An automotive business development center (BDC) is an integral part of your dealership’s success. It is a team of professionals that are dedicated to helping customers and prospects with their automotive needs. If you want to get the most from your BDC efforts, there are a few things you should consider to ensure it runs smoothly. In this article, we will explore how to get the most out of your automotive BDC. We will look at the potential to leverage technology in an omnichannel environment to best address the sales and service needs of customers. Read on to learn how you can make sure your BDC is running at its full potential.
An automotive BDC is a Business Development Center that is specific to the automotive industry. These centers are responsible for generating and managing customer leads and the service needs of dealership customers.
An automotive BDC typically consists of a team of sales and customer service professionals who are experts in the automotive industry. This team works together to generate leads, track customer information, and provide dealership employees with the resources they need to follow up with customers. By providing quality customer service and maintaining a strong relationship with customers, an automotive BDC is integral in delivering customer convenience and helping the dealership reach its sales and service goals.
When it comes to automotive Business Development Centers (BDCs), there are pros and cons to both a service-based and sales-based approach. We will explore both sides of the coin in order to help you make the best decision for your dealership.
On the plus side, a service-based BDC can lend a more personal touch to your customers. This is because service representatives are focused on providing an excellent customer experience from beginning to end. They’re also more likely to develop relationships with customers and build trust over time.
However, this type of BDC can also be more expensive to operate than a sales-based one. That’s because you’ll need to staff it with highly-trained individuals who can handle complex customer inquiries and use sophisticated service scheduling tools. You’ll also need to have the right communications technology in place to support a service-based operation with text, email, and phone channels.
One of the most important functions of a BDC is scheduling service appointments. This ensures that customers are seen in a timely manner and that your staff is able to provide the best possible service. Here are some tips for making the most out of your BDC’s appointment scheduling:
A sales-based BDC, on the other hand, is typically less expensive to run. That’s because representatives are focused primarily on making sales appointments and generating leads. They may have less interaction with customers overall, but they can still provide excellent customer service when necessary.
The downside of a sales-based BDC is that it can sometimes come across as impersonal or pushy. Representatives may be more likely to make cold calls or use high-pressure tactics in order to generate leads. This could turn off some customers and damage your dealership’s reputation over time.
Your sales BDC should be focused on generating and nurturing high-quality leads that are likely to convert into sales. To do this, they should have a deep understanding of your dealership’s products, services, and pricing. They should also be experts in your customer base, knowing who is most likely to buy and why.
A sales BDC should be proactive in its outreach, using a mix of channels to reach potential customers. This might include phone calls, emails, text messages, or even direct mail. They should also be available to answer questions and address concerns from current customers.
Staff the Right People
It is imperative that your automotive BDC be staffed with people who are the right fit for the job. There are a few key qualities that are essential for success in a BDC role. First and foremost, your team members must be excellent communicators. They should be able to clearly and concisely convey information verbally and in writing. Furthermore, they must be able to build rapport quickly and establish trust with customers. Additionally, they should have strong organizational skills and be able to multitask effectively. Finally, they should have a deep understanding of your dealership’s sales and service processes and be able to expertly navigate its various twists and turns. By ensuring that your BDC is staffed with individuals who possess all of these qualities, you’ll set yourself up for success.
If you’re not able to track and follow up with your customers and leads, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business. It’s important to have a process in place so that you can make the most of your BDC.
There are a few key things to keep in mind:
A Universal Inbox for your Automotive BDC allows your customers a single place to communicate with you. It provides an integrated view of all customer communications, regardless of the channel used, and enables your team to quickly respond to customers.
With a Universal Inbox, you can:
BDCs handle all the call and overflow volume that generally hits the service and the sales department. In the past, this has been handled very easily because the main number first rings at the BDC, and in a “hunt group”, rings multiple phones at once, and silences the phones of other BDC agents once one of them answers the call.
The person answering the phone decides if the call can be handled locally otherwise they will transfer it to the requisite sales agent or service advisor.
With the advent of text and email, this single channel (voice calls) became a little harder to deal with because now customers can send text messages, emails, or make voice calls.
This omnichannel approach just does not translate well for BDCs that are typically geared only to take phone calls, and this is where myKaarma’s BDC inbox solution answers your omnichannel universal inbox needs for Automotive BDCs.
With the myKaarma BDC Inbox, you can handle all three channels of communications (text, emails, and voice calls) as one conversation type, which seamlessly and intelligently transfers to the BDC agents as one conversation.
A customer texts 15 days after the repair order closes. The myKaarma BDC Inbox directs the text to the group at the BDC and would intelligently only allow the BDC to handle this within a group of agents who can handle phone calls, texts, and emails all in a manner in which nobody is “stepping on” any other agent. The BDC Inbox is proven to work seamlessly, sometimes dropping call volume by as much as 50% from the original voice-only dealer setup.
There are many more examples we can share. Contact us to learn how we can help improve the performance of your automotive BDC.