Most of the articles online about “How To Be a Good BDC Rep” actually focus on the management of the BDC. I wanted to put together a mega-post that any BDC rep, new or old, could reference to develop their career. I’ve developed these ideas over the last few years as I’ve worked in and then managed a BDC.
Want to learn more about being a great BDC rep?
This article will be seen through the story of Jim and Jane, two competing BDC reps. Both want to make money, but only one has spent the time to learn how to be a good BDC rep.
Jim and Jane were the first hires at the new BDC at ABC motors. Both came from retail sales backgrounds, and both knew how to speak to customers effectively on the phone. During their interviews, they both told the hiring manager that they were “team players” who loved to “work hard” and “develop their skills”.
For the first month or two, Jim and Jane put up similar numbers. Their phone call and email volume were strong, and their conversions were decent.
Within a few months, Jane was making 15% more calls per day and setting 50% more appointments.
What changed?
Orienting towards your goals involves four key components as a BDC rep.
These four parts will help you orient yourself toward your goals and teach you part of how to be a good BDC rep! Let’s look at these four parts through the eyes of BDC reps, Jim and Jane.
Jim came to work every day with one task on his mind. According to Jim, he was paid to make phone calls, and so that’s what he did.
Jim clocked in on time and made sure he never came to work with a dirty shirt. He didn’t really understand his pay plan, and he only had a simple knowledge of the CRM, but he worked hard. He never invested in any tools to help him avoid burnout, as he figured that he would make do.
Jim told people he worked in a call center, which was a nice 9 to 5 type job.
Jane came to work with conversions on her mind. She knew which customers that she spoke to yesterday were “hot” and ready to buy, and she prioritized those customers with the highest probability to become car deals. She always knew where she was for the month, and adjusted her work ethic accordingly. If she had lagged behind on appointments set the day before, she would come to work thirty minutes early or stay thirty minutes late.
Jane was the go-to “wizard” on the CRM. Sales managers would often drop into the BDC to ask Jane for help with the CRM, and she loved learning new parts of the software. Efficiency was always Jane’s goal.
Jane didn’t mind spending a little money to get herself a nice ergonomic keyboard. She spent a few bucks on a vanity mirror, knowing that she sounded more convincing on the phone when she had a smile on her face. Under her desk, she would massage her feet with a little ergonomic footrest she picked up on Amazon.
Jane considered herself a phone salesperson. She took pride in her work and liked to switch up her schedule. She experimented working her shift at different times of the day to find what worked best for making contact with customers.
As I discussed in my recent article on “How To Look Put Together and Polished“, oftentimes the difference between excelling and staying stagnant is just a little effort.
“I think it’s just little tweaks you need to put into action if you want to be more polished. It will take a decision to start, and a dedication to follow through. Polish is not about some grand action, it’s a collection of little steps. Little steps that you care about.”
-George
Jane cared about her job. She saw it as a career she could take pride in. She expanded on the four key components:
Jane understood her job was centered around conversions, not the volume of phone calls. She understood that as a BDC rep, she was the first step of moving a customer towards a successful sale.
Jim thought of his job as “call center” guy, who just sat and made “enough calls”
Pay is based on appointments set and sold!
Jim and Jane were both paid on appointments shown and appointments sold. Jane worked this pay plan and prioritized working “hot” customers. Jim just made the calls.
Jane learned the ins and outs of her CRM. She became a “guru” of sorts at her dealer and gained recognition (Just like Zag!)
Jim learned the bare minimum to “do his job”, instead of mastering his tools.
Jane understood burnout was always a possibility. She spent a little money to make herself more comfortable, like her ergonomic keyboard and footrest.
Jim always would just make do with what he had. He was happy just being on time and having a clean shirt.
Jim worked his 9-5, day in, day out. Might as well have worked at the DMV!
Jane experimented with different schedules. She found that Mondays she would start an hour later (10-6pm) and Fridays an hour earlier (8-4pm). She always tried to find new ways to increase her efficiency.
Depending on your dealership’s management style, you may have a very active or very inactive manager. The BDC manager may be one of the BDC reps that have to manage the workflows and produce at the same time. Some dealerships will have dedicated managers, while others will have an internet manager manage the BDC.
Regardless of the set-up, part of how to be a good BDC rep involves finding the person that cares about success (hopefully your direct manager) and looping them in. There is serious value in acquiring emotional “buy-in” from your manager, as they can stand in to provide advice and guidance. Managers are much more likely to help you along if you make the effort to meet with them to discuss your goals.
There are two distinct ways you can work with your manager. Let’s see how Jim and Jane interact differently with Maya, their manager.
Jim was concerned with what his manager thought of him, so he always tried to be as nice as possible to Maya. He paid attention to what she was doing on weekends and even bought her gifts on her birthday. Jim was confident that Maya thought he was a good employee.
Jane respected Maya’s time and expertise. Once a month she would organize to meet with Maya to discuss her goals and seek advice on how to push herself. Jane was always respectful of Maya’s time and didn’t bother her with small talk unless appropriate.
Jim was a nice guy, but a bit chatty. Jane was the ultimate rep, and Maya prided herself on how well Jane progressed. Maya cared about Jane’s career, because Jane cared about Jane’s career.
A successful BDC rep like Jane understands not only her pay plan but the big picture of the store. Car dealerships exist to sell and service cars, and the BDC rep plays a part in that bigger picture. Whereas Jim sees himself as a call center guy who just pounds the phones, Jane sees herself as a salesperson representing the dealership.
The management wants metrics and growth. They want you to be a successful part of the dealership’s business.
Jane meets with her manager, Maya, to get better at her job and to find out the “pain points” of the organization as a whole.
At my dealership, the BDC reps were setting great appointments, for excited customers, but there was a problem.
The notes for the appointments would look like this:
APPOINTMENT
10/03/18
Sandeep wants Q5
Stock #40123
Needs car asap
Looks pretty good right?
So, when I see an appointment like this, I work on getting the car (Stock #40123) ready for the customer to see. This can involve driving to offsite lots, adding gas, rinsing the car.
The problem would emerge when the customer (in this case “Sandeep”) would come in and casually say:
“Oh yeah, this car is good! Really any car with this exterior interior color combo and navigation would have worked for us actually”
– Sandeep
When the customer says that, my shoulders drop, since Stock #40123 wasn’t necessarily the easiest car to get prepped if “any car with this exterior interior color combo and navigation would have worked”.
So I met with the BDC reps and changed the way our appointments are labeled. All we needed to do was add this simple modifier to the notes:
APPOINTMENT
10/03/18
Sandeep wants Q5
Stock #40123 (same color with nav ok)
Needs car asap
or
APPOINTMENT
10/03/18
Sandeep wants Q5
Stock #40123 (exact car)
Needs car asap
The BDC reps and I communicate often, so this pain point was easy to address. As a successful BDC rep, keep an eye out for little things like this to increase your team’s efficiency.
With my dealership having 700~ cars in stock, this simple change can often save a full man-hour every single day.
Small businesses scale with employees. Good BDC reps scale with templates.
One of my favorite articles I’ve written is all about the proper cadence for the first 7 days communicating with customers. In a guest-posted article over at DealerRefresh, I have 15 more.
It’s your job to develop your own templates from the examples I’ve produced for you. Don’t rely on the boring templates that are built into your CRM. Create new templates that mimic your communication style so that you can provide a cohesive experience for your customers.
Here are a few of my favorite BDC templates I’ve come up with.
Dear FIRST NAME,
Thanks! Looking forward to our appointment for TIME and DATE at DEALERSHIP NAME.
To save you time, here is our street address:
STREET ADDRESS WITH GOOGLE MAP URL LINKIf you want to confirm or reschedule please respond to this email or text me at SALESPERSON PHONE.
This is what I look like when you come in:
SMALL PICTURE OF SALESPERSONThanks!
SALESPERSON NAME
SALESPERSON PHONE
SALESPERSON EMAIL
Dear FIRSTNAME,
I know we have been sending you a lot of emails and you have been opening them, but not responding.
