Decision Rights: Who Approves Discounts and Deals
Decision rights for who approves discounts and deals: a published grid, exception path, Marketplace price matches, and rules that stop driveway overrides.
A buyer is in the box. The closer has already quoted a number that was never on the windshield. The sales manager is on a demo. The owner is at the bank. The associate who posted the truck on Marketplace overnight had typed a different figure in the description. Three prices, zero named approvers, and a customer who now believes everything is negotiable including the next one. Decision rights — who approves discounts and deals — are not bureaucracy. They are how you keep gross, keep managers, and keep listings honest.
This article is for GMs, used-car managers, and dealer principals who are tired of being the secret desk. It defines a discount grid, an exception path, what floor reps may say in person and in Messenger, and how online listings stay aligned with the pencil. It is operational guidance, not legal advice. Confirm advertising, as-is versus warranty language, and any required disclosures with counsel and your state regulator.
Decision Rights for Discounts and Deals
Write authority as dollars and situations, not as "use your judgment." Judgment is what you use inside the grid. It is not a substitute for the grid.
Level 0: No discount authority
Associates, porters, and anyone without a closer title. They may confirm the advertised price and take a hold deposit only under a written deposit policy. They may not "work the number" in comments or DMs.
Level 1: Closer / sales rep
May hold the advertised price, present the grid's first pencil, and offer packaged add-ons the store already sells. May not go below the first pencil without the desk. May not invent a Marketplace-only price to start a conversation.
Level 2: Desk / sales manager
Approves discounts inside the published grid (for example, down to a floor on a unit, or a defined pack exception). Approves splits when two people worked the deal. Does not change the buy. Does not rewrite store policy for a friend of the owner.
Level 3: GM
Approves outside-grid deals that still fit the monthly plan: aged-unit moves that were already discussed, competitive matches with evidence, and deals that require F&I to reshape the pencil. Informs the owner on a weekly list.
Level 4: Owner / principal
Approves precedent: below-floor deals, "we don't usually do this," employee deals, and anything that would teach the floor a new unofficial policy. If the owner is also the GM, they still need two hats on paper so Saturday does not become Level 4 by default.
For the broader owner-versus-GM split, use Dividing Decisions Between the Owner and the General Manager. This article is the desk slice of that document.
Who Approves Discounts When the Buyer Is Standing at the Desk
Speed matters. A grid that requires a phone call for every $200 will be ignored. A grid with no floor will be looted.
Build a one-page grid
| Unit situation | Closer | Desk | GM | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At advertised price | Yes | — | — | — |
| Small hold inside first pencil | Ask desk | Yes | — | — |
| To the floor on a unit under aging policy | No | Yes | Informed | — |
| Below floor, unit inside aging policy | No | Recommends | Yes | Informed |
| Below floor, aged unit already on the weekly list | No | Yes if pre-approved | Informed | — |
| Match a competitor ad | No | Needs the ad | Yes | — |
| Change the advertised online price | No | Yes | Informed | — |
| Aftersale promise (warranty, repairs) | No | With F&I | Yes if policy | Owner if precedent |
Fill the actual dollar floors per vehicle in your DMS or pricing sheet. Do not publish imaginary percentages in the break room.
The in-the-box protocol
- Closer presents advertised price and the first pencil only.
- If the buyer asks for more, closer leaves the box and talks to the desk. They do not negotiate against themselves in the chair.
- Desk uses the grid. If it is an exception, they get the GM or owner on a defined clock (same visit, not "we'll call you tomorrow" unless the buyer agrees).
- The number that is approved is the number that is written. Verbal "we're good at X" with no note is how F&I and the closer tell different stories.
Mini deals and pack
If your pay plan punches mini deals, decision rights still apply. A closer should not be able to dump gross to save a unit that is not theirs to dump. Align the grid and the paycheck so they are not at war.
Online Prices Are Desk Decisions Too
Marketplace and website numbers are public pencils. Treat them with the same authority as the windshield.
Who may change a live listing price
Only the desk, used-car manager, or a named internet owner. Floor reps do not freelance a lower number in the description to "get it moving." That is an unapproved discount plus a listing that no longer matches the lot.
