New to BDC, could use suggestions and tips

[Christine120]

Hello.

I was hired onto a brand new BDC department about 6 months ago, but with all the personnel changes I (and my coworker) went about 4 months without a manager, and I pretty much just tried to wing the interacting with the customer. I come from a customer service/clerical background and not sales, so people loved talking to me but I wasn't getting a lot of people in the door.

I have a manager now (yay!), and I'm getting steered in the right direction. I'm also at the dangerous point where I know some, instead of knowing none or knowing most, and (most important) not knowing my limit.

I would very much like to hear some tips and tricks. Especially for better emails (template? what's that?), better email subject lines, and countering people's reasons for not coming in so I can turn a "but" into a "sure". And a biggie, with the people who hang up when I introduce myself, what word order will keep them on the phone long enough to realize that I'm talking about a vehicle they wanted information about?

And, how do y'all keep your day straight and on track? There are days where I kinda want to cry a little because it seems like there are more tasks than I can do in a day.

Thanks!

 

[Marc Lavoie]

Hi Christine, good job on taking initiative! I know it can be overwhelming.

It seems like you already know you need better systems in place, keep going! I hope you can find the help you need.

If I can do my part, we have a quick 5-day follow up cheat sheet you can download for free over on our site.

I suggest you also take a look at the Resources section of our site to help you with the rest.

For the people hanging up on you, what's your current word track?

I don't necessarily advise you follow a script on the phone but having a clear direction and key info you're looking to catch.

Also, templates are not bad per say. It's just that when we think about templates, we imagine a 600 words email with no personalization.

You should use use 1 or 2 sentence templates to increase performance and speed.

I'm sure other people on here can help you as well.

 

[Christine120]

I am definitely going to check out that cheat sheet, and the resources, thanks!

The hang ups go like this - "Hi, I'm Christine with <Dealership>, I'm following up on your interest.." -click- Sometimes the click comes before I can even say "following". I know a lot just don't want to take the time to tell me to not call in the future, but I'm sure there's a fair number who think it's a cold call or a bill collector and would talk to me if I can get it across that they asked for the information I have.

There's a lot of templates in the system, but since the BDC department is new they are all written from the point of view of the sales staff contacting the customer. I know I would be told if my emails are not proper, but I don't want to bug my new manager to micromanage my acceptable emails, she's got enough on her plate as it is. Changing a word or two can change the entire tone of a written statement, for the better or worse, and I want better. And my subject lines suck.

 

[Alex Snyder]

The hang ups go like this - "Hi, I'm Christine with <Dealership>, I'm following up on your interest.." -click- Sometimes the click comes before I can even say "following". I know a lot just don't want to take the time to tell me to not call in the future, but I'm sure there's a fair number who think it's a cold call or a bill collector and would talk to me if I can get it across that they asked for the information I have.

Do you know the source of the leads that are hanging up on you?

 

[Christine120]

I haven't been paying attention, I'll start watching. Thanks!

 

[Steve Stauning]

Here's a link to my free video training library: https://stevestauning.com/suggested-training-curriculum-for-car-dealers/#.XeVUMehKiMo

Lots of videos on process and appointment setting. Also, if you'd like a copy of my 2020 internet sales process with templates and voicemail scripts, just send me a note from the site: https://stevestauning.com/contact_steve/#.XeVUhuhKiMo

Always happy to help teams succeed - even for free.

Best wishes,

Steve

 

[ChrisR]

I've used Stauning's training to help supplement what I have been doing with my teams for quite some time. Definitely works well.

 

[Christine120]

It seems these past few days that a lot of the hangups are from Hyundai USA and Nissan USA submissions.

Is there any sort of industry standard for how many leads a BDC agent should get in a month? I had over 380 leads to take care of last month, and it's going to be higher this month because someone quit last month.

 

[Marc Lavoie]

It seems these past few days that a lot of the hangups are from Hyundai USA and Nissan USA submissions.

Is there any sort of industry standard for how many leads a BDC agent should get in a month? I had over 380 leads to take care of last month, and it's going to be higher this month because someone quit last month.

From my experience 380/m is going to be hard to handle if you do everything manually.

You'll need to streamline and create a process. Otherwise you can kiss good results goodbye.

On our VBDC side, we can do 1000-1500/month per agent but we have built a tool to automate 80% of the work for maximum efficiency.

It took a lot of work and investment to get to that point in the last few months.

 

[ChrisR]

It seems these past few days that a lot of the hangups are from Hyundai USA and Nissan USA submissions.

Is there any sort of industry standard for how many leads a BDC agent should get in a month? I had over 380 leads to take care of last month, and it's going to be higher this month because someone quit last month.

When I run BDC departments, I usually look for 125 new leads/month per agent. I also generally have BDC on unsold follow up, so 125 new leads + unsold + long term follow up can rack up quite the task count on a daily basis.