Why automotive BDC is a great investment
Business deals are essential to grow your sales. But like in any business, closing a deal can be difficult, especially if you’re in the automotive industry. One reason for such is the lack of time a company has in reaching out or following up on their prospective clients.
Many factors affect the responsiveness of a company when following up customers. For instance, companies who are understaffed may tend to focus on their tasks within their physical office, resulting in a lack of time to address customers’ queries that may lead to them becoming potential buyers.
As a result, you may lose a potential client when they feel they didn’t get the customer service they deserve. This is why automotive companies use a business development center (BDC) to keep in touch with potential customers, as well as take advantage of other benefits this service can offer.
Before going into the details of how it’s a great investment, let’s take a deeper look at what a BDC is.
What is a business development centre?
A business development center or BDC handles a store’s incoming sales calls and internet leads. In short, it acts as the telemarketers of a business.
In an automotive dealership, a BDC’s responsibilities solely focus on setting up sales appointments from new leads by managing the store’s inbound calls. For instance, a sales manager who cannot keep up with inbound calls because of prior appointments may opt for a BDC representative to take the calls for them instead.
Another task of a BDC is to bring in new leads by making outbound calls. They make calls to potential clients and offer them the store’s products and services. Their responsibility is to bring leads by setting up appointments with potential clients.
To understand this better, here’s how an automotive BDC works:
- Scheduling – While automotive BDC representatives should be knowledgeable about the terms and deals that automotive companies use, keep in mind that they don’t directly sell cars. This is because their main goal is to bring in leads or potential customers into the store. Instead, they make appointments with leads so a salesperson can do the selling.
- Persuading – Although BDC staff members don’t directly sell cars, they should be able to persuade a potential client to do business with the automotive company. This is done by communicating well with the person. Instead of directly selling the cars to them, the BDC representative will focus on the person’s desires, needs, and goals, and connect their aspirations with having a car. This way, they can talk about the distinct service that the automotive dealership has. These include financing options, a variety of vehicles, other features of the car, and how their services can keep up with their potential client’s goals and needs.
- Following up – Simply having initial contact with someone isn’t enough to persuade them entirely. This takes time and focus in order for a customer to commit to a sales appointment, which makes follow-ups a much-needed task. BDC representatives can focus on building a relationship with the people they’ve talked to before. That way, they’re already familiar with each other, which can make persuasion easier.
Investing in automotive BDC
While some don’t think that BDC is a worthy investment, others recognize its advantages. As long as you know how to make your BDC effective, you can definitely gain more from it.
When setting up your own automotive BDC, you must take note of the following:
- If you already have an existing BDC, but it’s not paying off, fix it. You don’t need to start over; all you need is to upgrade what they need or conduct training to enhance your staff’s skills.
- If you’re starting an automotive BDC department, have a solid plan. List down important items like your physical office, target goals, number of people and things they need, job responsibilities, and structure of the call. Not having a roadmap to guide you would make this undertaking more difficult.
- Choose the technology you’ll use aside from desks, furniture, and the telephones your BDC staff will need to perform well. Incorporate customer relationship management (CRM) and other software required to improve business relationships between your staff and potential clients.
- Hire the best staff. You should not focus on the applicant’s knowledge of the automotive industry, but more on their communication skills. Also, they must know the best customer service practices so they can be more effective. You wouldn’t want to hire someone who has a high IQ but has an unpleasant attitude towards your customers.
- Develop a program for both your automotive BDC staff and other personnel in different departments. Making everyone understand how your automotive BDC can impact your business will enlighten all your employees. You can use regular training or team buildings to motivate and educate your BDC representatives.
- Draft your marketing scripts and messages. To make your staff handle every possible situation, you should have a template for each one they might possibly encounter. However, be mindful that these don’t make them sound robotic. The goal of these templates is simply to guide them on how to handle different situations properly.
- Monitoring the performance of your automotive BDC department is a must. It’s to know which areas need more improvement and what strategies are effective.
What makes automotive BDC a great investment
Investing in an automotive BDC may require much funding, but the results may cover the expenses over time. It may not give you your specific target goals, but in the long run, you’ll see a big difference. As long as you apply the best practices of an automotive BDC, you’ll get the following benefits and understand why investing in it is worth the effort:
1. Increase appointment conversion rates
With an automotive BDC, you’re more likely to increase your leads. With a well-trained BDC representative from a reputable appointment call center, there’s a higher chance that more potential clients can show up for appointments.
Compared to your sales manager, for instance, who focuses on closing a deal, a BDC representative can get more people to show up for appointments. Since your sales manager’s focus is to sell your cars, they’re may not fully realise the importance of setting up an appointment with a client or following them up.
