• Stop being a LURKER - join our dealer community and get involved. Sign up and start a conversation.

How is your BDC setup?

Robert B.

Full Sticker
Sep 18, 2014
14
0
First Name
Robert
Those of you who have experience in BDC's: What sort of BDC setup have you found to work best for you? I have recently implemented a BDC in our dealership that is handling 300-350 leads per month with continued growth coming around the corner. I started off this endeavor specifically wanting to run a BDC very much like a call center environment where a BDR's sole job would be to generate traffic to the dealership.

However, I have recently been toying with the idea of running a hybrid BDC where I have specific reps who only focus on traffic generation, but in addition to this I would have BDR's who handle a lower volume of leads but work them cradle to the grave - or maybe don't get leads at all but work whatever appointments come out of the BDC while allowing the overflow of appointments to run onto the sales floor.

This idea is appealing to me because it grants me a greater amount of control over our customers and their outcomes. I love our sales team, and they are highly seasoned, but that has proven to be a double edged sword for me. Though many of them are on board with the changes and at times eager to learn it has been extremely difficult to teach these old dogs new tricks. I have a very "new school" perspective on things that is often at odds with the majority of the sales staff. I unfortunately find myself spending a good chunk of my day cleaning up after the mess that was created by the sales team from the previous day. The constant babysitting and hand holding that I have to do is extremely taxing on me. I am ready to get things done NOW and not have to wait God knows how long - if ever - before the sales staff learns the process and does what I'm needing them to do. I would much rather train a few new internet sales reps from the ground up and manage them out of the BDC.

I can't change the sales people, but what I can change is how I move forward with my team from here. I have management's attention though this will definitely be a harder sell as they are happy with the additional traffic being generated for the sales team. As far as I'm concerned I don't care about that. I only care about maximizing our opportunities and ensuring the process is followed properly in order to set ourselves up for continued success. And I can tell the path we are moving towards is definitely not doing that.

Hmm, that seemed like more of a rant than anything else, but your opinion's on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Do you find that hybrid BDC's synergize fairly well or is a BDC better off just having a single focus. An either/or kind of thing.

Thanks.
 
Hire a new sales rep and start them in the BDC. One month of training in the BDC before heading to the showroom floor. They only get to the showroom floor if they do well in the BDC. Once on the showroom floor they still must do daily BDC time to generate appointments. Continue repeating this process until you weed out the old dogs. Here's some help for finding the right person: http://www.dealerrefresh.com/how-to-hire-great-salespeople/
 
I feel/share your frustrations Robert! We also run a hybrid model. You will find that if the sales reps are not managed they will run the show. And then you soon find out no one is buying their tickets to the show. The BDC managers job then becomes PR - putting out all of the small fires. Only to realize their out of fire extinguishers! We use Phone Ninja's to measure the competency of the staff, and had an awesome coach Brandy Kershner. The BDC continues to score 5.0's. The sales reps are lucky to get a 2.00. Never offering a consistent means of handling Internet Leads or Phone Ups. With that being said, our hybrid model is failing. Hurting the overall performance of the BDC.

The BDC is effected because we sell a different package then of the sales reps. The BDC focuses on selling value & the appointment - giving the customer a reason to buy from our dealership. Whereas the sales rep focus on the price, which often scares the customer from coming in. Who wants to come in for an appointment when they have been given an out the door price on a vehicle they might not even be interested in?! Instead, they collect the quote and head to the next dealership.

All of that to say, a hybrid model is not the answer. From my experience those who wish to run a hybrid model either do not believe in the BDC or fear letting go, and allowing the BDC to do their job. I would offer, though, that the sales reps need training - following the same standards of the BDC when following up with customers. Proper management of the sales reps, too, will help with delivering a consistent means of communication.

Switching models to compensate for the incompetency of the sales reps will only lead you down a disastrous path. Leaving you with a massive headache at the of the day as you rummage through the mess. Spending more time reading embarrassing emails when you could have just gotten the appointment yourself.

Hope this helps.