Do you keep most services in-house to maintain control and brand consistency? You’re far from alone if you do. But going it alone isn’t always best for your business. Adding one more piece to the puzzle can make a big difference. Especially when it comes to business development. And especially now.

As you know, the coronavirus continues to upend auto retail with more dealers investing in new digital sales tools as consumers demand more online and personalized anytime, anywhere service. This growing channel, that requires highly trained staff to manage, adds to the difficulties of recruitment and rapid turn-over that have always plagued our industry.

An automotive BDC trained on your processes and preferences can deliver a great customer experience via online, phone, and text, without the headache of staff recruitment and overhead of salaries, benefits, training, etc. Emerging services in the BDC space make this a better time than ever to explore your options. Consider:

• Around-the-clock email responses – More call centers are offering 24/7 email lead response. I’m not talking about auto responses, but a live person answering emails and responding to questions in real-time. More people are working from home and many companies plan to continue remote work no matter the trajectory of the pandemic. As the line between work and home blurs, more customers jump online at all hours of the day to shop for vehicles. An external BDC can afford to staff the graveyard shift whereas most dealerships cannot.
• 24/7 digital retailing lead responses – BDCs are also exploring real-time, anytime, digital retailing lead responses to inquiries submitted on a dealer’s website. This is a huge advantage when more customers expect immediate, personalized service – no matter the time of day or night. Consumers who complete some or all of the digital retailing steps are lower-funnel shoppers who have narrowed down vehicle choice and are typically seeking answers to questions about model options and vehicle availability. A prompt response from an actual person who can thoroughly answer every question before asking for the appointment can be the final factor in winning that sale.

These emerging services add to the existing benefits that a dealership-focused external BDC is known for, including:

• Experienced agents – Highly trained agents work as an extension of your dealership to provide the customer experience and expertise that you dictate. Proven call guides, training, and coaching generate more appointments and sales.
• Dialing platform – State-of-the-art technology that tracks every interaction ensures consistent communication at the right cadence so customers feel taken care of never harassed. Quality controls tied to agent bonuses encourage the highest levels of professionalism to convert more opportunities into loyal customers.
• Remote environment – A BDC with an advanced dialing platform is intrinsically structured for remote work and many call centers already have employees working remotely. So, there’s no ramp-up time if widespread shut-downs occur again. Dialing platforms track every action – from who agents contact to when they take breaks. Relying on remote dealership employees to get the job done without insight into how they are spending their days is risky. I know of at least one dealer who was shocked to learn his at-home internal BDC employee was taking the credit (and the bonuses) for appointable leads transferred by his external BDC. No surprise he fired her and turned all his business over to his external partner.
• Scalability and flexibility – An external BDC has immediate scalability to keep up with changes in your dealership or in the market. You can run several campaigns at once, put campaigns on hold, or scale back your entire operation, all without hiring or laying-off staff.

These new and existing services combine to give you a helping hand in delivering a great experience, while you remain in control of your processes and brand. A BDC is an agile extension of your dealership so you can continue to develop customer relationships no matter what challenges the market and the pandemic throw at us.

Newspaper and TV are the traditional giants of a dealership marketing strategy. But relying solely on these two channels constricts your reach. Every year, fewer people gravitate to the traditional, and new avenues gain steam.

According to the Pew Research Center, for the first time in 2018 social media sites surpassed print newspapers as a news source for Americans, with 1 in 5 adults saying they often get news via social media.  While this data is from a couple years ago, it is likely current numbers are even higher.

When it comes to TV, the proliferation of streaming services and competition for eyeballs decreases the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

You have to be in the newspaper and on TV because that is where your competition is. But you also have to be everywhere else. Places that include social media, phone, email, direct mail, and text messaging.

A multichannel strategy that gets your brand in front of as many people as possible will maximize your reach and campaign effectiveness. Get started with the following four steps.

Analyze your customers.

Every store and brand has a different customer profile. Facebook advertising may work really well for a store in your 20 Group, but less well for your target audience and therefore not deserving of a big chunk of your budget. Lean on your CRM to help you segment your customer data and run reports that identify how customers show up on your website or floor. What current channels are your best lead generators?