Could you kindly let us know if you are still in the market? Are we emailing too much? Is there a time that is best to get a hold of you?
Here at DEALER, we value our customers and their time. We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
SALESPERSON NAME
SALESPERSON PHONE
SALESPERSON EMAIL
FIRST NAME,We were not able to meet for our recent appointment time. We understand that sometimes things come up that take precedent.When can we reschedule a time to meet? I have some time available tomorrow at 1015am and later in the afternoon.Please let me know if there is anything we can do in the meantime to help you along your purchase process.Thanks!SALESPERSON NAME
SALESPERSON PHONE
SALESPERSON EMAIL
Hi FIRST NAME.
We haven’t talked in a while, so I wanted to touch base to say hi. How have you been doing? Are you happy with your MAKE?
If you’re ever in the neighborhood or at the dealership servicing your car, drop by my desk! I’d love to catch up.
Let me know how you like your MAKE whenever you have a free moment. I’ve heard a lot of great feedback from other folks who own that vehicle, so I’m interested to hear if your experience is similar.
Thanks,
SALESPERSON NAME
SALESPERSON PHONE
Here at Car Sales Story, I’ve written a few articles that would be helpful to any BDC rep looking to improve their effectiveness:
Are you a BDC rep? If so, reach out to me here at Car Sales Story and we can get together some reps to share ideas:
What is the best way to compose your internet car sales email templates?
Some of my other articles with email templates can be found at these links:
Follow Up Email #1
Follow Up Email #2
Full Follow Up Script
BDC Templates
How can you capture the attention of your customers and hook them into coming to your dealership?
Here at Car Sales Story I’ve addressed the need for proper email templates before. I’ve found many dealerships have lackluster templates full of spelling and grammatical errors that can severely damage their first impression with a customer.
In the United States, there are many places where you can still sell cars online without ample internet car sales training.
That is changing. Customers want fast responses, they want professional writing, and they want the price in the email.
This is the bare minimum required. Fast, clear, with price.
What if you want to take your sales to the next level? Is there a way you can write emails (internet car sales email templates specifically) that will garner more responses from better customers?
I’ve been receiving emails for a few days from André Chaperon, one of the co-founders of Tiny Little Businesses. I was lead to André by Ian from FIMP (who I’ve mentioned before). André is master marketer, and drafts some of the best emails I’ve ever read.
The beauty of his communications is that I want to read his emails every time they pop into my mailbox. Check out this recent one (please excuse me for pasting it in it’s entirety):
From: André Chaperon <[email protected]>
Date: September 8, 2018 at 2:00:08 AM PDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: [LEM] Make Someone Hungry (Part 1 of 2)
Hey Andrei,
THE ANSWER TO the subject line is the (SIMPLE) SECRET to creating suspense in emails.
And suspense in emails is the key ingredient to the narrative engine of your email sequence.
… the REASON for people to keep opening your emails and reading to the end.
You know … like you’re doing here 🙂
I teach this in detail within ARM (with lots of examples)…
But the big secret is already in this email.
And it has been sprinkled in clear sight in most of the previous emails I’ve sent you so far.
Think you know what it is?
Here’s another clue.
It’s the REASON WHY you’re still reading.
Readers are human, and humans are programmed (hardwired) to wait for answers to questions they’ve been exposed to.
It’s called the Zeigarnik Effect.
You ask a question. Or better yet, IMPLY a question, but then DON’T GIVE THE ANSWER.
You move on.
It keeps people on the hook, so to speak.
That’s the simple secret to creating suspense (it builds more and more TENSION).
And suspense, tension, drama … it all works to create ATTENTION.
Which is the whole point, right?
I have two killer examples for you. The first one I read 8 years ago, and it blew me away.
In fact it completely changed the game for me.
Myself and 3 business partners run this small exclusive mastermind called Ocean’s Four.
We run it once, sometimes twice a year.
The last one was in Orlando a few weeks ago (as I write this email):
We charge clients $5K for a ONE HOUR hot seat (this is over two days, and we only take 8 people, max; excluding bringing an additional business partner if they choose).
This last one, I purchased every attendee a (fiction) book. The same book that completely changed the game for me.
… and the same book I’ll share with you in the next email.
Same time, same place.
Andre “suspense, tension, drama” Chaperon
So what’s special about this email?
First things first. This email has a different intent than our internet car sales email templates that we are looking to craft. He is selling an email marketing course, and his customers therefore have different needs. He needs his customers to fall in love with his style, and he is selling a unique product.
When crafting internet car sales email templates, we are dealing with a customer that areoften efficiency focused. Many internet customers think of dealing with dealerships as a net negative and want to minimize their contact. We can utilize our understanding of this fact to create a frictionless sale.
So with that difference in mind, what can we learn from Chaperon? Here are a few valuable strategies that I can summarize:
Using what I’ve learned from Chaperon’s emails, here is my internet car sales email templates for you to steal and change:
Subject Line: My “Evil” Experiment
Hi Customer Name,
This email could get me in a lot of trouble.
Most dealerships are built around tricking customers into paying too much every step of the way.
They think that asymmetrical information is how to make profit.
They think that customers don’t know how to shop around. They think you aren’t doing your homework.
I don’t think that’s the case.
Instead of betting on your ignorance, I’m going to bet on your knowledge.
I think you know just how to get a deal.
I think that you are just waiting to run into someone that will respect your time.
So here’s my experiment.
I’m going to cut to the chase, and provide you numbers, fair numbers, right below (good for 72 hours!):
— INSERT PRICING HERE —
Fair right? Best part? There is a little more on top of that.
I get a ton of push back on this experiment from the corporate big wigs.
“It’s not how it’s done! Don’t rock the boat” They say…
I’m bucking that. I’m betting on the fact that you appreciate transparency.
The only way this works, my fair price experiment, is if I can convince you to reward me with your business.
So to make that happen, I’m going to throw in another $500 on top of the quoted price above, if you do business today.
Let me know if we can be partners in changing the way people buy cars.
Thanks,
Andrei “Change the Game” Smith
Call me @ 408-***-****
What makes this email different?
Check out a screenshot from Mr. Chaperon’s email on my iPhone:
Makes you scroll…
I want to keep reading! It’s clear. No border, short sentences. There is even bolded parts that entice me to keep reading.
That’s only the start. The true genius? He keeps me reading with sentences that plant questions in my mind. Check out this sentence:
“But the big secret is already in this email.”
That sentence is all Andre needed to plant a seed in his potential client’s minds. They are no longer just passively reading. They are actively on the hunt, looking for this “secret”.
My favorite part of Chaperon’s emails?
Andre “swipe away” Chaperon
Andre “suspense” Chaperon
Andre “suspense, tension, drama” Chaperon
Andre “email superhero” Chaperon
These signatures give Andre character. Note that I’ve never met the guy, never even seen a video recording of him.
That being said… I still feel like I know the guy. I know he is funny. I know he is passionate. I know that he is good at what he does.
That is evidence of a marketing superpower. Just a sprinkle of personality in the boundless plains of soulless, boring emails and instantly you stand out.
When I started seeing Andre’s email pop into my inbox, I knew he was on to something.
Just from his initial teaser emails I already have had the opportunity to imitate him (this email garnered an immediate response from the customer!):
Dear Jack,I’m just as excited about the 2019 Audi A8 design as you are. What specific information did you want me to get for you?I’ve had the chance to drive a pre-release version, and it is groundbreaking.
The 2019 A8 is going to change what you think is possible in a luxury car.Let me know how I can help,Andrei “Information Provider” Smith
From: “Ian @ FIMP” <[email protected]>
Date: May 30, 2018 at 8:00:50 PM PDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: [FIMP] You’re about to miss outI’ve had a massive amount of people reaching out to work with me since I released my new training: How to Reclaim at Least 20 Hours of Your Life Per Week.
This is by far the highest-value skill I’ve developed over the years.
Not SEO, PPC, copywriting, conversion optimization, or anything else.
(although all of those have been extremely valuable too!)
Nothing is more precious than time. It’s the only resource that we can never get back.
