Many dealerships have implemented a BDC in some form into their dealerships.  I have learned that all BDC are NOT created the same which is totally okay.  So regardless of how your BDC is set up do you have a process for the customer to move efficiently and seemlessly from the BDC operator to the sales person?

1.  Are you using your CRM effectively?

I think a CRM is the dealerships most important investment next to inventory.  I am always amazed at how it isn't required to be used or isn't used to its fullest potential.  Ideally any communication or actions taken with a customer are recorded in the CRM.  If this is the case the sales person will be able to get a profile of the customer that is arriving.  Writing a note isn't good enough.  The notes must be detailed with specifics of conversations between the BDC operator and the customer.  A sales person should be able to form a plan on how they will "sell" or approach the customers.  A plan regarding what inventory to show, what finance options to highlight and what their trade is.

2.  Are you ready on the floor?

Given that you have enough information are you ready for the customer to show up.  My recommendation has always been to pull up the car of interest and right next to it pull up another car that they may be interested in.  Perhaps the other car is inventory you need to get rid of or one you can generate more gross on.  Nothing is worse then when a customer comes into the dealership and realizes that no one knew they were coming.  You just gave the customer a reason to think you aren't there for them and you just don't care. 

The most common objection I hear from managers and sales people to doing this is that they only show up 60% of the time.  Well look at it this way, if you are selling 40% of the time and doing this little task can get you to 50% of the time what kind of difference would that make in your sales, not to mention your online reputation.

3. Sales people did you follow up in CRM?

Notes and information in the CRM prior to the appointment are important, but just as important are notes in the CRM after the appointment shows.  The more detailed the better.  If you don't sell the car and you have notes managers will have a better understanding as to why?  Do you need more training?  Did they evaluate trades to high?  Do they have the wrong inventory? Also the manager, you and BDC operator can design a strategy to hopefully still make the sale.

At the end of the day have a process, refine the process and use the process.  Make sure that all departments are communicating.  Measure your success by watching your grosses and close percentages.

I am a big believer of a full scale e-commerce strategy for dealerships.  Customers obviously prefer to shop on line then visit a dealership.  Duh!  But there is a difference between purchasing and shopping. 

The 20+ age group prefers to buy everything on line or so it seems.  So where does a dealership fit in?  How to we provide the convenience they demand, build customer service and loyalty and not lost the part of the population that wants to see what they buy?  Can a dealership have a process and the money to satisfy everyone?

I have seen a lot of stats out there, typically by those selling the online digital retailing.  The fact of the matter is you have to choose what is best for your market, your people and your process. 

The industry is obviously trying to capture this online conversion with tools like Dealer.com's digital retailing and many others.  I think the problems are two fold:  the technology is trying to do to much and the dealerships don't know how to build loyalty/customer experience through this experience.

For the first part the technology I think is to complicated for the end user.  Instead of walking first the industry might be trying to run to fast.  I don't know if we truly understand the customers expectations.  Instead of doing it all online it might be better to revise the technology so that the customer can fill in their information that is used in each department so they aren't repeating it over and over.  Also allow them to upload things like insurance cards, driver's license, proof of income, etc.  Do they really expect the system to be so seamless that they can just sign and drive?  Also why do all the departments have to be covered at once?  Is it necessary for pre-approvals/approvals to happen online when we can't verify anything or get signatures?

Even if the process could be that seamless are stores really ready to handle it?  For dealerships that do digital retailing already is it handled like a deal or a lead?  If it is handled like a lead you are wasting the money on the tool because you don't need it because you don't use it.  If we keep it simple we can execute a process in the stores that is more beneficial for everyone.

When a customer goes online allow them to upload their documentation and information, have the salesperson/BDC set the appointment, have the car pulled up and all their documentation organized and ready.  If the customer wants to figure out a payment or lease this too can be done online, that is pretty easy.  This alone with expedite the process.  It will still allow customers the opportunity to ask questions, take a test drive, etc.  It will also allow for sales people to build rapport.