Dip your toe in the water.

Once you have a basic customer profile, start adding channels and monitor the response. Pick one or two new ways of communicating and try it out for a month or two. For example, include a vanity number on your next direct mail piece and encourage customers to text you for more information. Track the texts. A large number of responses indicates that your customers like texting and that’s a viable channel you should use more. A note of caution, make sure to follow all FCC guidelines and regulations to avoid penalties and lawsuits.

Tie it all together with your CRM.

Your CRM should help you view, organize, and analyze your marketing/advertising spend and ROI so you’re not throwing money away on ineffective channels and campaigns. The best also allow you to track social media ROI in one place so you don’t have to log in and out of multiple platforms. You can also conduct a free 20-minute social media audit using Hootsuite, a social media management platform that helps you identify the best content and channels for your business.

It’s worth noting that any CRM is only as good as the process in your store. Data accuracy is vital to create targeted campaign audiences and personalized follow-up. Train and manage your staff to always update customer records and include notes, such as preferred channel of communication, that can lead to future sales.

Get help when you need it.

I know many dealerships are still operating lean, but this is not the time to pull back on marketing.  The buyers are coming back thanks to vaccine hopes and states loosening restrictions. If you need extra hands without adding staff, consider partnering with an external BDC. A good partner understands different forms of advertising, follows all regulations and is 100 percent dedicated to the task. An external BDC is also immediately scalable. So, if the market changes or you want to run several campaigns at once, a BDC can be flexible to meet your needs.

The way customers find and access information is evolving. You have to keep up or you will be left behind. Use these four tips to begin augmenting traditional advertising channels with a multichannel strategy that will maximize your reach and keep you in front of customers. 

The future looks bright for service departments. According to research firm HIS Markit, the average age of a vehicle on the road today is a geriatric (for cars) 11.9 years. People are holding onto their cars longer, which can generate new business opportunities for your service department.

However, you can’t just expect a flood of service work. Someone needs to be picking up ringing phones, answering service questions, and calling overdue service customers before Google sends them to a shop down the street. How’s your phone coverage?

If it’s less than stellar right now, you’re not alone. Many dealerships are running super lean to keep the doors open. As a result, employees are wearing multiple hats and scrambling to get the work done. 

There’s a lack of proper phone coverage – especially in service departments. Let me give you a real-world example. I got an email the other day that drove me bonkers. One of my BDC teams was trying to warm transfer calls back to a dealership because the customer had recall questions that only the dealership could address.

Every time they transferred the call, someone at the dealership picked up the phone and immediately hung it up! This department was losing business, inconveniencing the customer, and the GM didn’t even know it. What a colossal waste of time and money.

However, because the virtual BDC reported the problem, the GM knew about it, and fixed it, before the store lost more business. Without reporting, the problem could have gone on in perpetuity. Which brings me to my first reason why a virtual BDC is essential for your service department today:

Accountability

Do you really know what’s happening when a call comes into your service department? Is your staff hanging up because they’re overwhelmed? Would you know? A virtual BDC monitors, records, and makes notes on every call. That information is pushed into compatible CRM’s so management can track calls and opportunities. There are no exceptions. If a BDC employee doesn’t follow the process, they cannot stay employed.

The issue of accountability came up recently with a store that cancelled its virtual BDC service. When I got the GM on the phone he insisted the virtual BDC was taking credit for appointments set by an employee he had hired and who was working from home. I showed him the automatic call trail which proved his employee was receiving appointments we had set, changing them into her name, and passing it off as her success. He was paying her to sit at home and every once in a while, she would log on and take credit for work the BDC had done. You can imagine he was furious. He fired her that day and rescinded his service cancellation. It goes to show a store can put processes in place, but without checks and balances there’s no accountability or proper ROI.

No Human Resources headaches

A virtual BDC provider employs agents, trains them, manages them, and handles any and all day-to-day issues. You are completely exempt from human resources headaches. They overstaff on purpose – using software to pinpoint exactly how much coverage you need every day – so it doesn’t affect your business if someone quits or calls in sick. Unlike with salaried employees, you also don’t have to pay benefits or grant sick leave.

