LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, February 10, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- An automotive business development center (BDC) is an integral part of a dealership’s success. It is a team of professionals that are dedicated to helping customers and prospects with their automotive needs. To get the most from BDC efforts, there are a few things that should be considered to ensure it runs smoothly.

What is an Automotive BDC

An automotive BDC is a Business Development Center that is specific to the automotive industry. These centers are responsible for generating and managing customer leads and the service needs of dealership customers.

An automotive BDC typically consists of a team of sales and customer service professionals who are experts in the automotive industry. This team works together to generate leads, track customer information, and provide dealership employees with the resources they need to follow up with customers. By providing quality customer service and maintaining a strong relationship with customers, an automotive BDC is integral in delivering customer convenience and helping the dealership reach its sales and service goals.

Pros and Cons of Service vs. Sales in a BDC

When it comes to automotive Business Development Centers (BDCs), there are pros and cons to both a service-based and sales-based approach.

Focus on Service Scheduling

On the plus side, a service-based BDC can lend a more personal touch to customers. This is because service representatives are focused on providing an excellent customer experience from beginning to end. They’re also more likely to develop relationships with customers and build trust over time.

However, this type of BDC can also be more expensive to operate than a sales-based one. That’s because it needs to be staffed with highly-trained individuals who can handle complex customer inquiries and use sophisticated service scheduling tools. The right communications technology also needs to be in place to support a service-based operation with text, email, and phone channels.

One of the most important functions of a BDC is scheduling service appointments. This ensures that customers are seen in a timely manner and that staff is able to provide the best possible service. Here are some tips for making the most out of a BDC’s appointment scheduling:

Use an auto-scheduler: An auto-scheduler can help keep track of appointments and make sure that they are always promptly made.

Schedule regular follow-ups: Follow-ups, especially for past declined services, are crucial in the automotive industry. They allow you to keep in touch with customers and ensure that they are happy with their purchase. By regularly following up with customers, you can build relationships and increase customer loyalty.

Keep track of no-shows: No-shows happen, but it’s important to keep track of them so that steps can be taken to prevent them in the future.

Focus on Selling

A sales-based BDC, on the other hand, is typically less expensive to run. That’s because representatives are focused primarily on making sales appointments and generating leads. They may have less interaction with customers overall, but they can still provide excellent customer service when necessary.

The downside of a sales-based BDC is that it can sometimes come across as impersonal or pushy. Representatives may be more likely to make cold calls or use high-pressure tactics in order to generate leads. This could turn off some customers and damage your dealership’s reputation over time.

A Sales BDC should be focused on generating and nurturing high-quality leads that are likely to convert into sales. To do this, they should have a deep understanding of your dealership’s products, services, and pricing. They should also be experts in your customer base, knowing who is most likely to buy and why.

The Benefits of Universal Inbox Technology

A Universal Inbox for an Automotive Business Development Center (BDC) allows customers a single place to communicate with the dealership. It provides an integrated view of all customer communications, regardless of the channel used, and enables the BDC team to quickly respond to customers.

With a Universal Inbox, the dealership can:

Respond quickly to customers: With all customer communication in one place, the dealership ensures that inquiries are answered promptly.

Increase customer satisfaction: By providing a single point of contact for customers, makes it easy for them to get the information they need and resolve any issues they may have.

Improve efficiency: With all communication channels in one place, the BDC team can quickly triage and route inquiries to the appropriate person or department.

Omnichannel Challenges for Universal Inboxes

BDCs handle all the overflow call volume that generally hits the service and the sales department. In the past, this has been handled very easily because the main number first rings at the BDC, and in a “hunt group” (rings multiple phones at once, and silences the phones of other BDC agents once one of them answers the call).

The person answering the phone decides if the call can be handled locally otherwise will transfer it to the requisite sales agent or service advisor.

With the advent of SMS and Email, this single channel (voice calls) became a little harder to deal with because now customers can send text messages, emails, or make voice calls.

This omnichannel approach just does not translate well for BDCs that are typically geared only to take phone calls, and this is why a BDC inbox solution that can handle all three channels (text, emails, and voice calls) as one conversation type, that can seamlessly and intelligently transfer to the BDC as one conversation, is the ultimate solution for automotive BDCs.

BDC Inbox Example:

A customer texts 15 days after the repair order closes. The ideal BDC Inbox directs the text to the group at the BDC and would intelligently only allow the message to be handled within a group of agents who can take in phone calls, texts, and emails all in a manner in which nobody is “stepping on” any other agent.

This type of BDC Inbox is proven to work seamlessly and is proven to sometimes drop call volume by as much as 50% from the original voice-only dealer setup.

Ujj Nath
myKaarma
+1 5622875527
support@mykaarma.com
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