If you want to reclaim at least 20 hours of your life every week without low-quality, undependable labor…
Without having to go broke trying to build a team…
Without having to fire 3 out of 4 people that you hire because they’re just not dependable…
Without feeling like it will take too much work or cost too much to convert your business’ growth into something passive…
If you’re tired of working endlessly without seeing the growth you want…
Never feeling like you have the time to catch your breath or “recharge”…
If you’ve watched the training and you want to snatch up one of the remaining strategy sessions, apply here.
Cheers,
IanP.S. The free training will only be up for a little longer!
Short, punchy sentences. I especially like his “P.S.” at the end of the email that throws in one last hook for you to respond.
The point of all this is to change the way you look at writing emails. Remember that your job in the Internet Sales department (or BDC) is to start constructive conversations that convert into appointments. If you take the email strategies I’ve outlined in this post and use it to change the way you write your emails I bet you’ll end up way ahead of the competition.
Let me know what you think. If you like this content go ahead and subscribe below:
What is the optimal BDC dealership workflow? How can you optimize your time working in the BDC at the dealership to set the most appointments and sell the most cars?
This article is for the BDC rep that wants to improve.
Want to learn more about being a great BDC rep?
There is a method to the madness. I understand how many types of customers you need to serve. Many times the workers in the BDC dealership are handling not only inbound web leads but also inbound phone calls, routine sales floor follow-up and more. What can an overworked BDC rep do?
In this article, I’ll break down the optimal BDC dealership workflow that I’ve honed over the last year. Following this will save you time and keep your follow-up on a good schedule.
I’m going to do my best to give you a fully decked out follow-up plan.
a flood of follow-up
Here is my break down of the first seven days of email/phone/text cadence that is optimal for your BDC dealership workflow:
2 Emails (1st is autoresponder, 2nd is personalized)
3 Phone Calls (1 Voicemail max)
1 Text Message Opt-In
1 Email
2 Phone Calls (1 Voicemail)
1 Text Message Opt-In
1 Email
1 Phone Call
1 Email/day
1 Phone Call/day
Take-Away Day:
1 Email
1 VM
At that point, you’ve done your due diligence. After eight days of no response, the lead can be automated to receive a check-in email every three days.
Now that the macro level overview is out of the way, we can answer the “why” for this article. After answering the “why,” we can delve into more detail and example templates.
This article is inspired by “Sarah,” who wrote in with this note:
… I started out in sales but now I’m in BDC. The info you had is helpful. 🙂 Especially email templates. I was writing them completely different and I can see how the layout you posted is probably more effective. It’s simple! I have been looking everywhere on the internet for help doing my job better because I don’t exactly know how to do this job…besides making tons of phone calls. 🙂
When I asked her what her most desired post would be about, this is what she sent over:
…A BDC follow up schedule would be awesome! How many times to call and/or email the first day, second day, and so on.
I loved this idea, and the fact I got some fan mail was a real treat. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
As soon the store receives the lead, your CRM system should send out an automated first response. The first response should be personalized to the dealership’s unique qualities and set their expectations of the follow-up cadence. When a customer receives this, they know that there is someone at the helm and that they have a good chance of being taken care of (efficiently!).
Here is a decent example from Fuccillo Volkswagen:
Dear Steve,
My name is Veronica Hall and I will be your Customer Relations Agent here at Fuccillo Volkswagen of Schenectady. First, I’d like to thank you for considering us for your next vehicle! I will do everything possible to make your shopping experience fast, informative and hassle-free!I see that you’re interested in the Atlas, awesome choice!
The online prices are firm. If you are looking to negotiate that requires your presence in our showroom. We are open Monday-Saturday 9am-9pm and Sunday 11am-8pm. What time works best for you to come in?
Sincerely,
Veronica Hall
Not great, but this will get the job done. The good part of this first response was that:
As soon as the first responder (Veronica Hall in this example) is available, she should try to make phone contact. This phone contact will generally end up being a voicemail. Here is the actual voicemail that she left me (transcribed by Google Voice):
Good afternoon, this message is for Steve. My name is Veronica calling from Fucillo Volkswagen. I am reaching out in regards to your inquiry on a 2018 Outlets. If you could please give me a call back at your earliest convenience. My number is 518-374-9161, and my extension is 22070. I will also send you a text update. If or reply. Yes, we can start communicating that way. Thank you and have a great day.
I love this voicemail, as I think it is efficient and to the point. She explains who she is, why she is reaching out, and how to call back. She also sets the stage for the text opt-in! Great stuff all around.
Good time of day, this message is for name. My name is BDC REP calling from dealer name. I am reaching out in regards to your interest in the make model. We have a special on this car ending tomorrow and I’d love to chat about it. My number is phone number. I also sent a text opt-in if you prefer that – just reply by typing back “yes”. Looking forward to sharing with you some information later today. Again, my name is name from dealer name.
The only thing different from the real world example from “Fucillo Volkswagen” is that I like to incentivize your call to action.
All first response texts are going to look the same since it’s imperative that you get the customer to do an opt-in before starting the conversation.
Fuccillo Volkswagen of Schenectady is confirming request to send a message, reply YES to allow. Reply HELP for help. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP 2 cancel
In this specific case, it’s not the content that matters (since it’s standardized), but the timing. You get three shots at getting an opt-in from a customer. Below is the schedule I use:
1st Opt-In Request: Send the first opt-in text to coincide with first outbound call and email after receiving the lead. In the first response email and phone call make sure to mention the incoming text message and encourage the customer to “opt-in.”
2nd Opt-In Request: Send the second opt-in text on day two, after leaving your first voicemail of the day. Mention the text opt-in while leaving your voicemail.
3rd Opt-In Request: I discourage sending the third request from the BDC dealership. I encourage the third and final opt-in only when the customer is in store.
Once you have exhausted the first two tries at getting the text opt-in, do not send another unsolicited request. Instead, wait for communication with the customer via phone and email (and the eventual appointment). Here is an example:
TODO: APPOINTMENT
DATE: 4/16/19 @ 4:30PM
NOTES: Customer coming in for Q5 (#23451) test drive. Please have them do Text Opt-In upon arrival at the store.
This strategy ensures that in all but the most challenging cases, the store will get a text opt-in. When the customer is asked by the salesperson to opt-in to the text they will have greater success.
On the second day, the BDC dealership apparatus should be continuing to attempt contact with the customer.
Below is an email template that I’ve seen before that can be quite effective when sent to customers. The title of this email is “Time for a Quote,” which I think is decent.
We understand the reasons people shop online. Pricing is often one of the main reasons. We understand that competitive pricing, combined with strong inventory and stellar customer service is key.
In order to get you the best price we need two keys pieces of information from you:
1. Share with us your best approximation of the car you are looking for. The more detail the better!
2. Share with us how soon you can reasonably make a purchase. Pricing estimates are more accurate (and aggressive) the sooner you are buying because we know what incentives we can offer and what sales goals YOU can help us achieve!
Please also peruse our Yelp reviews- they will help you feel confident in my salesmanship (remember that people are much more likely to write a negative review than a positive one!):
Thanks!
The email is short enough and explains what information you need from the customer.
Similar set up to day one, with a few tweaks. Shorter and more direct.
Hi customer name! This is BDC rep name calling from dealer. My number is phone number. Just sent you quick email about pricing here at the dealer. Let’s get you in, give me a call back at phone number.
Easy!
Gotcha! The text opt-in is going to be the same.
And so it continues!
On Day 3, send this email template (or one of your creation!). The subject line could be something catchy like “RE: thinking about you.” I love fun subject lines.
Hi Yi,
My name is BDC Rep Name, and I was hoping to get in touch today.
Let’s make an appointment to work on moving forward with the vehicle you are interested in. I have some time available at 515pm.
When would you be able to come in today? If not today- let’s plan for sometime this week. What time works best for you?
Thanks,
This email is even shorter, but the subject line and suggested time might catch a bite from the customer. That’s what you need!
