BDC appointment hand off issue

[Robert B.]

Sometimes the BDC will hand off leads to the sales floor because the agent can't move any further with the conversation. Usually it's because the customer needs very detailed vehicle information or is demanding specific vehicle pricing on leases, etc.

I've run into this new problem where when the salesperson speaks to the customer and is able to set an appointment after discussing and agreeing on pricing; in which the BDC agent will ask the salesperson to let said BDC agent create the appointment. Our BDC agents gets paid a bit on shown and sold, so this in turn allows the BDC agent to get paid on the shown appointment. Even though the salesperson is the one that technically set it.

Does anyone have experience handling situations like this? Is our entire system from start to finish flawed or is this an isolated issue that just needs to get handled? One of my concerns is that the BDC will be reluctant to hand off customers to sales staff since they'll want to try and BS their way into maybe setting an appointment.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[craigh]

I see this issue quite often. Integrating the BDRs and the sales people is a tricky balancing act for us and we bonus our BDRs based on appointments and shows as well.

 

[Chris Leslie]

I wouldn't change your process. If there is a way to #work the payplan people are gonna work the payplan. All you need to do is have someone not paid like this reconcile each week or so.

 

[Robert B.]

I get what you're saying. I've agreed to allow it until I can figure out a better method of approaching this issue. I personally don't feel like they should be paid on said appointments as the sales agent was the one able to move the conversation forward and set an appointment. This also screws with my metrics as these really aren't appointments set out of the BDC.

I figure if a BDC agent is able to get to the point where they can intelligently converse about a vehicle in the most extreme of circumstance then and only then do they deserve credit for setting that appointment.

Didn't know if anyone had specific experience with this transition from BDC to sales.

 

[DanRank]

We still pay the BDC rep in this situation. The end goal is to get the customer in the door, and we don't want the BDC rep to jeopardize this by not turning the customer over.

 

[craigh]

I think this is why dealerships are moving to in-house sales BDC with BDRs also closing the deals.
Customers deal with one person from start to finish. I wish we could follow this model, but it's a huge transition.

 

[BHavican]

If a BDC rep can't get the appointment on their own I always encourage TOing the call to a manager or salesperson especially if they can keep the prospect on the line to do so. To me that's a sign of strength and I would absolutely compensate the rep for having the foresight to get someone else involved.

This is a no-brainer, "pay the man his money."