Nearly 80 percent of customer touchpoints at a typical new car dealership begin with a phone interaction. If you, as a leader want to positively impact customer experience at your dealership, stop everything else and please start with the phones.

In order to have a meaningful and a long lasting impact on your customer experience strategy, the first and foremost step would be to better understand your organization's own unique "phone culture" or DNA.

I think most GMs, Service Directors, and other leaders would agree with me when I say: Every store is a unique eco-system with a unique business DNA. See picture below for illustration.

The best way to start towards understanding your own "phone culture'" or DNA, is to first identify what's working and what's not. Improve what's working and change what's not. This is a novel approach currently not practiced in the industry.

Decoding your dealership's existing "phone culture" will reveal a few measures you can take immediately to see lift in customer experience. Is it the phone setup, process, people or pay? At any rate you will be able to laser in on concrete actions to take right away to see tangible results.

We at Callsavvy call this decoding of new car dealership's own "phone culture": "Phone Performance DNA Assessment". If conducted the correct way with diligence and detail it deserves, your dealership will be able to answer the critical questions of whether a Service BDC pencils at your store, and most importantly which type: Onsite,offsite, hybrid.

Regardless of whether your dealership currently has a Service BDC, considering one or you think you cannot afford one. Once you conduct a Phone Performance DNA Assessment, it will reveal answers which may totally surprise you. It is an absolute pre-requisite to implementing any customer experience (CX) strategy for Fixed Ops.

The power of knowing how your dealership ticks is immeasurable. For instance, some dealerships may be surprised to find, that with just a few tweaks to your phone setup and current process, your team might be able to drastically reduce excessive phone ringing, relieve call-traffic bottlenecks and minimize missed and mishandled calls, and all that before spending a dime on a Service BDC solution.

Now that your team sees that a Phone Performance DNA Assessment is a must-do for every dealership regardless of which Service BDC cycle you're in, it is pertinent to say that there are four main components of a successful Phone Performance DNA Assessment and they are:

1. Phone Culture & Data Asessement
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7.  - Monetizing your calls
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9.  - Service BDC feasibility -
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11. Service BDC proof-of-concept

These critical components above will assist in understanding your dealership's true missed call revenue impact, which type of Service BDC to switch to or launch, how much to invest if internal, what to pay for it if third-party, which processes, and which team members are the weakest link needing training and coaching and inversely which the strongest needing recognition.

The Service BDC proof of concept will help your team build a Service BDC blueprint which is elastic and durable. Your Service BDC should grow with your business and should grow your business, not break with increasing scale.

In conclusion let me say this: Seeing the amount of work each leader puts in their dealership day-in-day-out, there is no doubt in my mind that he/she is in for a long-haul. So, keeping that fact in mind let us ensure long term success for your dealership in times of dizzying disruptions. I am a firm believer that the elixir to phone performance excellence and Service BDC success lies within each dealership's wealth of talented team members, from top-to-bottom

One of our jobs at Callsavvy is to hightlight what your team already does well and build a blueprint behind it. As to what is not working currently, there is a wealth of knowledge we have accumulated over the years working with dealers nationwide, putting us in a very advantageous position to share those nuggets with you.

Here are three additional benefits of conducting a Phone Performance DNA Assessment at your dealership.

• It will help with negotiating a more accurate pricing model from third-party vendors and guide through Service BDC installation process, whether onsite or offsite.
• It will help define what longterm success should look like for a Service BDC at your dealership.
• It will act as an insurance policy against a catastrophic Service BDC failure. Whether onsite, offsite or hybrid.

Call us and find out how your dealership does not have to be our paid client to benefit from our novel approach.

We are here to serve and build long term relationships.

Joe Tareen

Chief Consultant

www.Callsavvy.io

ph: (214) 945-4734

email: joetareen@callsavvy.io

Are you in-charge of running a new car dealership and starting to see the signs of slowing car sales? You are not alone. The national news agencies, the Federal Reserve, and industry analysts all agree. The slow down is coming and with it brings immutable changes to the auto industry.

Here is what Forbes is saying referrencing a Bloomberg report regarding the coming economic recession in the US:

"United States Recession Probability Forecast, which shows the median probability (of a US recession) in the 35% range as of this writing..." https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor-intelligence/2019/09/24/recession-what-are-the-odds/#1fc27e167764

Here is another revealing article from Bloomberg directly, predicting the coming collapse of US auto sales figures:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-01/toyota-typifies-ugly-month-with-16-slide-auto-sales-update

Here is the main takeaway: New car sales are declining and that is not occuring in isolation. Truth of the matter is; the US consumers' current buying patterns are weakening and we're due for a recession in the US soon. When it actually occurs, is anyone's guess, however it is near.

That being said, the-show-must-go-on. You're a smart dealer and you want to plan ahead for all contingencies. You want to win today but not at the expense of tommorrow. What's the best strategy to recession proof your dealership? On that later.

First: What are recessions?