I can't tell you how many times I have watch a customer with an appointment sit there for 5 minutes to get a sales person, another 5-10 minutes to find the care, then if they want the car waiting for the box to open up.  An online tool won't help dealerships that work with this kind of process.  I think this is what customers complain about and be honest there are to many dealerships doing business this way.

I think the industry is on its way to something but we might be thinking on to grand of a scale!  Let's keep it simple.

For years I have hired for BDC's and it get harder and harder.  Even in markets where unemployment is high it seems like the automotive industry just can't attract talent.  Yes there are some diamonds in the rough but I would say out of 20 BDC reps about 7 are reliable and good.  So what's a dealer to do?

I don't really have the answer but I have some suggestions.

When talking to BDC employees their main complaints are the following:

• Typically they get paid less.

Most dealerships invest their money in the sales staff.  Well the BDC rep may be your most important sales rep.  The sales person gets paid more than the rep but many times while BDC reps are on the phone, confirming appointments, answering leads the sales rep is watching youtube or shooting the breeze.  BDC reps see this and it isn't good.  

Plus I often wonder, why would the sales rep get paid more.  Are they really grossing on the car?  Aren't grosses going down?  Of course I hope they are, but the reality is that it is tougher to gross now a days.  Most dealers are making their money in the box and the service drive.  So the more units sold the more money you make in the box and the back.  You may want to ask yourself...should I spend more on the appointment setter or the greeter.  All depends on how your dealership is set up of course.

• The hours are horrible

Given the pay many BDC reps can find a job to pay them the same amount with better hours.  So either change the pay or get creative.  Try job sharing!  Hire two part time people and have them share their leads.  They can share the hours and then maybe they won't have to work every night and every weekend.

• The benefits

Many small businesses struggle to offer strong benefits.  Healthcare is so expensive for most dealerships so make up for it in other ways.  Be creative!  Offer better vacation than other businesses in your area.  Host a weekly lunch.  Give bonus days for working on holidays. Pay them for reffering other potential hires. So many things you can do.

• They feel mistreated and not part of the process

Make the BDC employees part of your culture and the dealership.  When you have your monthly sales meetings invite them.  If you have a company announcement be sure to include them.  Inclusion is a big deal to BDC employees.

Dealerships have struggled for a long time trying to hire quality sales reps and BDC employees.  The industry needs to find ways to be more competitive so that they can hire quality people.

Why do you think quality hires have left the automotive industry and how would you suggest we change it?

I was watching TV last night and I saw a commercial for LISTINGALLCARS.com.  Another 3rd party lead provider is entering the market.  Seriously how many more to do we need.  Autotrader, Cars.com, Carguru, KelleyBlueBook, CarSoup, True Car, CarFax and now another one.  

As dealers we are told and taught that we can't live without them.  The reality of it is they need us as much as we need them.  Without are millions of dollars of inventory they wouldn't have a product and without their searchers we wouldn't be able to sell cars.  So although I am not totally anti 3rd party lead provider I often wonder that given the model why doesn't it ever feel like more of a partnership?  Why do I feel like I am working for them every time I write the check?

PAYMENT. I think it comes back to the way the pay is done.  When the market is down I pay the same.  When SRPS go down I am told it isn't them its me and my inventory quality.  When I have manager turn over or fewer staff I can't make any adjustments.  Whenever a decline in business occurs people all across an organization feel the financial hit, but not third parties.

There is no doubt that sometimes a dealerships failures with third party listings are their own but if I don't have any inventory would I write the check?  So if I know the market is down, particularly in the winter months, or if I have staff turn over why am I still writing the same check?  Wouldn't it be nice if I can make the dollars make sense for whatever obstacle my dealership is trying to overcome?

ANALYSIS. As more and more companies have tried to conquer the third party listing business model I often wonder why the increase in competition hasn't driven change in some companies pay to play model or at least the costs down.  

