# How to Build a Commission Plan for Your Advisor or Manager Without Getting Burned [E211]

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-by-the-numbers-5045738/how-to-build-a-commission-plan-for-your-advisor-or-manager-without-getting-burned-e211
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-by-the-numbers-5045738/how-to-build-a-commission-plan-for-your-advisor-or-manager-without-getting-burned-e211.md
Podcast: [Business By The Numbers](https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-by-the-numbers-5045738)
Published: 2026-02-26T04:15:00+00:00
Episode link: https://automotiverepairpodcastnetwork.com/how-to-build-a-commission-plan-for-your-advisor-or-manager-without-getting-burned-e211
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/cb7c057e-cf48-4f97-9ca8-93109f301164.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1581

## Resource

Thanks to our partners Promotive and Wicked File You already know how to pay your technicians, but what about everyone else? Your service advisors, your counter staff, your shop manager... how do you build a pay plan that actually motivates them to perform? In this follow-up to last week's technician pay plan episode, Hunt Demarest walks through the three most common commission structures for front-office and management staff: paying off total sales, paying off gross profit, and paying off net income. Using a real client example, a shop owner who wants to reward his son for growing the business from $2 million to $2.5 million in annual sales, Hunt breaks down exactly how to calculate each structure, what percentage makes sense, and how to stress test the plan before you hand it to your employee. The big theme running through all three structures is: only reward people for what they can actually control. Paying a manager based on net income sounds fair in theory, but what happens when you buy a $30,000 side-by-side for the shop and write it off? Hunt explains why net income plans almost never work in practice, why gross profit plans are more aligned but more complex, and why a simple percentage of sales, with a few key guardrails around gross profit floors, is often the most transparent and motivating option for most shops. Whether you're building a plan from scratch or rethinking one that isn't driving the behavior you want, this episode gives you a clear, repeatable framework and a reminder that none of it matters unless your employee actually understands the plan and knows how their daily actions will move the needle. What you'll learn in this episode: (03:15) The benchmark that might surprise you about flat salaries (05:15) The rule every pay plan must follow relati…

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## Transcript

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