Besides the technical definition of a decline in GDP in two successive quarters, recessions are economic baptisms: Old businesses die, new businesses are born. Old demands vanish and new demands appear. Old industry wither away, new industries take shape. Old companies become irrelevant and new companies are created. Here is short list of companies started during a recession:

1. General Electric:1890
2. IBM: 1896
3. General Motors: 1908
4. Disney:1923
5. Burger King: 1953
6. Microsoft:1975
7. Apple: 2001

Do you recognize any of them?Of course it is a rhetorical question!

The reality is; consumers just do not wake up one day and decide not to spend their money anymore. They simply reallocate their dollars to alternative products and services. It's all mental, in a sense economies are not static realities, they are physical manifestations of our collective conscious and unconscious believe systems.

So, we agree that recessions bring about a marked change in buying habits of consumers and the auto industry is certainly not immune to that change. This is precisely why as a general manager or a dealer principal, you must find ways to keep your dealership relevant and your customers engaged.

This means for example; when other dealerships are reducing marketing budgets and going conservative, a winning strategy might be to increase marketing budgets along with raising your customer service levels. This is the time to buck-the-trends and double-down on your efforts.

Here are five areas of focus to recession-proof your dealership:

1. 1) The mindset change: First and foremost: You must as an organization adopt a recession-proof mindset and that mindset is your ability to change and the speed with which your team implements that change. Every single team member of your dealership must and will need to run plays from the same playbook. You're a leader and a leader is a "dealer of hope". Make decisions a quick enterprise. Do not allow the old mindset to force your organizition to recede back into the old ways. The most dangerous phrase in business: "We've always done it this way" will always be the easiest thing to revert back to. Do not let it slow down your ability to respond to new customer demands or create mental roadblocks in introducing new intitiatives. The best place to start is to gather as much customer feedback as possible. Ask your customers what do they want from you - simple. Obssesively read your CSI survey results and online reviews. What do they reveal about your organization and better yet the mindset of your customer base?

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2. 2) Double down on your ad spend. Market more aggresively not less, but make marketing an investment not an expense. Hold third-party vendors to the fire if they make a claim. "Retail is detail" and if you have never been a detail oriented person, its time to change and evolve.

1. 3) Solve a problem that gets worse with recession: When customer are not buying cars they are servicing them more. Is your Service department ready for the increased traffic on the drive? More calls, more appointments, and more repair orders. However, same capacity, will result in less attentive staff, delays in work completion times, unhappy customers, bad surveys and reviews will eventually lead to a decline of profits. Be obsessed with how your customers experience your brand. Invest in drastically improving the quality of every customer touchpoint. In every crisis there is an opportunity. Tactically, it is time to streamline your organzation's decision making process. Learn to run lean so you can run fast.

1. 4) Competition proof your dealership: Do one thing your competition is scared off their socks to do. Perhaps it is time to take your Service concierge program to the next level and implement a technology solution which facilitates an efficient customer vehicle and drop off operation. How will this affect your market penetration inside your own Primary Marketing Area (PMA)? There are a few third-party vendors out there with solutions which are being utlilized by a healthy dealer base. Always ask for references before signing up with any vendor and make sure the added expenses do not negatively affect your balance sheet. A positive return-on-investment is a must.

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2. 5) Unlock the hidden profits in your DMS data: Equity-buy-back programs only work when you fully work them. There is no better place to start with those then your Service drive. Where else are you going to get so many daily cutomer touchpoints? The customer is there and so is their trade. It is a captive audience. However there is a particular way you must execute the Service equity program to get the daily wins. Here is the best and the most proven way to do it: Split up the efforts in three separate areas. 1) The Technology - look for solutions which track real-time open repair orders and provide you beyond just the equity on the vehicle in Service. You will need more detailed open loan information such as monthly payments, current interest rate, term of the loan and principal to personalize each transaction to customers' needs. 2) The Strategy - Setup real-time alerts for open repair orders and have your Sales BDC call customers who are still at your dealership and enroll in a vehicle-buy-back program. Once you get a verbal "yes" from your customers on-site, then it becomes substantially easier for your sales associate to approach them. 3) The Approach -The best way to close Service equity leads, is to not treat them as traditional sales transactions, because they are NOT. Customer did not show up at your dealership through the front door, rather through the Service drive. Provide them options and craft offers "they can't refuse". Be decisive and do not be greedy. If they have a strong FICO score, positive equity in their trade, and are willing to talk, there is a strong probability, that it is a deal.

A complete automotive sales collapse may be a thing of fantasy. However some stores are barely hanging on to a profit thread and surviving only through OEM incentive programs. Do the internal financial math and come up with a figure in terms of percentage decline in over-all sales which might put your organization in a severe financial bind. Then go as a team and craft new products and services to deliver to your customers, so you can mitigate for those revenue losses. Be PROACTIVE. BE INNOVATIVE.

So, your dealership has decided to implement a Service BDC: Congratulations your dealership just started a customer care business unit and this business unit is nothing like what has been seen before. Up until now most of the inbound call traffic has either filtered through your receptionist and or has ringed simultaneously on all service department extensions. Well, answering all these calls has not been an easy task. Following the implementation of a Service BDC, a.k.a. customer care center, your dealership has hopefully quantified the challenge and has written down a clear statement of purpose. With the additional investments made in equipment and technology and added payroll expense of multiple agents and a supervisor, business expectations are now beyond simply answering these calls and telling customers to “just-bring-it-in”. It will not be business as usual and a new mindset and new skill sets will be required for success. What must be done then? We highlight some of the challenges and their potential solutions below for new car dealerships to consider.

