From BDC to Cradle-to-Grave, in 2017

Has anyone successfully moved fully from a BDC to cradle-to-grave? It feels like it might be almost time to make the move, but I know that it's also heavily dependent on having the right team in place.

 

In my mind, your last statement really sums it all up. What is your team like? Over the years I have ran, trained and consulted on various configurations of BDC's from fully staffed to salesperson staffed and different hybrids. Consider all aspects of your staff, including management...if the desk feels like having their guys on the point is more important than time spent in the BDC then you are destined for acute migraines and eventual failure. If everyone is on board, though, and sees the benefit of handling a customer from first contact to delivery and works together on a buttoned-up process, then you can really show success while minimizing payroll.

 

... and in 60 days ... a new thread, titled: "from Cradle-to-Grave BACK to BDC, in 2017."

I'm just messing with ya @Rob. If this is the direction you're going, I have no doubt you'll be successful.

If you're part of this community, then the only OBVIOUS word that naturally moves to the forefront of your thoughts as you read this - TEAM. @AdamMurray

Training, training, training and more ongoing training. ATT - All Time Training. Ready and willing to possibly break-up with old friends?

Rob, so what has you feeling like it may be time to make this move?

 

I'm always back and forth with the answer to this question, even with a great team that's willing and able.

I'm not the only one that goes back'n forth over BDC vs Craddle-to-Grave:

• http://www.dealerrefresh.com/eliminating-car-dealer-bdc-for-good/
• http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/re-tooling-bdc-process.5113/
• http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/centralized-bdc-across-larger-number-of-stores.3187/
• http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/new-trend-for-showroom-traffic-vs-internet-leads.3940/

Keep in mind - even if you do go Craddle-to-Grave, you still need someone that's highly qualified to oversee the operations, manage and adhere to established and evolving processes.

 

Hah, hopefully I won't be undoing the whole mess in a few months. Hopefully.

What makes me want to get crazy? A combination of some key BDC personnel moving on, and some key salespeople who I think are really ready to step up and take on the challenge of A-Z. I think we have (most of) the right team in place. I guess we'll see how things look in 30, 60, and 90 days.

 

@Rob - Sounds like the perfect storm to make the move. Go for it!!

When your "traditional" sales team is cradle-to-grave with internet leads, you MUST be aware of... Lead Fatigue.

Define: Lead Fatigue
Is a nearly constant state of weariness of a particular lead source(s) that develops over time from a preconceived notion around the quality of that particular lead source(s) and reduces the motivation and consistency it takes to achieve a desirable lead to show ratio.

Example: "Out of the last 20 leads I've received from ABCLeadProvider, ONE included a bogus phone number, therefore EVERY lead from ABCLeadProvider must have a bogus phone number and is now considered to be a sh!t lead provider." ...said Tommy.

Example: "These trade-in leads SUCK. Every lead I'm able to get on the phone wants a ridiculous number for their trade-in. Therefore, all trade-in leads are sh!t leads." ...said Sally.

Okay, I may be a bit on the extreme side with my examples (and maybe not) but you get the picture. As soon as "traditional" sales person labels a lead provider as a SH!T Lead Provider, that's it. Always a SH!T lead provider. This preconceived notion can and will differ between salespeople.

Your traditional sales professionals will still stand outside on the front line, waiting, for what they believe to be the low hanging fruit. Unfortunately this usually carries over to your online opportunities (internet leads) as well. They want leads that sell, quickly. Leads that take little to zero follow-up effort and magically show up after after Auto-Email Template #3 "Are you still in the market?"

There are times I wish I could HIDE the lead source from showing in the CRM so the sales team wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to formulate opinions around the different lead providers. I believe this to be one of the toughest challenges when moving from a structured BDC to Cradle-to-Grave.

How do you or will you @Rob prevent Lead Fatigue??

 

Nope, not extreme at all...I hear it every day! In the interest of keeping the peace and fostering a positive, mentoring environment, I bite my tongue and do what I can. In my mind, though....

 

Lead fatigue is a real thing, but I will admit I have given solving it zero thought. That was dumb.

Something I've focused on over the last several months is ditching the *actual* crap lead sources. We're mostly through, except for one ill-advised contract. The remaining leads are overall high quality. I guess my approach will be to, when someone falls into that trap, try showing them team-wide numbers on that particular source. Hopefully it's no harder than that, but time will tell.

Already though, sales call handling has improved drastically. Having people who sell cars answer the phones has been great. Early days, and all that... but it's a positive sign for sure.