For a long time, we have seen the department names “BDC” and “Internet Department” used almost interchangeably.

Tomato tomato, right?

Not so much. In fact, not at all.

I’m, able to tell a lot about a dealership that is using an “Internet Department” just by seeing they use that term.  From a job posting for a BDC Manager or internet Director, I can tell if the responsibilities being asked of this person tie into the skill set that is needed for a top flight Business Development Director. More often than not, when I read these ads, I see a confusion of mangled responsibilities that range from porter duties to sales manager tasks. It’s rare that I read a BDC Manager/Director help wanted ad that actually spells out the responsibilities that are most important to that person’s impact on the organization. Here’s why it’s so important we nail down what we want this person to do. The most important management position in the modern automotive dealership is the BDC Manager/Director. If we can’t outline the responsibilities for the position correctly, how will a BDC ever function to develop business?

As a trainer, I install, train and re-build broken and non performing BDC teams, and while I’m an advocate for outside training, every dealership should have someone baked into their organization organically that is capable of training and development. This is something I teach, and is fairly easy to master after some growing pains. The ability to coach and train a team should be the number one trait you are looking for in this person.

The confusion between the titles of a BDC and an Internet Department and the responsibilities associated with them are the biggest leaks in your dealerships pockets. I can’t help but laugh a little when a dealership complains about a vendors lead quality or lead count when their BDC is operating like an internet team from 2004. It’s literally the equivalent of tripping over tens of thousands of dollars a day to pick up a fraction of a penny. If all of your leads are filtered through an ineffective outdated center, stop complaining to your vendors; get comfortable with being outdated and ineffective or change.

If your department responds to internet leads and says: “when can you come in”?, Call the department what it is; an Internet Department, and call it a day. Departments that have this type of conversations (and use those words for that matter) with customers are BDC/Internet teams staffed with reps and managers that have been permanently corrupted to thinking their job function is only to react to phone and internet leads using whatever happens to come out of their mouth at that time. I can tell a lot about the health of a BDC or Internet team by literally being in the room for 5-10 minutes. There is generally no formal training, accountability by hour/day week/month, no scripts/word tracks, or any real process whatsoever in these environments. It’s simply an extension of your sales floor with an hourly comp plan.  If your staff is waiting for the next e-lead or phone up and you are looking to turn your reactive Internet Department into a true BDC that (that develops business), you have a ride ahead of you and I strongly suggest you bring a strong process consultant into the picture for this journey.

If your Business Development Center new hires are thrown on the phones on day one, or even on day two, you are not setting your dealership up for success and you will continue to burn through new hires at 1-3 months, on average. I see this happen all the time and it still makes me shake my head when the most influential department in the dealership to overall success is not given the tools or training so that they can succeed, thus contributing to our already notorious reputation for inability to retain staff.

If you don’t have talk tracks that your reps are trained on and required to use, how will they know what to say when your customers voice an objection? They won’t, and they will quickly become burnt out if you force them to adlib. More importantly, they will burn through your leads and you’ll soon be telling your vendors your leads are bad.

If your reps don’t consistently ask for manager or supervisor help on LIVE phone calls (and by consistently I mean a new rep should be asking for {and have a senior rep/Manager/supervisor available to take} a T/O on live phone calls MULTIPLE times a day) you don’t have a process to save the leads your less experienced reps can’t overcome. If a newer rep is not asking for a LIVE T/O on any phone contact as a result of a phone up or e-lead, you are leaving a ridiculous amount of money on the table by allowing one new rep to determine if that $200-400 to generate the lead will translate into a showroom visit. If a newer rep is handling even 2 new phone ups a day and 2 e-leads, there’s a very good possibility he or she is costing you 1 or two showroom visits a day if there’s no system in place to turn difficult calls over. In larger volume stores and centers I see reps often burning through 10 or more fresh opportunities a day. When a T/O process is put in place it’s not uncommon to save 50% of opportunities and set appointments that a newer rep wasn’t able to. This literally can mean the difference between selling an extra 1-3 units per day per less experienced BDC representative. It’s fair to say that in advertising alone, one newer less experienced rep can easily burn through $500 of your advertising dollars up to well over double that, and that obviously doesn’t take into account the deals you’ve lost from those advertising dollars.

If, however, your department is consistently making phone calls saying “Hi Rob, we noticed that your lease is about to expire in three months, did you have interest in discussing your options?”; you might have a Business Development Center on your hands.  (There are far more effective word tracks for these types of campaigns but you get the idea)

Knowing the difference between the two titles is ultimately important to determine what responsibilities your employees must be expected to perform.