• Happy and joyful phone greeting.

Let’s start with the basics. Let’s make sure the answering agents are smiling through the phone. Every single instance of the phone greeting not only represents your brand but also enhances and, even in some cases, creates it. The reality is; many customers are anxious about bringing their vehicles in for service. Not only because of unexpected expenses that may pop up, but also the thought of being without their main mode of transportation even for half a day is just downright scary. Making each call greeting a pleasant one and always putting your customer’s needs before your own will set the right tone.

• Proper talk-track to overcome customer frustrations.

One of the biggest mistakes dealerships or third-party vendors make when implementing a Service BDC is thinking that what worked in sales will also work in service. However, this line of thinking is fundamentally flawed. Sales BDCs are dealing with customers who happened to have a completely different emotional state. The conclusion of every sales interaction is that there is a big win waiting for every customer at the end: Driving off in a brand new car! Not so with service. Instead of a big win, at the end of a service transaction there might be a big bill waiting for them. The set of emotions in customers, which this uncertainty creates, require a completely different set of skills, talk-track and inflections to manage. Reassuring, calming, and compassionate words must be used to mitigate any stress triggers. Customers will appreciate this effort and entrust your dealership with all their hard-earned dollars.

• Proper and accurate service menu options.

Many customers will inquire about pricing before they book an appointment. Your agents ability to not only provide accurate price quotes, but also to effectively communicate all the features and benefits of each service item will create credibility and customer confidence. Having a universal pricing strategy in the form of menu items based on each vehicle model speaks to the care and attention every customer deserves. Use your scheduling software to create easy-to-comprehend, and customer friendly menu items. It is incumbent upon management to truly understand the customer base and the surrounding demographics by custom tailoring their service offerings along with market competitive pricing. Also utilizing a detailed menu will reduce the number of times an agent will have to put a customer on hold and go ask a service advisor about the right price of the requested items or all that it contains. Make sure to link your proper operations codes in your DMS with the newly created menu item for accurate reporting results.

• Instant communication with the service staff.

Your dealership has now truly ventured into a customer care business and might as well add a third word at the end: “communication”. No business can ever truly prosper without having an effective communication strategy with both their clients and internal team members. Better communication equals to increased operational efficiency also known as ‘productivity’. Marketing is what often drives revenue, but you can bet your bottom dollar that operational efficiency will drive your profit margins like little else. Therefore it is imperative that Service BDCs are complemented with the latest communication tools for both internal conversations and external engagements. Online tools such Slack can be utilized for internal communication as well one can create their own messaging board. For customer engagements look into various texting applications which many technology vendors are offering within their pre-existing services and solutions packages. Ultimately, you should have a plan in place to exploit all possible communication channels between your service drive personnel, the Service BDC team, and your customers.

• Who’s managing it?

The most understated element which ultimately dictates the success or failure of this effort is going to be the Business Development Manager (BDM) or the person in-charge of running your Service BDC. In-house BDMs are essential for hiring and training agents and fine tuning your Service BDC moving forward. However, if you hire an unqualified person for this job, your entire program could be at risk. Don’t just hire a candidate who looks good on paper. Take your time and set aside a week to interview multiple candidates. Hire the one who is not only qualified but also a great fit for your dealership culture. Your BDM must be able to work and collaborate with a wide range of personality types. From the GM to a fixed operations manager, service drive manager and right down to the advisor. These various dealership positions require a varied set of personality traits. The center point of your Service BDC is going to be the BDM and his or her ability to carry forward the diverse interests and serve up multiple roles will be critical. Also your BDM must possess a combination of both technology and customer service experience. Research the space thoroughly and learn from other verticals. Do not hesitate to provide your BDM and your Service BDC with tools necessary to succeed in today’s hyper competitive environment. Constantly learn from your own operations by making analytics and reporting the most critical aspect of this endeavor. This business unit requires a leader who possesses a blend of high IQ (intelligent quotient) as well as a high EQ (emotional quotient) to succeed.  Don’t skimp on this position, pay well.  You may even consider poaching a proven, experienced candidate.

This is not going to be an easy task or a set-it-and-forget-it type of a mission. There is no doubt, today having some sort of a Service BDC, whether on-site or remote is absolutely mission critical for not only higher profits but also for higher Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) scores. Many OEMs are pushing for this and laying out the ground work to make this department a “must have” for every new car dealer partner. Ultimately, this operation will be the responsibility of the new car dealers to manage and grow. Luckily, today there are few vendors ready to assist in any shape or form. Whether in the form of consulting to help you execute your own on-site Service BDC or help you take the entire burden off by offering end-to-end solutions. Reach out to the market players in this space, set up educational sessions to learn from past mistakes and current successes. Dealers, it is time to start separating yourself from the competition. Your customers and you deserve the best!

Joe Tareen

Technical Analyst

Traver Connect

Email: jtareen@traverconnect.com

URL: www.traverconnect.com