I think it may be dealers inability to truly analyze the numbers.  When working for a dealer I analyze the following:

• Cost/SRP
• Cost/VDP
• Cost/Lead
• Cost/Conversion (I define as call, visit, chat)
• Cost/Sale (harder to get to)

I keep it simple and the ones that are to high will tell me that they drive showroom traffic.  That is when the SRP and VDP cost comes in handy.  

So even if one is way higher than the other why don't we leave until costs are more inline?  Fear and lack of understanding.  I have never met a vendor I can't live without is my new favorite saying because it is true.  It is true if you have your marketing house in order.  SEO, SEM, Display, Retargeting and traditional advertising!  If you have this organized and well funded you will be able to be more flexible with who you keep and who you lose without sacrificing business.

ACCOUNTABILITY. The last thing that amazes me in our industry is that to my knowledge there is no 3rd party entity monitoring the numbers. In television we look at Neilsen ratings, in radio it is Arbitron, but for sites like Cars.com, Autotrader, KBB, etc. they give us their numbers with no auditing process.  Remembering when customers could only get the numbers on a car from a dealership before the internet...think about it...remember the grosses?  Imagine what could be going on here.  If there is an auditing company please let me know.

Third party listings, with maybe the exception of True Car in some states, have no skin in our game.  When we lose they win.  When we win they win.  Dealerships aren't set up that way so why should there be such little flexibility with third party listings?

This entry will ruffle a lot of feathers but it is not to state that third party listing are bad or wrong for your marketing plans.  It is to challenge us to look for better ways to partner and a more practical way of doing business.

How often do you mystery shop your own store?  How often do you mystery shop your competition? We all know that the manufacturer mystery shops us however do we shop ourselves?  

I personally hate when the manufacturer mystery shops me.  A mystery shop is more about assessing the individual that actually receives the lead not the process.  It is valuable but I hate that they make assumptions on our process from one employees one moment in time.  I mean we all have bad days.  We also all have those employees that just don't follow the process.  The shops aren't wrong but they also aren't right.  

Furthermore, I sometimes find the manufacturer assessments to be out of date.  What works statistically for many stores doesn't necessarily work for mine or my people.  I am a big believer in there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Given this I like to assess my BDC/Internet Salespeople using a hybrid approach.  I like to use it all as guides but not the bible.  I typically mystery shop my department three times in a month.  I submit inquiries from different sources so that I get a good idea on how they handle each source.  I also submit on both new and used cars.  I then created a scorecard on what I was looking for.  The basics were:

1. What was lead response time?

2. Did you answer the questions?

3. Did you upsell - provide other options?

4. Did you ask a question to create engagement?

5. Did you provide your information and the dealerships?

6. Did you proofread it?

7. Did you follow up based on our process/workflow?

I then also took the manufacturer assessments and included it to go with my own so that I could get a good view of what they wanted and what we felt would work.  

By doing multiple mystery shops I am not just being the judge and jury on one instance.  Instead I am getting a better view point on multiple reps and multiple leads.

I also do this same process with competition but I check the pricing vs. ours as well!

Does anyone have a formal process they use?

I remember a long time ago helping car dealers with their SEO and so many companies were doing automated content.  They quickly learned what we already knew which is there is no easy quick fix to providing quality content.  Google has released many updates through the years: Panada, Penguin, Hummingbird.  All these updates were designed to weed out the short cuts companies were taking to try to increase rankings.  What they learned and what we always knew is you have to do the work.

The best SEO content will accomplish two things.  The first is to be relevant for the end user, the people.  The second is to let the search engines know what we are doing and why.  Search engines are in the business of answering questions for people and providing information.  The less relevant their results the higher their abandonment rate and the less searches the less valuable the search engine becomes.  Make no mistake about it SEARCH is a product for search engines.

How To Create Good Content

• Make sure your content provides information that is relevant to your services, location, and business. 
• Don’t use automated content.  Take the time and money to create your own.  By creating your own content you create credibility not just with search engines but with customers searching. 
• See what your competition is writing about and make your site the go to for information. Don’t just be relevant be more relevant.
• Off site linking is a big buzz word and I like it but again it must be relevant.  I think it is best to provide links to you own entities.  For example, I like to create content and then have a video that is a link to the you tube page. Or content on my Facebook page that links to the page I’m writing.
• On site linking is my favorite.  Write the content and then link words from that page to others on your site.  Google see that as creating relevancy. 
• Take the time to write enough.  Give yourself a monthly goal of how many words to write.  I recommend starting at 1,000.

