By Damon Sefa, Director of Client Services, Elead/CDK Global

Do you keep most services in-house to maintain control and brand consistency? You’re far from alone if you do. But going at it alone isn’t always best for your business. 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. Add this growing channel, that requires highly trained staff to manage, 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 responses. 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 choices and are typically seeking answers to questions about model options and vehicle availability. 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 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.