Digital Dealer - April 2019 - 47

Road Trip to DD26 | April 9-11, 2019 | Orlando

DD26

SA LE S & VA R IAB LE OP S : Lead H andl i n g/Management

FEATURED SPEAKER
By John Sevier
CEO,
Dealer Advantage BDC

Sustaining a
Successful BDC
We've all heard the
most common arguments both for and against
dedicated Internet Departments - no need to rehash
stale arguments here. The
truth is, our customers are
demanding our full attention
and it is our job to deliver
exactly what our customers
ask. If you aren't a believer
yet, rest assured: BDC's are
here to stay.
Enterprising BDC managers around the country are
building their departments
with a progressive spirit of
aggressive follow up, objection handling and concierge
level assistance - it's what
our customers are demanding from their car buying
experience.
So, what's the problem?
Creating an Internet Department is easy. Sustaining a
successful BDC is not.
Now that you've decided to be progressive and
buy in fully to a dedicated
Internet Department - how
are you going to measure its
success or failure? How are
you going to pinpoint exactly
what's going wrong in your
BDC to make necessary
adjustments?
Simply using metrics like
close percentage, BDC
managers may be missing
opportunities to identify
exactly what's happening
in their department and too
often they end up deceived

about its true performance.
Close percentage will
always be important: we all
need to know how many
sales our efforts are translating to - but it's an incomplete picture of the BDC's
performance. Furthermore,
focusing so much on this
one metric may be blinding
you from simple adjustments you can make that
could have a tremendous
impact on your department's
success.
BDC managers that are
using the best key metrics

are getting the clearest
picture of their department's
performance and can use
them as a road map for fine
tuning their department's
processes, training and
goals.
First, it's crucial to understand exactly how our customers are interacting with
our organization - not just
our BDC. Today, customers
are having multiple interactions with multiple departments within our organization throughout their buying
experience. They may start

out with a simple internet
lead, but depending on their
needs, they may interact
with the BDC, sales or F&I
- before they even commit
to an appointment! Once the
BDC connected or engaged
with the customer, how are
other departments within the
organization handling these
customers?
With the myriad of online
tools available, customers
are doing more research and
are more informed than ever.
With the BDC being the
first line of contact, how can
we be sure we are setting
our reps up for success
with these more educated
customers? Unfortunately,
BDC managers that are
solely focused on the latest
industry trends aren't setting
Continued on pg. 48

TRACKING METRICS LIKE ENGAGED
OR CONNECTION PERCENTAGE - AND
USING THOSE METRICS AS A ROADMAP
TO DEVISING SOLUTIONS UNIQUE TO
YOUR BDC'S NEEDS WILL BE THE KEY
TO ITS SUSTAINED SUCCESS."
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

APRIL 2019

http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Digital Dealer - April 2019

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