Incoming call coverage

It happens all the time: a service advisor is speaking with a customer in the store, the phone rings, and that advisor turns away from the customer in the store to answer the phone. That’s terrible customer service! A virtual BDC handles all the incoming calls so service advisors can do the work that makes you money – getting in the lanes, conducting MPIs, up-selling services, and getting more business. 

Proven best practices

A professional automotive virtual BDC knows the processes that work, the scripts that get results, and how to measure performance efficiency. A makeshift BDC does not have the structure, vision, or guidance, that a professional team can offer.

Your service department can generate new business as people keep their cars longer. But, you must have proper phone coverage to reach maximum potential. If you’re running lean and worried about phone ups slipping through the cracks, now’s the time to take a hard look at a virtual BDC. It’s your best bet to score inbound and outbound service business while keeping operating costs down.

The traditional dealership business model is increasingly sharing space with a digital customer experience. A BDC can help dealers adapt and excel during this period of change. Three big trends highlight this new way of doing business:  

•  - Online lead volume is up dramatically as people continue to choose touch less research and  shopping. 
•  - Dealership employee numbers are down as dealers cut costs and shift more responsibilities onto remaining employees.

 - Going back to business as usual isn’t an option as people embrace digital retailing, digital financing and touch less deliveries.

A new world of car sales is taking shape. The coronavirus and its fallout certainly accelerated the pace, but many believe we were already headed this way. A well trained and professional BDC can help you adapt faster than your competitors due to four winning factors:

A BDC is a safety net for sales. As online and phone leads snowball, you need more people to respond quickly and efficiently, but you want your salespeople focused on the most immediate opportunities. A BDC employee can call a lead within 15 minutes and follow up according to each dealership’s specific process. The BDC does the heavy lifting, making those 3-4 calls or emails it generally takes to reach a lead. Then, they can sift out the real buyers and put the low-funnel leads right in your salesperson’s lap. An external BDC is also available outside of normal business hours, so a customer will get a response even when your dealership is closed. Leads don’t fall through the cracks and your salespeople are free to pursue immediate ROI opportunities. Talk about a great safety net.

A BDC is professionally trained. Traditionally, a good salesperson can become the sales manager with very little training involved. He or she may be great at selling cars, but how good are they on the phone? BDC employees receive classroom  training to develop excellent phone skills. This is especially important when dealing with people aided by the digital world. They’ve done their research. They’ve narrowed down vehicle choice. The next step is to get the customer into the showroom to test drive the vehicle to make sure it fits all of their needs. They’ll also need a professional appraisal if they are replacing their vehicle.  A good BDC will have proven word tracks and will provide an exceptional customer experience while driving traffic to the dealership, so the sales team can do what they do best: sell vehicles.

A BDC has reporting to hold sales accountable. BDC employees put all call information and notes into your CRM for complete customer profiles. This offers two advantages: salespeople can trace the customer journey for more personalized follow-up, and dealership management can hold salespeople and managers accountable for results. Easy-to-read dashboards track leads by salesperson with aggregated data so you know who’s closing and who’s not. This provides invaluable information for training opportunities.

A BDC is agile. Most dealerships were not equipped to go online quickly, but many BDCs were. External BDC employees are used to working outside of the dealership and use technology all day long to track and respond to leads. The best were able to quickly train employees to set up Zoom calls instead of in-person appointments and help dealer-clients transition to digital selling.

You can choose to set-up an internal BDC or go with a good off-site company. There are pros and cons to both models. Hiring a small team gives you control over all processes, but it can stretch budgets and training can eat into management time at a period when most dealers are trying to cut costs and asking employees to wear multiple hats.

An external BDC is already up and running. Employees can be trained quickly to adhere to your specific lead processes. A good BDC partner will help you establish a good process in the dealership as well as identify gaps or opportunities in your current process.

A BDC can help your dealership adapt and excel ahead of your competition as our new world of car sales takes shape. In a growing digital market that is all about efficiency, a professionally-trained leads safety net that is agile and able to hold sales accountable is key to ongoing success.