steps the higher the volume goes.
If we were paid $.0005 per click on a million copies that would equal $500.00 monthly.
If we were paid $.00055 per click on two and a half million copies that would equal $1,375.00.
A fair amount considering the average cost per click of $.008 is producing between $8k and $20k per month revenue.
Sounds fair to me if I am working to increase clicks in my clients offices.
And one other item. We do not discount our service to cost. We have a set rate we are required to use unless it is an especially large deal.
Sorry for the whining thoughts here, but this is one I had to post my opinion for what it's worth.
Happy Thanksgiving