What reps may say in Messenger
- The advertised price, plus what is included.
- That they will check on a specific request and come back.
- Not a new number, not "$500 under if you come today," not "make an offer" unless the store's published process is offer-based — which most retail lots should not run in public comments.
If a buyer already has a thread, lead ownership still applies. A second closer quoting a second price is both a decision-rights failure and a distribution-rules failure. Keep Fair Lead Distribution Rules Your Sales Team Will Accept consistent with this grid.
Sold, pending, and "we can get it back"
Pending units need a status, not a discount. If the deal is not funded, the listing should not still read as a public invitation to negotiate. Marking sold and taking the listing down is a desk-adjacent decision with a same-day clock.
After-hours exceptions
After-hours on-call may hold the advertised price and book an appointment. They may not approve a below-grid number in a midnight DM. Morning desk reviews anything that was promised overnight. If you allow overnight discounts, you do not have decision rights. You have a night shift with a checkbook.
How to Install Decision Rights Without a Mutiny
Publish, then audit
A grid announced once in a meeting will last until the first Saturday. Audit weekly: deals below floor, listing prices that moved without a desk note, Messenger threads that quoted a new number. Do not re-trade last week's gross in the meeting. Fix next week's behavior.
Stop driveway overrides
If the owner or GM changes a penciled deal in front of the customer, the grid is dead. Take the manager aside. Change the grid later if the grid is wrong. Public generosity is an unwritten Level 4.
Give the desk a way to see the listing
If the live Marketplace price is only on someone's phone, the desk will approve numbers against a windshield that is already stale. The listing and the pencil have to be the same object.
Map it on the RACI
Accountable for the grid: GM. Responsible for applying it: desk. Consulted: F&I on backend, used-car manager on cost. Informed: owner weekly. How to Build a RACI Chart for a Small Dealership is the index; this article is the discount row.
How PostToMarket Automates This
Decision rights collapse when the advertised price, the inventory status, and the conversation live in three places. A desk cannot enforce a grid against a listing it cannot see, and a manager cannot catch a rogue Messenger number if inquiries never leave a personal inbox. PostToMarket does not approve discounts and does not desk deals. It keeps the public listing, the owner of the unit, and the inbound thread visible so the people who do have authority can use it.
Status and ownership before the pencil
- Inventory statuses (draft, posting, posted, sold, failed) so a desk is not discounting a unit that is already sold.
- Mark as sold and archive from inventory or the queue the same day the deal is real.
- Per-rep queues and manager assignment so the person talking to the buyer is the person who was supposed to own the unit.
- Team queue view to release a claim when the closer is on a demo and the desk needs the car.
Eyes on the conversation
The leads inbox gives managers a view of inbound interest instead of discovering a promised price after the fact. Team analytics by rep and source will not catch every rogue quote, but they will show who is working which channel.
Listings that match the windshield
AI-generated titles and descriptions are editable before posting, which is where a manager stops a freelance price from going live. Bulk import with a row-level error log catches empty or absurd price fields at upload. Unlimited vehicles means the grid is not competing with a listing cap. The Chrome extension posts one vehicle at a time with human-like delays and server-enforced daily limits, so a panic "reprice and dump" afternoon is harder to run without a manager noticing.
Roles — admin, manager, sales rep, sales associate — keep associates from being treated as unofficial desks.
Put a Name on Every Discount Before the Customer Hears It
Decision rights — who approves discounts and deals — only work as a published grid, a no-override rule, and a listing that matches the pencil. Associates confirm. Closers present. The desk uses the floor. The GM and owner take exceptions. Messenger is not a second desk.
If your advertised prices still live in one Facebook login and your exceptions live in the parking lot, the grid is theater. PostToMarket gives the desk and the GM unlimited inventory, statuses, queues, a leads inbox, and analytics so the public number and the owner of the unit are on one screen. Dealership is $299 per month for up to 13 logins, enough to separate associates from closers from managers. Starter is $59 per month when the owner is still every level on the chart.
Start your 10-day free trial with secure Stripe checkout, align listings with the desk, and stop discovering discounts in a screenshot after the buyer is gone. Cancel anytime.