At this point, you assume they have listened to at least one of your voicemails and read one of your emails. As such the voicemail can be short and sweet:
Hi customer name, BDC rep name from dealer name. Just wanted to see if you had some time to chat regarding the car. Call me at number
The first crucial 72 hours have passed and no response? Time to let up a little. You will still call and email every day, but no voicemails.
Here are some of my favorites:
Hi Customer Name,
I hope I haven’t been a bother. I’m dedicated to taking great care of you and I want you to know that I am here to assist. I hope I haven’t been reaching out too often!
Call me at 408-709-6455 to discuss your new car interest. I’ve got some interesting hook/special running through the end of the week.
Sincerely,
Catchy subject line, hook/special that expires, and short. That’s the key. Here is another:
Hi Customer Name,
I hope that my follow-up isn’t causing you to avoid calling in! I’m trying my best to assist you. Let me know the best way to chat.
Call me at 408-709-6455 to discuss your new car interest. I’ve got some interesting hook/special running through the end of the week.
Sincerely,
Hi Customer Name,
I recently got called into HR because I spend too much time on the computer at work. I had to explain that it was just because I’ve been trying to get in touch with my hard to reach customers!
Call me at 408-709-6455 to discuss your new car interest. I’ve got some interesting hook/special running through the end of the week.
Sincerely,
This kind of stuff is gimmick-ey, I agree, but it can work. By the time your customer sees these emails, they have ignored 5+ other attempts. These set you apart.
There comes a time when you need to show value by showing scarcity. Your attention is not infinite; the customer needs to know you will be discontinuing active follow-up. By telling them that you will be “taking away” attention you provide a different message.
this ship has sailed (…almost!)
Dear Customer Name,
It’s been 8 days since you’ve put in a lead and I still haven’t heard from you. I’ll be removing you from active follow-up today if I don’t hear from you- which is a bummer because we have some specials/finance program/etc coming this week that I would have loved to tell you about.
If you want to hear more- shoot me a line.
Thanks,
Easy and clean.
So there you have it! A fully optimized 8-day plan to handle unresponsive web leads. I believe this cadence is optimal. It totals 12 phone calls, nine emails, and two text messages.
Let me know your thoughts below in the comments!
I encourage the use of a strong follow up email after phone call sales template.
Customer contact is a fickle thing. No matter how charismatic you are, it can be difficult to make an impression on a customer quickly. This difficulty is multiplied when you are working with multiple customers, especially when the conversations are on the phone.
All salespeople should be spending thirty minutes to an hour every day (at a minimum) doing sales follow up calls. These calls will be going out to customers who they have never spoken to, customers who they are currently working, and their past customers.
These phone calls keep the salespeople fresh inside the mind of your customers and enhance retention after the sale has been completed. Follow up is gardening, spending the time to water the plants. Planting the seeds of the next sales.
It’s well known that many salespeople don’t do follow up, most often because they make enough without it. If you make enough money to survive, it can be difficult to keep working. Once your immediate needs are met, why not just relax?
The reason is your future self. Follow up is doing work now to make life easier for yourself in the future. The follow up email after phone call sales template is a tool in that follow up toolbox.
Hopefully every customer that you sell a car to is added to your phone’s directory. I consider this a minimum requirement for a successful sales career.
Taking that one step further, by adding some notes into the phone book’s other sections, can be very powerful. This simple thing, which takes only a few seconds, can instantly improve your follow-up.
Take this example. Let’s say I sell Mr. Corneliust from Corneliust Steaks a car in 2013. I sell him a 3 series BMW. Happy customer, quick transaction.
As he leaves the store, I add his contact info from the CRM into my cell phone. I utilize a digital phone book that is connected to a non-work account. I need my book of business to come with me if I ever leave!
added, took me 5 seconds
Fast forward three years. Let’s say that I’m selling Porsche now. I’m doing sales follow up calls, and I finally reach my target customer, Jeff Turner. Jeff and I exchange some small talk, during which he mentions his wife just started a new job at… Corneliust Steaks.
As I keep the conversation moving, I jump into my phone and search the familiar sounding name of the company:
would you look at that
As I finish up the call, I name drop Steve and Jenny, both previous customers of mine. My value just skyrocketed to this customer.
Now, your CRM probably has this information if it’s half decent. That being said, car salespeople, and salespeople in general move jobs frequently. By keeping your book of business in your phone, separate from your work CRM, you maintain access to your history of sales even if you leave.
Ok, so Jeff likes me now. My follow up strategy was targeted, with an offer and a call to action. I shared with him some answers to questions he had, offered him a price, and gave him a 72-hour window to decide.
How much of that is he going to remember? Buying a car can be stressful for customers. Have you ever seen a customer tense up in your office during the negotiation? Every time. Eyes dilate? Super common.
It’s my theory that the stress and excitement can start up their “Fight or Flight reflex“. During this, it can be easy to forget bits of information. They can become flustered.
What can you do to provide value in that situation? You guessed it, send a follow up after phone call sales template with a review of the call!
Day 1: Example Follow Up After Phone Call Sales Email Template
After the phone call, I would send this email below to Jeff. This email will reinforce what you talked about and show that you are customer-centric.
Perfect!
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for chatting. Pretty wild that you know Steve and Jenny as well! They have been great customers of mine for a few years now.
Just wanted to review what we chatted about. On the Porsche you are interested in we can offer you $3200 off of MSRP. I was able to get you 72 hours to take advantage of that discount, so let me know today or tomorrow if you can.
We also touched on your questions regarding Apple Car Play and Android Auto. Our Porsche that you want to buy has both, meaning that you and your wife can both take advantage of that feature.
Looking forward to closing this up,
Andrei
LINK TO MY YELP
Hi CUSTOMER FIRST NAME,
Thanks for chatting. Pretty wild that *THING THAT CONNECTS YOU TWO*.
Just wanted to review what we chatted about. On the Porsche you are interested in DISCOUNT OFFER. I was able to get you 72 hours to take advantage of that discount, so let me know today or tomorrow if you can.
We also touched on your questions regarding REVIEW ANSWER TO ANY QUESTION.
Looking forward to closing this up,
SALESPERSON NAME
TARGETED YELP LINK
Plug and play.
I love contacting customers via text. Text is personal, text is fast. Most of all, texts get read. Here is the text I would send to Jeff on the day after the phone call:
Andrei from Audi. Thanks for chatting yesterday RE: Porsche pricing. Let me know if we can wrap this up today, I have time at 615pm today.
Texts should never be more than 160 characters, so this one is ok with only 138. It’s got the right info, acting as a gentle touch. Here is the template I would use:
Andrei from Audi. Thanks for chatting yesterday RE: SUBJECT Let me know if we can wrap this up today, I have time at 615pm today.
You can set up text templates on your iPhone using this app. That way it’s just a click-click, a few edits, and you are good to go.
What if I never got a hold of Jeff in the first place? He put in an inquiry, but let’s say he never picks up the phone. What templates should I use in that case?
Good news, I wrote an article recently about that here.
To summarize:
Plenty of reasons exist for the your no response customers. Certainly some never wanted to inquire in the first place, and see your constant tries to contact them as just part of the daily deluge of spam emails.
The people we want to concentrate on are those who want to buy, but haven’t yet:
- Found Someone They Like To Work With (Rapport)
- Found A Deal That Suits Them (Value)
- Had Their Interest Piqued (Unique)
- Found The Time (Opportunity)
Check out the article to learn more if you are struggling with that non-response customers!
Great question, pretty easy answer really. Laziness, lack of active management, lack of knowledge.
Getting your salespeople to be uncomfortable enough to want to expend extra effort can be difficult. What can motivate them? What can get them to think this is a good idea?
Unlike the BDC, most car salespeople are not actively managed. There is an unspoken wisdom that any input will be misconstrued as “micromanagement” and salespeople will leave.
The secret is, most salespeople are lazy. Lazy people don’t like to job search. I don’t have to say much more. If you are a manager, you should make sure that your salespeople are using template strategies like this one to make more car sales.
Your salespeople that is. If you are an individual contributor, then skip this section. If you are managing salespeople, then this should hold value.
