Well I have finally reached a point where I am so stressed and worried, that I no longer know what to do. I don't seem to have anywhere else to turn, so I figured I would take a chance and ask all of my friends here for some help.

First off I want to start by saying I have two beautiful children. They are 3 and 4 years old. I am divorced and have full custody of both kids. My ex-wife has not been paying me the child support she is suppossed to for two and a half years. She seems to have dropped off the face of the earth and no one can seem to locate her. Because I am a single parent, I am forced to work a ton of hours so that I can make enough money for my family.

For the past year I have been selling cars at a local Toyota dealership. I bought my tC here and it seemed like a great company to work for. They have great benefits and seem to be understanding. Recently they changed my position to a department that caters to individuals who are shopping dealerships either through the phone or internet. Because they are trying to get the best deal, we have to be extremely aggresive on our pricing so that we can earn their business. Because of this, 95% of these deals are below my invoice price, meaning there is no gross. Because there is no gross, I get paid a flat of $75. As of right now, I am leading the board in sales. It is the 26th of the month and I have 22 sold. The next salesperson down has only 10. I work my ___ off everyday and try to do my absolute best. I am always on time and there are times when I come in on my days off to try and make some additional money. It does suck because I work 14 hour shifts and I am scheduled to work 5 days a week. So I put in a ton of hours and unfortunately I do not get much time to spend with my kids.

Right now I am at a point where I am not making enough money. No where the amount I should. I am falling behind on bills and you know that Christmas just killed me. I have tried to talk to my boss but he just kind of pacified me. What I am struggling with is I have to to make the amount of money that a Mom and Dad makes to support my family. Working 70 plus hours a week should put me there. Now I could leave and go to another dealership but this is the biggest Toyota dealer in the area. I don't want to go to a different manufactor. And I figure if I go to a smaller dealer who does not do as much business, I am worried I will make even less money. But at the same token if I stay here, then I am screwing myself. Ideally I would like a 9-5 Monday thru Friday type of job that way I have time to spend with my children, but I do not know of any that will pay me what I need. Not to mention I don't really qualify for anything.

I am so frustrated and stressed that I think I just needed to get it out. If anyone has any ideas of what I can do, please tell me. I hate to have my family suffer because of money. I am not usually the type of person who complains because I believe there is always someone else out there who has it worse. I was just so sad not being able to give my kids a good Christmas. I could only get a few things and could not buy for anyone else. Life has just thrown me a challenge that I am trying to overcome but it is turning out to be harder than I imagined.

 

sometimes, like you said, you just need to get it out..

I can't offer any solutions other than asking again for that raise. If you are as valuable to the company as it sounds like - retaining you would be worth a few more dollars.

Try, try again.

You're doing the best for your family of 3 -on 1 income - thats very respectable.

 

You need to change stores. Just because it's the biggest store doesn't mean it's the best one to work for. If you have 22 out on the 26th, then you're tracking 33 on a 5 day schedule. Does your store not have unit bonuses? At mine, 33 would get you $2k bonus minimum. Also, you'd be making $100 flats. What about pull checks? Do you not get those? You should be getting an additional $75 - 100 pull on about half your sales. I know a guy that made $112k in 2006 as the internet manager of a 120 unit/month store in GA.

Your pay plan is disgusting, and you should shop around for another store.

 

as someone who has been there and has been in sales all my life....go sell something else if you have sales talent...I work 45 hrs a week and make a very nice living in sales

 

Man I wish I was working there. No my dealer does not do any of that.

 

I know I'm young, but I'm extremely understanding of where you're coming from.
My father has been unemployed for about 2 years, and he's trying.

I don't know how the paying works in car sales, but I do like to think I know about people.
I think you should sit down with your boss one day, and tell him that you need this raise, if he won't give it to you, you need to chance dealerships, or sell something else if you have the talent.
Also, I'm sure it's very illegal for her not to pay child support, I would check up on that, I know lawyers are expensive, and if you can't then that's fine, but there has to be something you can do there.

Good luck to you man.

 

the thing with car dealers is there really isnt a "raise" if you ask your boss for a raise, he will say yea heres your raise, go sell anohter car. trust me i've seen it happen before

 

make a nice resume with your numbers and experience and go put it the other dealerships or stores or whatever.

Its not like you can get fired for putting your resume around to see if you can earn what your worth, not that BS that they are giving you now. If you find something else that pays what you like, tell your current boss to match it or.....quit...i f'in HATE the word quit, but sometimes you gotta the right thing to better yourself, and this is one of those times for you.

If your boss is a cool guy, you could just throw it out there and he might just ask why you deserve it and maybe youll get a raise right away but then again if hes a dick, it could go pretty bad too!


I manage a store here in town, and if they want a raise...all i do is ask them why they deserve it, and then we sit down with their numbers and they are good, then a raise it is. If they are not good, I tell them, "get to "X" number and ill give you a raise"

cant hurt to ask :D good luck with everything!

 

Yeah I am definately gonna send out my resume and try my best to either get my boss to match it or I will have to move on. I do like the place that I am in and I am not the kind of person that switches jobs all the time. I do not want to have to worry about chasing the money all the time, but I guess I do not have a choice.

 

You've been there several years. If there does not appear to be an opening in a busines office anytime soon, and they are not going to pay unit bonuses, then you need to leave. It's that simple. A better pay plan is out there for you.

 

Was gonna post earlier and give you props for raising two kids on your own, but I'm sure you know you're awesome for doing it. If not, you're pretty damn awesome. My mom worked 2 jobs to raise us solo.

Just wanted to throw out there that I agree with scionofPCFL. Your pay structure seems low, especially for a large northeast dealer. Also, cars may be cool, but I put myself through college selling tools and paint. I know people who sell boats. I know someone who makes a great living selling booze as a bartender. And I know someone who does really well in real estate, selling what she can, and investing for herself in the really good pickings. Don't burn bridges, but definitely check into other stuff. Good salespeople can always find good work. Good luck.

EDIT: Oh, and I base my agreeing with scionofPCFL on being good friends with a few car salesmen, and with people in the car sales business who sell much less than you do, and seem to make a good living. Key word is MUCH. 20 cars in a month and I think they'd retire or something. Maybe die of shock. That's pretty damn good dude!

 

yea man 20 cars is awesome, when iwas selling subarus id be lucky if i could even get double digets thats how slow it was but def look into selling other stuff (furniture, which a lot of people dont know its commision and dont haggle on the price ) or something like that.