Getting an appointment is hard, but making them show up is even harder. Here are tips your automotive BDC can use to create a show-up appointment:
- Be communicative – Don’t talk about your product but focus on the person. It’s a technique that’ll give you a way to win their approval for an appointment.
- Show respect – Being respectful can encourage a person to communicate with you. For instance, ask them whether it’s a good time to talk. If not, ask about their most convenient time and inform them you’ll call again at that day or hour. With this simple act, they’ll feel that you value and respect their time.
- Solve their problems – After letting your prospect know why you called, you may point out how your car dealership might be able to solve a problem. Ask your prospect whether they have similar problems, or ask about what their problems are. Connecting their problem to your car deals takes some skill, that’s why an automotive BDC representative should have good communication skills. After which, illustrate how your deals can solve or at least help them with their problems. For instance, if they have a hard time travelling to work, show them why your cars are the perfect solution to this dilemma.
- Offer something valuable – After letting them know how your car dealership can help, offer them more valuable deals. For instance, they can get a service that’s free of charge for a year when they buy from the car dealership.
- Make them laugh – Making the conversation light and jolly can also engage the person. However, you must avoid making fun of their situation or their problems as they may get offended.
- Set a specific time – One of the many mistakes that you can commit is ending the call without setting a specific time for the appointment. You can do this by asking them whether today or tomorrow is appropriate. Then follow up the question with the time of the day, whether they’d available during the morning or afternoon. Lastly, guide them to choose between two specific times. That way, you’ll make them commit.
- Show them an exclusive service – A simple “yes” isn’t sufficient to let them commit. Tell them that you’ll get the car ready, and your appointment is exclusive for them. This will make them feel more obliged to show up.
2. Recapture declined offers
After an appointment, a client may either sign a deal or walk out the door to give their decision more thought. While you don’t want to get your hopes up that that person will return, some do.
Instead of simply having high hopes, follow up on these customers with a proper endorsement from the sales manager to the automotive BDC representative. Follow-up calls are vital as they can save a deal when done right. Your sales manager may not have time to follow up on these clients, thus your BDC will do the rescuing.
Potential clients are more likely to leave the showroom without signing a deal or purchasing because of the following reasons:
- Their finances cannot meet the payment method.
- The test drive didn’t do well, or the car isn’t what they’re looking for.
- The salespersons haven’t convinced them enough.
Knowing these reasons will help you create the best questions to ask them. Your BDC team should avoid these questions during the follow-up call:
- Asking whether they need more information. This question shows you don’t know your client’s needs. Also, all the information should have been discussed in the showroom.
- Talking about the price. This must also be laid-out clearly during the appointment.
- Checking them in. Don’t ask whether they’re ready to purchase the car.
The follow-up call should not be about the mentioned reasons above. Instead, it should determine why your client left the showroom without making a purchase. You can do this by asking for an evaluation of how the appointment went. Asking them what made them satisfied or not can help you discover the real issue for why they’ve left.
For instance, if the car they test drove isn’t their preference, ask them what type of vehicle they’re looking for. If they want an eco-friendly car for their business, then you can suggest an electric car as an alternative option. Give them other options they can choose from and allow them to do another test drive. Whatever their issues are, try giving them more options so you can ask for another appointment.
3. Decrease potential client loss rate
Especially when your team is understaffed or things are already busy at your automotive centers, you’ll find that an automotive BDC can significantly help. There are times when there’s a high number of visitors at your showroom, thus your staff is focused on entertaining these customers.
But what happens when there’s a phone call or missed emails during those times? It’s more than likely that those potential customers won’t make another call as no one has received their calls the first time. As a result, you can lose potential buyers because no one has entertained them.
When you have an automotive BDC set up, they’re ready to take the calls anytime—no more missed calls or unanswered emails because you’ve got the appropriate staff to address them. If all calls and emails are answered immediately, potential leads will remain interested in your car deals or offerings. Especially if their inquiries have been answered, they’re more likely to initiate an appointment.
4. Increase in sales
The end result of an automotive BDC’s efforts is growth in sales. With more potential customers entertained, more leads are generated. The leads that show up can potentially sign a deal right at your showroom or after a follow-up. With the right strategies, your automotive BDC can become an asset.
The bottom line
All kinds of business investments are risky, but most investments can produce higher returns. It’s up to you to work it out. Don’t miss the chance of growing your automotive business when you know you can make it with an automotive BDC.
Moreover, you can make your BDC work as long as you keep the best practices applied. With proper knowledge and management, your BDC department can also contribute to your business’ goals.