The greatest tool a manager has rules.
rule
/ro͞ol/one of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere.
Set the expectation now that sending a follow up email after phone call sales template is a rule. When checking out at the end of the day with your salespeople, check their CRM. Are they logging their calls? Should be very easy to see if they are sending a template to coincide with successful calls.
Lead by example. When your salespeople ask you to make a “manager call” for them, show that afterward you send the template. Highlight the value of these emails.
Build templates that solidify your processes. The follow up email after phone call sales template is an underutilized tool to spur sales.
Use them to:
Let me know what other templates you guys use in the comments below!
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One of my favorite topics is crafting the perfect follow up sales email after no response. Being able to close low hanging fruit is one thing, but selling hard to reach customers is entirely different!
make sure your emails make an entrance
This article is focused on writing the perfect follow up sales email after no response for car sales, but these templates have been built from experts across a number of industries. As such, they can be appropriated for most all sales organizations.
Plenty of reasons exist for the your no response customers. Certainly some never wanted to inquire in the first place, and see your constant tries to contact them as just part of the daily deluge of spam emails.
The people we want to concentrate on are those who want to buy, but haven’t yet:
So you need to be crafting the perfect follow up sales email after no response that builds rapport, offers value, in a unique way, at the right time. The first three are content, and the fourth demands that you follow up consistently. If you send one non-response follow up email and then give up, you are not giving yourself very good odds.
Let’s start by showing some lackluster examples of common non-response emails that don’t work. After we break down what’s wrong, we can jump into some expert alternatives.
When I was secret shopping for my last article about car sales follow up scripts, I did some secret shopping online. I targeted a local Porsche dealer, hoping to find some strong follow up. If you read that article you would already know that I ended up disappointed…
And that’s it. No other follow up, no more calls. For a customer interested in a $90k car they sent one automated email, two templates and called once. I was pretty disappointed.
The last email I received, is one which I have seen many times with slight tweaks. As far as I’m concerned, this follow up sales email after no response is providing a solution for something that wasn’t a problem. See if you can spot what they are trying to address:
Hello Steve,
As the E-Commerce Department Manager I am checking in on your experience.
Has our team met your expectations? Is there anything I can do for you?
Driven to Excellence,
David Saucedo
Sales Manager
Porsche of Fremont
Direct: (510)***-****
Fax: (510)***-****
www.porscheoffremont.com
The system that sent this was trying to utilize a common sales strategy, the change of face. This sales strategy is very effective during the sales process when a potential client may not be interfacing well with the salesperson. This strategy is not effective, however, when the problem is non-response. The customer isn’t not responding because the sales person pissed them off, they aren’t responding because of our four key reasons above.
This email comes to me from Leith BMW in Raleigh North Carolina. I did some secret shopping there and was initially disappointed with the response. Their response times had been great, but the templates (and lack there of) that they used were not the best.
When jumping back in my secret shopper identity “Steve Cornelius” I expected to find an inbox full of emails. I figured that this dealership would have a strong follow up game, just maybe not the best content.
So the follow up schedule is every three days. Not a bad schedule to set up, assuming it is automated.
I went through all of those emails. This one is the a follow up sales email after no response that they sent.
Steve,
It has been several days since you contacted our dealership. I would like to be able to meet your needs. Please help us by answering these questions so that we can do our best to earn your business.
Did we not have the vehicle you were looking for?
Please let us know, we may have that vehicle available now.Were we not able to get you the price or terms to fit your budget?
Please let us know, Dealership and Manufacturer incentives change on a regular basis, so we may be able to work out a better deal than previously offered.Have you purchased a vehicle elsewhere?
Please let us know, so that we can update our customer records.If you have yet to make a purchase, please contact me at your earliest convenience and I will provide some current numbers that reflect our inventory and any incentives currently available.
The staff of Leith BMW wants you to know that your time and business is important to us and we will make every possible effort to earn your trust and your business. Your complete satisfaction is our top priority!
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Evelyn Gonzalez
Internet Sales Coordinator
Leith BMW of Raleigh
This email has two main things wrong. Firstly, it’s way to long, coming in at over 200 words. That email is 5 tweets long. That is way too long, especially because all it’s really asking is “what did we do wrong?”. This kind of phrasing, in what is obviously a template, makes me feel like they deal with these issues constantly:
Why are we lip loading reasons for them not buy here? What if you changed those emails around?
What if you gave them reasons to buy instead?
Steve,
Looking forward to connecting.
Many customers love the fact that we will always find the car that works for them. We have a dealer network of 20+ dealers to source you the car that works.
They also love our ability to work with a variety of budgets, always priced at or below market! We secret shop every week so you don’t have to.
Let me know when we can chat,
Evelyn @ 815-***-****
That email has a positive message and is only 70 words. It will easily fit into a cell phone screen with no scrolling necessary. Also it clearly demonstrates value, which you should overdeliver on!
Check out the final weakness of her emails, the “dealer border”. These borders rob you of real estate on your emails.
Circle back to my picture from before. Look at the sub text below the email subject (gray text):
I literally highlighted the problem
Do you see how the gray text says:
“Home Specials Trade Appraisal New Car Pre-Own…
That is the first line of the email according to gmail, because of the border. See the border in this photo:
Do you see the “dealership border” now?
That box that the email is in accomplishes this:
Let’s see what my alternative email looks like in the inbox:
much more enticing
Much better! I use “RE: yes…” as the subject, since shorter subject lines get better responses and the “RE:” makes the email look like a continuation of communication.
So we’ve reviewed some of the ways that we reach out to customers right now when they don’t respond to our follow up. It’s my theory that most problems have solutions, you just have to find them. So, in that vein, I took it upon myself to go and find out what the experts have to say.
I love this example from Hubspot. They have this email, which they call their “no BS break up email”. This email is what they use when someone doesn’t respond to follow up repeatedly, and their file is getting stale.
The magic starts with the subject line:
Permission to close your file?
Short, direct, to the point. Requires their input and is unique. It has an air of professionalism but also begs a response. They say that they get 76% response rate with this email:
[First Name],
We are in the process of closing files for the month. Typically when I haven’t heard back from someone it means they’re either really busy or aren’t interested.
If you aren’t interested, do I have your permission to close your file?
If you’re still interested, what do you recommend as a next step?
Thanks for your help.
This is an alternative version of the email above, this time from the pipedrive blog.
The subject is catchy, and sets the tone of the email apart:
It’s really lonely out here
The content starts more seriously, but then ends with the goofy attitude in the subject line:
Hi [Name]
I’ve tried to get in contact with you several times over the last few months without success, which leaves me thinking that:
- You’re not interested. That’s OK, I won’t take it personally.
- The timing is wrong. This happens. I’ll happily get back to you in a few weeks or months, although years might be a stretch too far.
- You’ve been abducted by aliens: Please let them know that I am happy to come along and tell them where to find me.
I won’t contact you again but you can keep my info on file if you ever need [service].
[Signature]
Although I think that #1 has phrasing that sounds like a “guilt trip”, I really like this email because of #3. Life can’t be taken too seriously, and this attitude is light hearted and sure to win you some love from potential clients.
I love the idea of including a call to action in your emails. According to wikipedia, a call to action is:
Call to action (CTA) is a marketing term used extensively in advertising and selling. It refers to any device designed to prompt an immediate response or encourage an immediate sale. A CTA most often refers to the use of words or phrases that can be incorporated into sales scripts, advertising messages or web pages that encourage consumers to take prompt action.
The key is encouraging prompt action. You want something in your email to grab the attention of the customer and inspire them to act right away.
call out what you want
Let’s start with an example of a call to action email subject line:
Are you available for a 15 min chat on Sep 10 at 3 PM?
I love this subject line! The call to action is direct with actionable specifics.
How about this subject line:
Do we have your permission to share a personalized video on our pricing strategy?
That line can be great if your dealership has one price used cars. It builds value and your brand, plus asking for permission is a great call to action.
In this article we reviewed some lackluster follow up sales email after no response examples, we broke down what’s wrong with dealer borders for emails, and we shared a few key emails and subject lines.
