Prepared for: Leadership · Re: Closer pay structure Internal decision aid · figures use our own data + public industry benchmarks
The one-page case
Each closer brings in about $4.8 million in sales a year. Let's align how we pay them with the value they create.
Today that's a $75,000 base plus a 0.6% commission on sales — about $103,800 a year. This brief lays out a simple step up — keep the base and raise the sales commission — that brings a solid closer to roughly $165k–$195k, paid only on sales they actually book, with the company still keeping the large majority of every unit's gross.
$0M
Sales generated / closer / year
$0M
Gross profit generated / closer / year
0%
Dealer-standard commission, % of gross (industry)
Section I
The math leadership should see first
One closer, modeled conservatively — a 20% margin haircut below our real ~27%. Our actual margins only make the case stronger.
Per closer, per year
Conservative (20% margin)
Likely (our ~27% build sheets)
Sales generated (~$400k/mo)
$4,800,000
$4,800,000
Gross margin used
20%
~27%
Gross profit generated
$960,000
$1,296,000
Current comp (base + 0.6% commission)
$103,800
$103,800
Total pay as % of the gross they generate
10.8%
8.0%
In red: current total pay, ~$104kThe closer generates ~$1.3M of gross →
Because each closer generates over a million dollars in gross, there's real room to reward them well while the company still keeps the large majority. This brief is about a sensible step toward that — and every figure stays deliberately conservative.
Section II
What the rest of the industry pays
Comparable high-ticket dealer industries pay salespeople a percentage of front-end gross profit, clustered at 20–30%, with 25% the most common rate. For reference, Pine Hill's total pay is about 8% of the gross a closer produces — our commission (0.6% of sales) was set when volume was lower.
Pine Hill (today)$75k + 0.6% ÷ gross
~8%
PowersportsPowersports Business
~15%
AutoAutoFinder / Nimble
20–30%
RVRV Rank
20–30%
Farm / heavy equip.Farm Equipment mag.
25–30%
Scale: 0–33% of front-end gross profit. Each industry figure is the per-deal commission rate; sources in Section VII.
The closest parallel to us: Farm Equipment magazine quotes named equipment-dealer principals paying "25% of gross margin on new, 30% on used." High-ticket durable goods, sold by closers — the same kind of business we're in.
Section III
A proposal that stays conservative
Paying the documented 25% of gross on the ~$1.3M a closer produces would put earnings near $325,000. The proposal deliberately stays well below that — a measured step from today's ~$104k, adjusted for the fact that leads are company-generated.
Today$75k + 0.6%
$104k
Proposed — solid$75k + 2% of sales
$171k
Proposed — strong$75k + 2.5%
$195k
At industry standard25% of gross
~$325k
Scale: 0–$325k total annual compensation. The proposal sits roughly halfway between today and the documented standard.
Section IV
The recommended plan
Keep the base, raise the commission on sales. Paid only on sales actually booked — $0 cost on a slow month.
Base salary
$75k
Unchanged. Nothing is cut; stability stays.
Commission on sales
0.6% → 2%
Raise the existing sales commission from 0.6% to ~2%. Still well below the dealer standard.
Solid closer lands at
~$170k
Strong producers more — pay scales with the sales they book.
Total pay by commission rate
0.6% (today)
$104k
1.5% of sales
$147k
2.0% of salesrecommended
$171k
2.5% of sales
$195k
$75k base + commission on ~$4.8M of sales. A slow month costs the company nothing extra; commission is only paid on sales booked.
Because it's a percentage of sales, it rewards every additional unit a closer books — including the high-margin factory options (36.95% margin vs. 26.55% on the base unit) that add to each ticket. A salaried role has no built-in reason to push them.
Inbound vs. outbound: one plan, a split rate
Our closers work company leads and self-source deals. The same plan pays a higher rate on what a rep hunts up — because a self-sourced deal never touches the lead budget, so the lead cost we save funds the premium.
Inbound deal
2%
Company-provided lead — paying for the close.
Outbound deal
4%
Rep-sourced — double the rate, because they replaced the lead spend. Plus a recoverable draw while building.
Every ~$1.2M a rep hunts adds ~$48k
Inbound only$4.8M at 2%
$171k
+ $600k outbound
$195k
+ $1.2M outbound
$219k
+ $2.4M outbound
$267k
Total comp = $75k base + 2% on inbound sales + 4% on self-sourced sales. Outbound earnings are additive on top of the inbound plan.
Outbound is self-funding: a self-sourced deal skips the lead-acquisition cost the company would otherwise pay, and that saving offsets the extra two points of commission. The rep is rewarded for hunting; the company protects its margin. (Drop in the real lead cost to quantify the net gain.)
Section V
It works at any margin we actually have
"We don't really know our exact margins" doesn't break the plan. Across every plausible margin, after funding the higher commission, the company still keeps ~80%+ of gross.
18% marginpessimistic
keeps 80%
20% margin
keeps 82%
22% margin
keeps 84%
27% marginour build sheets
keeps 87%
% of gross the company retains after paying $75k base + 2% of sales, on ~$4.8M of sales.
And because the commission is a simple % of sales — a figure we already track exactly — the plan needs no margin calculation at all to run. Margin uncertainty doesn't affect a single payout.
Section VI
Questions leadership will reasonably ask
Do we really know our margins well enough to do this?
We do — they're on every build sheet (26.55% base, 36.95% options). And because the proposed commission is a simple % of sales — a figure we already track precisely — it doesn't require any margin calculation to run. It stays affordable whether the real margin is 18% or 27% (Section V).
Isn't $75k already solid pay?
It is — and with the 0.6% commission, a closer earns about $104k today, which is fair compensation. The narrower question is whether it keeps pace with the ~$1.3M of gross each closer generates, and whether it holds up if a competitor comes calling. A rival dealer could offer meaningfully more and still profit on that production — so this is about staying competitive for the people who move our inventory.
Leads are inbound, and lead flow is expensive — does that change it?
A fair point, and it's built in: the proposed 2% of sales is a closing-appropriate rate, well below a hunter's commission. And since lead flow is a real investment, keeping a proven closer protects the return on it — a strong closer converts more of those paid leads and holds margin. Retention and lead ROI point the same direction.
Section VII
Where the norms come from
The benchmark — 20–30% of front-end gross, 25% standard — is confirmed independently across four high-ticket dealer industries. Three distinct concepts are kept separate so the numbers can't be conflated.
A · Commission rate per deal — % of front-end gross (the anchor)
What a rep earns on each unit, as a share of that unit's gross profit. The standard the proposal is measured against.
High
Farm Equipment — "Industry Q&A: Sales Compensation Plans" · named equipment-dealer principals · Jun 2019 · link
25% new / 30% used
Survey
Trucks Parts & Service — dealer compensation survey · 75% of dealers pay on gross margin · link
avg 21% of gross
Trade
Powersports Business — "Developing a Compensation Plan" · % of gross per unit + small salary · link
NTDA — Dealer Compensation Survey · the trailer-specific body · member-only · link
obtain via membership
Gated
MRAA 2025 Marine & RVDA 2025 RV Compensation Studies · percentile pay by role · purchasable / participant-only · link
authoritative, gated
Full citation list, dates, and access notes: sources.md. Three concepts kept separate — per-deal rate (A) ≠ store cost-of-sale (B) ≠ take-home earnings (C).