There is a lot of crap out there.  General Managers and owners face an uphill battle because SEO can represent a huge part of their budget but typically isn’t in their skill set.  Just remember organic visits are the most valuable visits in terms of quality and conversion to lead and sales.  Take the time. 

In a world flooded with vendors just let me say “I’m just not that into you.”  There are so many vendors out there that offer solutions to make the dealers lives easier but it can be so overwhelming.  Many dealer groups often need to hire one individual to just manage everyone.  I remember getting presented a product and a vendor trying to convince me that I was missing business all because I wasn’t signed up with them.  My response was “I’ve never met a vendor I can’t live without.”  After the conversation I realized that that is actually true. 

Most dealers I have worked for, and with, sign up for a product based on a promise of selling more cars but all to often the dealer comes to realize that the cost isn’t really worth it.  This happens for two reasons.  One the product isn’t really that good or two your dealership doesn’t know how to capitalize on the product.

How do decide to add or change a vendor:

1. Need – When you analyze your dealership process try to identify areas where you can gain more gross, more net and/or more sales.  Yes, everyone will say “I would like more” or “I could always do better” in all categories but the reality of it is you are far better off to walk then run.  Running to fast may mean a wasting money.  As a dealership establish what you need to do to hit your business objective and see if a vendor can help with that.
2. Present Status – After you know your need or objective analyze what you currently have in place in terms of people, products and process.   So often dealers already have a vendor that can offer a solution but they are just unaware.  Many times, when I am with a dealer we realize that they already have a tool that no one is actually utilizing.  Then we ask are you not utilizing it because you don’t have the personal or the process or both?  The point is that before adding expense and buying the dream you are being sold analyze how to achieve your objectives and approach it like you couldn’t spend money on another product and see what you come up with.  You may be surprised.
3. A Plan – So if you have determined that you have a need for a product before you sign on the dotted line develop a plan.  Make sure you decide who will be accountable to make sure the product is being used effectively.  Make sure you have a process.  Many times the vendor can give you insight into best practices and then you can combine that knowledge with what you know about the inner workings of your staff and dealership.  Another good idea is to have the staff assist you with developing the plan.  Finally define what a success with the product and vendor will look like at the end of the day.  It isn’t always as simple as more sales.  Sometimes using a new vendor is more about creating time savers or saving money. 
4. Evaluate -  After you define what success will look like set up a way to measure the product.  Be consistent in your measurement and be constant.

While working in a dealership we found that we had a unique opportunity to create business out of the service drive.  We hooked up with a vendor to evaluate equity of service drive visits.  We had a process, a person and part of a service to use to execute.  After we didn’t see an increase in sales we dug into why we weren’t getting what we expected and what we were promised.  What we learned is that one of the people in the process just wasn’t doing the job we expected and the other was that the product wasn’t successful because we weren’t using it to its full capabilities.  Since management didn’t want to spend more money on it and we didn’t have the person we need we ultimately decided that although we still believed there were untapped sales opportunities we weren’t set up to succeed and therefore it was just spending money. 

Another time we tried to implement video walk arounds on vehicles.  Again, the process was set up and we had the people.  However, it ultimately failed.  Not because the idea wasn’t good but because we found that the personal didn’t have time to do the videos on a consistent basis.

I have never been afraid to walk away from a vendor.  No one has the golden ticket sort of speak.  No matter how great the sales person or the presentation it really is up to the dealership and management to capitalize on any product or service you employ.  Yes, there are bad products out there, but there are good ones that dealerships just can’t make work for them.  Be honest with yourself. 

When I look for new solutions they typically have to accomplish one or more of the following:

• Save time for employees
• Save money for the dealership
• Answer a business objective