Let us know what you found value in and what you would add!
If you are making follow up phone calls alongside these emails, check out these tools:
I think that, assuming you have an iPhone, there is no better tool for increasing your follow up effectiveness than a pair of Apple Airpods. These are my favorite Apple product in a decade, and they make the process of repeated phone calls infinitely easier. This is one tool I wouldn’t go without.
If you don’t want to spend $100+ on Apple Airpods, I think these are the obvious budget option. These don’t look as professional, but they boast a great battery life and cost less than $25.
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How does your dealership handle follow up? Is it all done by the individual salespeople? Or is run through a BDC? Most importantly, are you and your team trained to use an optimized car sales follow up script?
Don’t want to read? Here are some alternate ways to enjoy this content:
Car Sales Follow Up Script Youtube Video
Car Sales Follow Up Script Soundcloud Link
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Without training and guidance, process and procedure, your dealer is giving up car sales. Humans are naturally lazy.
You’ll be relieved to hear that choosing the couch is only human. Humans are inherently lazy, which may be a trait left over from our ancestors’ days of conserving energy for the next hunt.
Laziness has implications, a millennia later, to affect your business in the 21st century. Using optimized car sales follow up scripts and strict processes you can control for the natural tendencies of your workforce.
Car sales follow up is a daily battle for nearly every dealership in the world. In this article, we are going to cover:
We are going to be jumping into specific car sales follow script examples below, and you will notice that they involve a significant number of phone calls.
To maximize your effectiveness, I recommend a few products that can make this follow up process significantly easier:
I think that assuming you have an iPhone; there is no better tool for increasing your follow up effectiveness than a pair of Apple Airpods. These are my favorite Apple product in a decade, and they make the process of repeated phone calls infinitely easier. Airpods are one tool I wouldn’t go without.
If you don’t want to spend $100+ on Apple Airpods, I think these are the apparent budget option. These don’t look as professional, but they boast a great battery life and cost less than $25.
Customers come to your dealership in some different avenues. While fresh ups and phone ups started as qualified customers, internet customers start the cycle as unqualified. You need to find out if an internet lead is the first day that it arrives.
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Here are the cars sold in the first week of May 2018. I have deleted all names from the list.
I dove into the car sales follow up script used on these customers. Generally, we relied on a strong first response email template and numerous phone calls.
The most pertinent information on this chart is the “Days to Sold.” These sales events took an average of 24.7 days to close. When I dove into these events from my store, I found one more revealing detail.
All but one of these customers first responded to follow up within 48 hours. The one outlier took 50 hours to respond and bought after 30 days.
These statistics scare me- are we missing the opportunity to sell cars to customers that take longer to respond? Where are those long-term unqualified sold customers?
So how did these customers first get in contact with our dealership after putting in a lead?
Ten of the fourteen answered our emails, while four of them answered a phone call. None of them responded to the first response text message.
Three of the customers did some of the negotiation over text (they all opted in after speaking on the phone or via email). The cold-text didn’t seem to get any response, whereas the customer that has already had some contact appeared to be more receptive.
So it seems that while most of our internet customers wanted to talk via email, but a significant chunk (28%) preferred the phone.
I think the more revealing fact is the 24+ day average to close a deal. This average means that not only did the first response email need to be engaging, but the follow-up calls also needed to be regular and well executed!
When a customer inputs a lead with the dealer, contact needs to be made quickly and with polish. There are a few thought leaders in the automotive sector that focus on this part of the process.
I’m going to break down and analyze the key points made by some of the top “google ranked” follow up experts.
Elise Kephart has an interesting follow up the process. She guides you through her ten first response steps. Here is it broke down into a simplified list:
Whew, that’s a lot for one day. She breaks down this follow up into four parts of the day.
Elise brings three key innovations to her car sales follow script that I appreciate.
The first is the focus on video messaging. Video messaging can be an effective tool to share the visuals of a vehicle with a customer. It may be a strong way of differentiating your follow up from other dealers and coming across as willing to contribute strong effort.
are your customers going to wait for this video to load?
The downside of sending a video message is two-fold. First, it takes a lot of time. Now, this isn’t a complaint about work. Rather, I think that it isn’t the best use of the follow-up person’s time. At my dealership you would need to:
I have sent videos to customers many times; it’s a time-intensive process. It is natural to spend, at a large dealer, at least 30 minutes to do the whole process.
So, is it necessary? I think it depends. If the customer clicks on a used car, then yes, I believe that the video message has value. The exact condition of the vehicle is something your dealer should be proud of. The video that shows the quality of the vehicle can validate the price of a used car in many cases.
On the other hand, when a customer clicks on a new car, I don’t see as much value. During my audit above, I found that only two of the nine customers ended up purchasing the vehicle they initially clicked on. Many of the sales events showed that after making contact, the customer explains that they just clicked on a car to make the first contact.
This one is a great idea and gets my thumbs up. Although it should be handled with a light touch, the use of caller ID spoofing is a great way to make contact with a difficult to reach the customer.
Will “caller ID spoofing” encourage them to pick up?
I would suggest only using it on customers that have not responded to traditional means in the first 48 hours, rather than during the first day that the customer put in the lead.
The reason for not doing this has more to do with consistent contact and building rapport. When building rapport with a customer, having a single number and point of communication for them to associate with you simplifies things. I want my customer to save my phone number and contact me whenever anyone they know wants a new car.
I think that her use of caller ID spoofing is interesting, using it on every lead. I would certainly try it.
Signing emails with “sent from my iPhone” is a nugget of genius. In the digital age of 30+ emails per day, cutting through the noise is difficult. This trick of adding “sent from my iPhone” to the end of a template is deviously clever.
I would not know this was a template
I’m used to imagining the sender furiously typing out the email on their iPhone. I would not assume an email with this at the bottom was a template.
Genius!
I wanted to find upscale dealerships follow up script, so I secret shopped a local Porsche dealer.
Will a Porsche dealer have a reliable car sales follow up script?
I created a Gmail address as “Steve Shin” and put in a lead. This time I left a google voice number in the lead so that I can find out their call schedule and hear the voicemail that they left me. I was curious to see if the Porsche dealer, who sells fewer cars but makes more per car, would have a better car sales follow up script.
I put in the lead at 8:26 AM. Here are the results :
I thought the automated response was quite professional. Being automated, it was immediate, which I appreciated.
Hello Steve,
Thank you for choosing Fletcher Jones Porsche of Fremont, your request has been received.
This is an automated after hours response to advise you that we have received your request for information. Our Internet Specialist will contact you in a timely fashion.
Meanwhile, you can visit us at PorscheofFremont.com to review our Exclusive Preferred Benefits.
Please rest assured that your buying experience with us will be 100% hassle-free. We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Driven to Excellence,
Fletcher Jones Porsche of Fremont
Only thing I would change would be the wording, which I would shift around to mention the internet manager that was going to reach out (Raj).
The timing was a bit disappointing on this voicemail. The store opens at 9:00 AM, so I would assume that a call out should have been able to be made in the first 15 minutes from opening. Regardless, here is what their car sales follow up script (transcribed by Google Voice):
Hi, good morning, this message is for Steve Shin.
Steve, this is Raj with Porsche Fremont calling in regards to your interest in the Porsche Panamera. Turbo.
Give me a call when you have a moment, 510-***-****.
Once again, 510-***-****. Thanks.
The voicemail’s content is decent but could be improved. A better message would have mentioned a reason to buy, such as suggesting a special incentive or the limited nature of the vehicle.
This email was sent to coincide with the voicemail.
Hi Steve,
I left you a message regarding the 2018 Panamera Turbo. The car is available for immediate delivery. There are no factory incentives on the car. However, I can do 5% off the car. I have “2” cars left so let me know asap.
In addition to your Certificate Discount you will become a member of the Fletcher Jones Owner’s Club which entitles you to these exclusive extras worth $1,220.00*:
• First year maintenance services FREE (a $350 value). Your first paid service is in two years.
