Wired LLC | Slyfox
What is your BDC selling?
This is typically one of the first questions we ask all of our customers who are struggling with their BDC. Often times we hear: cars, the dealership, themselves, the experience etc… While all of these things are important, they are all wrong! There always seems to be a fundamental problem with what dealership owners and sales managers think a BDC’s job description includes.
Some of the things we see dealerships using the BDC for is crazy! They always seem to be a catch all for everything management doesn’t want (or know how) to do. BDC’s everywhere are updating websites, doing pricing & descriptions, managing social pages, doing chat, adjusting tech schedules in X-time, stocking vehicles in, taking pictures & videos, deciding who appointments should be going to, managing loaner cars for service, and cashiering service customers. Just to name a few…
Done right, the BDC has one job: SELLING APPOINTMENTS. Period!
Any time away from their desk (and their phone), costs the dealer appointments and therefore money. The BDC plays a more important role than ever in filling the dealership with customers for both service and sales. Any time they are taken off task they are pulled away from the one thing they should have been hired to do.
Where it went wrong
Most dealerships are only used to paying commission to sales reps. A sales reps pay plan is familiar and easy for a manager or GM to figure. Because we pay the salesperson on the sale, one could reason a BD agent should get paid on the sale as well because they are involved. Right?
Um… That’s a HARD NO! This is what got us into this debacle! Someone stop the madness! We are encouraging the very thing we want to avoid. Pay on what they should be focusing on. If you want them to drive traffic, then pay them for shown appointments. If you want them to sell cars, then put em on the showroom floor.
How to fix it
Fixing it is simple but not always easy. Break down what you have your BD agents do in a day. Then take each item and ask yourself: “Does this thing help them set appointments?”. If not, then shift the responsibility to someone else or stop doing it all together. This is hard at first but well worth it in the long run. The next thing you should do is change your pay plans. The pay plan has been the #1 driver of behavior since the beginning of the car business. Set one up that rewards them for shown appointments and not sales.
As I mentioned, simple but not easy. You will probably lose some BD Agents if you were overpaying and you may have some people that are a little upset because you will be asking them to take on something they should have been doing anyway…. But, once you get past this it becomes the new normal and your team can become appointment setting machines.
What is your BDC selling?
Wired LLC | Slyfox
The Importance of Social & Directory Pages
The Importance of Social & Directory pages
It's no secret that years ago there really was only one go to source for business information. The phone book was king! Everyone focused on half or full page adds and prominent placement within their local book. Some people even decided what to call their business based on the rules of the phone book. AAA roofing, AA Lawncare or A+ Contracting and so on...
Today we have social media and directory pages like Facebook, Linked in, YP.com, Foursquare, Google Business, Bing Places, & Yelp. And these are only some of the big ones! There are dozens of these networks out there. Depending on what type of business you are in there could be others that really affect how many people can find and contact your business.
Making sure these pages are set up properly and stay up to date takes a TON of time but it's crucial if you run a brick and mortar business. Your customers need to know how to find you, what hours you are open, and what products, or services, your company has to offer. The following should help you with whats needed to tackle the big project.
Four Steps to Social & Directory Page Success:
- Own the page. In order to make edits and update information you will need to create or claim the pages. Many of the directory and social sites will automatically create a business page for you based on the information they gather from various online sources. It's important to own the information about your business on the web. Make sure you claim the pages or start them from scratch so you know you control the information.
- Shut down duplicate pages. Oftentimes this info is incorrect and it can result in duplicate pages of your business with mismatched info online. If this happens you will need to claim both and shut one down or merge them.
- Verify and update information. Once you own the pages,you will need to verify the contact info, address and hours are correct. If its wrong, simply update it. Most changes are live within 24-72 hrs.
- Update Photos & Logos. Many of the pages will allow you to do a little branding by adding some photos logos, page headers or taglines. It is best if you message is consistent across all Social & Directory sites. Make sure that you are using the same logos and page headers when possible.
- Update your Categories. Categories exist on many of the sites they allow you to tell the search engines what type of business you are in. For example you could be a: Dealership, Tire Center, Bakery, Grocery Store, Electronics supplier etc.... This feature acts as a tag for your business. Add as many as you can think of that are actually applicable to your business.
One last tip: We regularly audit these pages because they can end up with poor information and will occasionally change your hours or phone number or address. I would recommend a monthly digital check up on how your business looks online and make sure there aren't any duplicate pages.
After dealing with thousands of social and directory pages, we have things down to a science. Correct information can help drive leads, sales and even have an affect on SEO. The steps listed above can be used on almost any social or directory page out there. No matter what industry you are in, it is imperative the information about your business is right on the web.
Per the norm, we love helping people! So, if you have questions, just ask!
