A Mini Deal is a low-profit vehicle sale that triggers a flat commission payment—usually around $100–$200—regardless of how much profit the dealership actually makes on the deal.
Why do Mini Deals Exist?
Always be selling. That's the business. You don't want to discourage sales from closing tough deals (e.g., deep discounts, friends and family, internet leads with razor-thin margins). Instead of no bread on that table, the store pays out a guaranteed mini to keep morale and momentum high.
This is especially common when:
- A vehicle is sold at invoice or below
- A customer negotiates heavily
- Factory incentives eat up the margin
- Front-end gross is negative
Where You’ll See Mini Deals in Action
They show up most often in:
- New car departments with tight margins
- Internet leads or price-match deals
- Fleet sales or internal employee deals
- Heavily incentivized models where rebates kill front-end gross
How Mini Deals Work in Pay Plans?
In most dealerships, the pay plan includes language like:
If the front-end gross is below $X, a flat mini of $150 will be paid.
This ensures:
- Salespeople stay motivated to close deals
- Managers can push volume when needed
- Everyone stays aligned even on low-margin sales
The actual mini amount varies but typically ranges between $100–$250, depending on the store’s compensation structure.
Mini Deals, Commissions… Who Cares?!
You should—especially if you’re trying to optimize pay plans.
Mini deals are a built-in cushion that keeps your comp plan from backfiring when margins are tight. But they can also mask recurring gross issues if they become the norm instead of the exception.
Understanding how many of your deals fall to mini helps leadership:
- Rethink pricing strategies
- Adjust gross targets
- Rebalance performance-based pay plans