• Three month wellness check FREE (a $280 value)
• Pick-up and delivery of your vehicle at your home or office for service and we will bring you a replacement car FREE (a $450 value over 3 years)
• Shuttle service FREE to local places
• Up to 12% discount on all parts and labor (a $140 value in years 2 and 3)
* Not redeemable for cash or discount.I look forward to assisting you with Porsche your Panamera ownership
Best,
Raj Kumar
Porsche Internet/Leasing Manager
Fletcher Jones Porsche
Direct 510-***-****
Mobile 510-***-****
I liked a few things about this email. First thing I wanted was the clear offer of a discount on the price of the car. Secondly, the “$1220” of extras is a nice touch. This value offer is a clear value proposition that can help set the dealership apart.
After this email the car sales follow script fell apart, as I didn’t receive any calls or emails until this:
This email below is the only follow up I received, on the fourth day:
Hello Steve,
As the E-Commerce Department Manager I am checking in on your experience.
Has our team met your expectations? Is there anything I can do for you?
Driven to Excellence,
David Saucedo
Sales Manager
Porsche of Fremont
Direct: (510)***-****
Fax: (510)***-****
www.porscheoffremont.com
And that’s it. No other follow up, no more calls. For a customer interested in a $90k car they sent one automated email, two templates and called once. I was pretty disappointed.
I think that while Elise’s program is a bit extreme, Porsche Fremont’s is a bit lackluster. Both can be brought closer to the middle way.
Utilize the tips and tricks found in Elise’s program, but don’t drown the customer with your car sales follow up script.
What are your thoughts? What is your ideal car sales follow up script?
Trying to improve? Consider reaching out for direct coaching, more information here: https://carsalesstory.com/coaching/
Automotive BDC templates are critical to efficiency. I’ve guest posted a list of 15 great templates over at DealerRefresh.com here.
Want to learn more about being a great BDC rep?
Let me know what you think!
I’m going to need to break up this article “Internet Lead Response Best Practices” into two parts. That’s because there are the basics, that has been the same since 2006, that is still not in practice by many. Then, past that, there are the more advanced strategies that we can start incorporating.
Trying to improve? Consider reaching out for direct coaching, more information here: https://carsalesstory.com/coaching/
The basic stuff is going to seem, well, simple. That’s ok.
The basic principles for running a successful internet department at a dealership aren’t difficult to master, but difficult to do consistently.
At the end of part 1, I’ll have put together an easy checklist for you to use. This checklist you can just print out and use to address your weak spots.
Without further ado, let’s get the basics out of the way. Quick note- yes, you can find this stuff elsewhere online. None of the basics are original. Frankly, you can see some (if not most) of this stuff in this article from 2006.
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We are going to be jumping into specific car sales follow script examples below, and you will notice that they involve a significant number of phone calls.
To maximize your effectiveness, I recommend a few products that can make this follow up process significantly easier:
Assuming you have an iPhone, there is no better tool for increasing your follow up effectiveness than a pair of Apple Airpods. These are my favorite Apple product in a decade, and they make the process of repeated phone calls infinitely easier. This is one tool I wouldn’t go without.
If you don’t want to spend $100+ on Apple Airpods, I think these are the budget option. These don’t look as professional, but they boast a great battery life and cost less than $25.
You need to understand why a customer is shopping online. I’ve asked customers why they buy online. Companies have done surveys. Here are the top three reasons:
So, customer concerns in mind, here are the basics of running a value-adding internet sales department:
Let’s keep this short. Respond to your leads within 10 minutes.
Why is this so dang important?
It’s easy to figure out. Picture this. I’m Mr. Car Buyer. Spending a few hours after work researching, reading online articles and watching youtube reviews and narrowing down what vehicle I want.
I want a new car -> I want a Sedan -> I want a BMW or Audi -> BMW 320i
Now, I’m excited. I need to tell Mrs. Car Buyer how much this new car is going to cost and get “buy-in” from her. I figure I’ll do some price shopping.
I jump on Truecar and Kelly Blue Book and do a bit of looking around. They give me some rough estimates immediately.
I show Mrs. Car Buyer, and she seems to be on the same page. Everything is moving fast!
Now, I jump on my local Audi and BMW dealership’s websites. I navigate through the site, it’s ugly, but I manage.
I find a car I want, I fill out my information, and I wait. Let’s say Mr. Car Buyer’s real name is “Alex Wu.” Let’s say he put in a lead at 3:53 pm.
The deluge begins!
It takes 16 minutes for the first response from dealer #1 and 22 minutes for the dealer #2.
Alex was expecting immediate gratification, just like he had experienced on all the other websites, but instead, he waited ~20 minutes.
So, to review, your online customer’s want to be contacted in 2-5 minutes. 10 minutes is ok. Anything more and it’s a bit embarrassing.
But how?
I’m all about cost-effective and low manpower options. If a customer clicks on a car on your site, their lead will immediately populate in your CRM.
So, just set the CRM up to send them an email. Have the email be short and to the point, introducing your dealer, showing some small standard discount, and telling to expect a call shortly.
You know who does this well?
Immediate confirmation…
Then, within 10 minutes, have your BDC give them a call. Easy.
(If you want advice on setting up and running a successful BDC, I’ve written up two articles here and here)
If you don’t want to set up an autoresponder, or if you want to make sure the customer gets their call quickly, I recommend setting up LLA.
Most fully featured will have something that looks like this:
*ding*
Set that up for your BDC/Internet salespeople. Then, check the reports every week. If the response time is over 10 minutes, start managing.
So the acronym is unnecessary, but I’m trying to keep myself interested in writing out the basics.
Your first contact with the customer needs polish. No spelling errors, no grammatical errors. Also, it needs to be easy to read. Not too image heavy. Image heavy emails often get flagged as spam.
Here is an email that “Alex” got. The writing is decent, but the message format is a bit rough:
Click to see full size… this is their first response in 2018
That is one full email. This below is the actual wall of text in that email:
Moonroof, Heated Seats. Black Sapphire Metallic exterior and Black SensaTec interior, 320i trim. FUEL EFFICIENT 35 MPG Hwy/24 MPG City! SEE MORE!KEY FEATURES INCLUDERear Air, Back-Up Camera, Turbocharged, iPod/MP3 Input, CD Player, Onboard Communications System, Keyless Start, Dual Zone A/C MP3 Player, Keyless Entry, Child Safety Locks, Steering Wheel Controls, Heated Mirrors.OPTION PACKAGESSPORT PACKAGE Storage Package, Auto-Dimming Rearview Mirror, Universal Garage-Door Opener, Auto-Dimming Interior & Driver Exterior Mirrors, Sport Seats, Anthracite Headliner, Wheels: 18 x 8 Fr & 18 x 8.5 Rr (Style 658) Light alloy V-spoke, Increased Top Speed Limiter, Tires: P225/45R18 Fr & P255/40R18 Rr Mixed Perf Non-runflat, M Sport Suspension, Moonroof, Power Front Seats, Sport Leather Steering Wheel, PARK DISTANCE CONTROL, FINELINE ANTHRACITE WOOD TRIM W/PEARL GLOSS CHROME, HEATED FRONT SEATS, SPLIT FOLD-DOWN-REAR SEAT, TRANSMISSION: 6-SPEED MANUAL. BMW 320i with Black Sapphire Metallic exterior and Black SensaTec interior features a 4 Cylinder Engine with 180 HP at 5000 RPM*.WHO WE AREWelcome to BMW of San Rafael. If you are searching for a new or used BMW in the San Rafael area, our friendly, professional staff is ready to provide you with all the help you need. Come in to BMW of San Rafael to test drive your new vehicle today!Horsepower calculations based on trim engine configuration. Fuel economy calculations based on original manufacturer data for trim engine configuration. Please confirm the accuracy of the included equipment by calling us prior to purchase.
That, to be fair, is pulled from the website that hosts their inventory. That said, as the Internet Director I would work with my team to get rid of that blurb. It’s ugly, non-formatted, and worst of all, useless.
It’s critical to know what your customer wants when they inquire online. If you want to give the customer a breakdown of everything on the car, fine, send them the actual window sticker. It’s madness to have that in your first response. Just advance the sale. Minimal clutter.
