2020 has been anything but normal, but if you stop and think about the opportunities it's provided to help us as dealerships grow and better understand shoppers, it's been invaluable. At Dealmatic, we've seen consumers increasingly choosing to select a self serve experience prior to meeting dealers in person. 2021 is unlikely to be much different. With COVID cases continuing to rise as we enter the winter months, it's likely we continue to see similar consumer behavior into next year. The good news is we've learned enough this past year to prepare you for a solid 2021. Quick question for you: how have you changed up your BDC operation to adapt to a post COVID world?

Dealership BDC's have arguably been more important this year than in years past. That's because of 1 simple reason: shoppers haven't been coming in like they usually do, foot traffic is down. And so, the job of reeling online shoppers in has become more important. In this post we'll explore how your BDC can adjust 3 processes to deliver better close rates and higher CSI scores.

(1) The first golden-nugget, and a key to having a killer 2021, is realizing that 1 in 5 of your leads that comes in wants to do the "first pencil" on their own. They don't want to be flooded with calls/texts/emails for the next 2-3 weeks. They just want a solid ballpark feel for what their monthly payment is going to be with all the general nuts and bolts considered (credit score, downpayment, trade in). These consumers will actually set the appointment on their own and also show a high percentage of the time. Using software like what we offer at Dealmatic can help automate your BDC and free up energy and time to refocus efforts on the leads that won't complete a "first pencil." 

(2) The second process to adjust is refocusing your team's efforts. When a lead converts on their own, take them off communications, and just ensure a follow up procedure is put in place to follow up before and after the appointment. By automating the experience on 20% of your leads, you save 20% of your time that can be repurposed for leads who need to be talked to over phone/text/email. Issue 1 more call to 20% more of your leads; the question then becomes which 20%? Lead scoring can help you figure out which cohort to best serve next. Simple slices like proximity to dealership and how compete the lead details are help infer consumer willingness and intent. Dealmatic automatically scores every lead based on a proprietary blend of willingness, desirability, and intent signals. By calling your highest scored leads first, you can ensure you're maximizing your BDC's efficiency and communicating with the most likely to close leads.

(3) Lastly, and in addition to BDC automation and lead scoring, you should also consider weeding out lead sources that aren't helping the cause. Every dealership has one or two sources that never convert. Do you know what these lead sources are for your dealership?  Sure, you might be justifying it by saying the leads only make up 20-30% of your overall mix. But fact of the matter is that sums up to 20-30% of your team's total time, and getting that back will be more valuable to the operation than just having more leads to call. Your CRM can usually help you with identifying the lead sources that aren't converting well. Sometimes you might have to create a custom report. This process is so important that we built it straight into the main dashboard of Dealmatic, that way you can keep tabs at all times.

In summary, adding automation, lead prioritization & scoring, and having the insight to know when NOT to work a lead can level your BDC up in 2021. You'll see increased close rates, higher CSI scores, and have a more energized & upbeat BDC team. Between these three efficiency boosters, your team will get the additional time needed to focus on the core 30%-60% of leads that were going to demand more focus and outreach from the beginning. 

Feel free to reach out to our team at Dealmatic to talk shop about your dealership. We're happy to make recommendations and provide feedback about your BDC setup free of charge. Cheers to a safe and fruitful rest of 2020 from our team to yours.