BDC Best Practices

An effective BDC is crucial to the overall success of any dealership. So, the better a dealership’s BDC team is trained and ready to handle any type of the call, the more appointments will be set and the more deals will be closed. It’s vital that BDC staff are prepared to get customers on the phone, handle any type of situation, and set the appointment. In this blog, learn the 5 best practices needed to ensure your dealership’s BDC Department is successful!

BDC Best Practice #1 - Call Guides

No great BDC is complete without call guides. As a new staff member in a BDC Department, call guides will show you the steps needed to set appointments in any situation – from third-party leads to unsold showroom traffic and so much more. Yet, even once you gain confidence and memorize your call guides, it still pays to always keep them ready to go. For experienced BDC staff, call guides serve as a safety net that you can fall back on if a call ever gets derailed and can be used to get back on process and headed towards the appointment.

If you don’t have call guides, ask your BDC Manager and they’ll be able to provide you some. Or, download Webinarinc’s free call guides here. Our editable call guides cover every situation you will come across in an automotive BDC and are tried-and-true at setting appointments!

BDC Best Practice #2 - Double Call

Even with the best BDC call guides, an appointment won’t get set if you cannot get in communication with the customer. Luckily, that’s where highly-effective techniques like the double call comes into play. The double call is a technique where you call a buyer, they don't answer, and you immediately call them back. While this can sound slightly aggressive, it’s extremely rare for buyers to be bothered as long as you jump right into the information they want. Remember, customers submitted on a certain vehicle and they want you to call them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCUhAEjcThw

BDC Best Practice #3 – Expand Your Inventory

Customers are very often much more flexible than you think. They may have submitted on one vehicle, but will likely buy something else once they enter the dealership. So, use this flexibility to set far more appointments! Remember, even though a customer submitted on a vehicle, it doesn’t mean that it’s their dream car. More likely, this is just a vehicle they like that fits their needs and budget.

By always expanding your inventory before confirming the availability of the vehicle they submitted on, you’re creating far more opportunity to set the appointment. You would be surprised how many times a customer will submit on a vehicle, but is open to a completely different make or model. They may submit on a new vehicle, but are open to used as well. Expanding your inventory is a must when it comes to setting far more appointments.

BDC Best Practice #4 – Engage the Trade

When struggling to set an appointment based on a vehicle, switch to the customer's trade instead! Offering a free appraisal of their vehicle is a fantastic way to get an appointment set, even without a vehicle. When you switch from selling to a customer to buying from them, even difficult customers can become far easier to work with. Then, by setting an appraisal-based appointment, customers will become much easier to work with once they’re on the showroom floor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J1ahCbogoc&t=38s

BDC Best Practice #5 – Don’t Make Assumptions

Regardless what you think a customer feels about a deal, there’s no way to truly know what they’re thinking. When you fail to ask for an appointment because you assume that a customer isn’t interested, you're ruining your chances at selling a vehicle. It’s surprising how many times a customer doesn’t seem interested, but will set the appointment when asked. So, don’t let assumptions ruin a car deal – always ask for the appointment!