Cyrus Glennon | Owner Wired LLC. - www.wiredllc.com Slyfox - www.projectslyfox.com
No Comments
7 Comments
Mark Rask
Kelley Buick Gmc
this is so true
Tegan Dover
Bob Mayberry Hyundai
It surprises me that even though BDC's have been around since 2003, dealership's are still struggling to embrace the concept. I appreciate your commentary on this issue. What is your opinion on the BDC's role in store CSI? Are the scripted customer satisfacation survey calls a thing of the past? And if they are not, should they be?
Cyrus Glennon
Wired LLC | Slyfox
It surprises me too.... Some dealers do a great job with the BDC. Some can get by without one. Others are still stuck in 2003. This last group is where we typically see a disconnect..... One thing is for sure, done correctly, every dealer can benefit from having a BDC.
CSI (follow up after the sale or service visit) should be something the BDC is very involved with. In my opinion, a BDC should be the voice of the dealership.
Scripts are actually something we highly believe in. (We have a call training division of our company so I am admittedly biased....) We have not found a faster or more effective way to train the agents on how to handle incoming and outgoing communication.
However, over time, we see where BD agents start to use their own words and not sound so robotic. Once they learn the structure the script and the psychology of a great call they don't need the script anymore. But they usually need continued accountability and coaching and our program covers that.
How about you guys? How do you handle CSI calls? Do you have a BDC?
C L
Automotive Group
The issue becomes that BDC's are often broken off into their own little hub of the dealership. Their pay plans typically revolve around appts and shown appts to be more exact.
So what ends up happening is that you have BDC agents with hundreds of open events with even more tasks per those open events. Why? because in an environment where you are paid to produce a single thing you need will want to cast a very wide net to try and capture as much as you can. Even at the detriment of the business.
So instead of losing out events that have gone cold and moving on to stuff that is more important. BDC's that revolve only around the idea of just appt setting become less effective over time.
There is a difference between quality appointments and everything else. When you pay per appt. You can expect the quality to go down as well. In turn bringing your sell thru rate down and so on.
I'm not saying that selling appointments isn't important. What I am saying is that their needs to be a bigger role for the bdc in the dealership than setting appointments. I see their role as more of an Expeditor like in a kitchen.
Expeditors make sure the orders are being cooked in a timely fashion, so that all orders for a table are ready at the same time and make sure that once the food is cooked, servers run food to the table while it's warm and ready.
They are neither the cooks, nor the servers. They are the key go-between that makes everything run smoothly. If their job was to only whip up salads they wouldn’t be nearly as effective in the kitchen.
The BDC folks aren't the Sales Managers or the Sales People but they need to be the key go-between to make sure everything is running smoothly. If they are only focused on making appts. there is a huge area in your dealership that is lacking.
Thats just how I feel about it though. Your mileage may vary.
Tegan Dover
Bob Mayberry Hyundai
Chris, I enjoy reading your commentary as it is aways thought provoking and insiteful. You reference pay plans and while I understand that can spark quite the debate, I was wondering if you could expand on that. When I was a BDC Manager back in 2010, we paid $10 hr, $.50 per call completed (inbound/outbound), $10 per passing VOC survey returned (had to show proof they completed the follow-up call) and then tiered $ amounts for appts shown and sold. Essentially, there was a financial incentive for every task they did. Is this type of pay plan still common?
C L
Automotive Group
thanks Tegan..
I think that payplan is veery common. I would argue though that completed calls, setting appts and appts showing are what the hourly rate would be for. Doing it that way you can start setting minimum standards instead of a volume thing.
I dont know that I would pay for phone calls. I think that gets way to meta.
If it were up to me I would rather see higher salaries and higher standards. If you can't make the standards then the job would not be cut out for the person. I think rewarding for tiny tasks promotes tiny behaviors and doesn't really do much more than standard busy work.
Cyrus Glennon
Wired LLC | Slyfox
Hey Chris,
Interesting perspective and for the most part I agree. The one thing I might need help understanding is how paying for show appointment hurts quality? Sure some are not going to be great but how many appointments get missed by someone who doesn't even try to set the appt because "they weren't a buyer".
Pay-plans always drive behavior. If the goal is to keep the doors swinging at the Dealership wouldn't you agree that appointments are the one thing they should be focusing on?
The relationship to other departments is crucial and I could probably write a whole new post on that (thanks for the idea!!!). But being the go between should all be handled by process.
By part of the process I mean it should just be part of the job description or pay-plan. I.E. Getting paid for a shown appointment only happens when: You have notified Detail & Sales departments and all was in order and ready to go before the customer arrived.
I always find it interesting how every dealership is different in how they handle internet customers and long term follow up. How do you do things in your dealerships? Does your sales staff work the leads cradle to grave or do you have a BDC etc...?
Thanks for sharing. Great input!