Alright, that’s enough about on CMW.
Confirming the vehicles availability is an easy one. Confirm (actually check) if the car is available. Make sure no deal is closed on the car, it’s not dealer traded, and it’s in stock. It’s here. Not at the body shop.
If you can link to photos, that’s great. Don’t do this:
A little ridiculous, although the camera guy is talented- Great lighting on these shots!
In response to one of my “Alex Wu” leads, I got this series of photos in the emailed first response.
Your car dealership is not a wedding photographer. The customer already has an idea how a new black BMW 320i looks. These photos, although very high quality, are way too much. They bloat the email’s size and steals attention away from your sales funnel. Photos should be linked, and only to advance the deal. Remember, minimal clutter.
In the first response email, share any potential savings. Customers expect some discount and unless there is a reason (limited edition etc.).
Should you give the house away the first email? No.
I’ve found much greater success with a nominal discount offered combined with a strong follow-up campaign.
Some customers shopping online are doing so not because they are “super grinds” but because they want an easy and fair process.
So put it in an email that you match or beat all competitors quotes if you want. Offer some discount. Just don’t get lazy and give the house away in the first email.
Now, to make this work, you need to have firmly in place some “why buys.” These are the reasons that the customer should act now.
Here are some great ideas to get you started (pick one or two per lead):
That should be enough to help you come up with your own. Just make sure you have a reason why today is special. Have your “why buys” in the first response email, and restate them in the first call/voicemail!
This one is even easier.
Introduce the salesperson responsible for the customer. Have all emails sent by this salesperson (even if they are sent by some reps over the weeks). Make sure the customer only needs to know one person’s name!
A small picture of the rep in the first email is a great idea.
When a customer comes into the dealer, they will most likely have this first response email pulled up on their phone. The customer will appreciate being able to recognize the salesperson when they walk in. It’s less stressful than asking around!
It’s a great idea to have some of the positive reviews or accolades of the salesperson listed in the email. Just one sentence that sets your service apart. I don’t think that you should brag about “10 years in the car business”. Instead, try to find something like “top rated in customer service from BMW of America” or “here is a link to my Yelp reviews.”
This method below is a great way that I’ve found to do this:
Step 1: Go to your store’s yelp page and search the name you want
Let’s sort by “Joe”
Step 2: Grab the URL at the top of the page after searching
Here is “Joe’s” yelp
Step 3: Link that URL – Here is your example!
Using this trick you can link directly to your positive reviews.
If you receive a lead before 530pm, invite the customer in for a specific time that day:
Can you make it in today at 545pm? We have some time available then to show you the car.
If you receive the lead after 530pm, invited the customer in for a particular time the next day:
Can you make it in tomorrow at 1215pm? We have some time available then to show you the car.
Try to only offer times at 15 minutes past the hour or 15 minutes to the hour. These appointments are more likely to be kept.
When you make an appointment for 1 pm the customer feels flexibility. When you say 1:15pm, there is less of that feeling.
Don’t forget that regardless of what you do, some people are always late.
The first response should have the following at a minimum:
There should be minimal clutter. Everything should be advancing the sales funnel!
Alright, so you think your hot stuff. Your lead response is top notch, and numbers 1 through 7 on the basics list are all in place. What next?
The fun stuff! Advanced tactics are where you stand out.
You should answer Internet Leads in a way that stands out. If you assume that your competitors are also taking care of the basics outlined above, then you need to show how you are different. It’s no secret that customers like to buy from people they like.
So how do you make people like you?
Do your job well and have some fun doing it.
Phone voice is an easy first. Charisma needs to come through the phone loud and clear. Your customer wants to trust you. They want to like you. You need to make that easy.
To work on this, I recommend checking out some of the videos from “Charisma on Command”:
“Charisma on Command” is a fantastic youtube channel that has tons of video content for you to watch and learn. He and his team break down the things that make people likable.
Charisma is an art that you can put your spin on.
Make sure that your phone warriors are using their brand of charisma when answering your store’s leads. Maybe your BDC is a 35-year-old mom with two loud sons. Let her work that into her calls. Let her be herself!
Note: If your BDC/Internet Managers are unhappy or overworked they aren’t going to sound good on the phone. Keep your people happy.
Your emails will work fine if you follow the basics listed above. If you want to excel, you need to do a little extra.
Here is one my favorite emails I’ve ever received while secret shopping dealers:
Subject: My simple poem for you
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I can’t sell you a car
If I never hear from you
Please give me a call at ***-***-***** to talk about your Audi interest
That is genius. It’s not an email you would send in first response (it was part of an “aged unqualified” campaign), but it stands out.
If I were shopping, primarily if I hadn’t found someone I liked yet, I would respond to that email.
When you want to stand out, you have to look good. That’s not just for date night, that’s for your website and lead response too.
Let’s jump right to a comparison, sticking with the BMW 320i that “Alex” was looking at earlier. Let’s say that Alex decides he wants a used car.
Jumping into Alex’s mind, what do I want to see when browsing a dealer’s site looking at specific inventory?
So this information is the “value” that the site can offer. Pretty much everything else is clutter.
So with that in mind, let’s see what an official BMW dealer site looks like:
Exhibit A – click to see full size
Now, let’s compare to a picture from Shift.com, an automotive e-commerce site:
Exhibit B – click to see full size
See a difference? I do. Let’s point out in exhibit A what is clutter:
I’m an artist – click to see what I would remove!
Let’s break it down.
First, here are the informational value points that the shift.com site provides on the page:
Next, here are the informational value points that the BMW dealership provides on their page:
Sure, the customer can scroll down two pages worth of clutter to find the information that matters eventually.
Aesthetics and user interface design is critical to generating strong internet leads that buy cars. I can guarantee that there are thousands of dealership employees answering internet leads that are just asking simple questions!
Your website needs to provide you strong traffic. Traffic that has qualified itself using the information, the value, that you provided easily on your website.
So that’s the basics and a few advanced tips to review. You might find while implementing some of the advanced tips that some people will give you some pushback.
Trying to improve? Consider reaching out for direct coaching, more information here: https://carsalesstory.com/coaching/
Push back is ok. Your job is to master the basics and then start innovating. Setting yourself apart.
“In trying to please all, he had pleased none.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables
The focus of this article will be to help you convert more car sales leads while making more money.
I’ve studied these topics extensively and have experienced it first hand at the largest Audi dealership in the country. Some of what I’ve written below is currently in use at the dealership, all of it has been at one time or another to generate and convert car sales leads.
Let’s focus on the low hanging fruit.
Mastering selling your internet car sales leads is critical to your business. Most dealerships will have a certain steady flow of car sales leads from their main site plus a number of leads from companies that provide leads.
Online shoppers can be difficult to nail down for managers who have been in the car business for a long time. They are high volume and often low profit customers, which make them feel like a lot of work.
So yes, car sales leads can be a headache. That being said, I’ll convince you below why they are the best focus of your time, especially for a forward thinking manager.
The beauty of internet lead customers is your ability to have incredibly accurate reporting and analysis, often from inside of your CRM.
Contrast this to your floor ups. Your floor ups are often un- or under- reported. Their contact information is only as good as your sales people and it’s very tedious to source how they found out about your dealership.
Compare this typical phone up CRM entry:
So many questions…
With car sales leads CRM entry:
Trackable, actionable
On the first opportunity we know that they have a phone and have our number. We could train and rely on my salespeople for better entries… but that’s a topic for a another time.
On the second opportunity, with no help from my employees, we know the customer:
Your phone opportunity may have heard your radio ad, seen a billboard, or simply received the phone number from a friend.
So, if you want to optimize the conversion of your car sales leads (and eliminate bad car sales leads), get yourself deep into your CRM system’s reporting functionality.
Once you’ve got the numbers in front of you, it’s time to see how much you can improve using the following best practices.
You have three ways to contact your customers that have inquired online. The easiest to measure in effectiveness, and there for our first focus, is email. What you say (and how you say it!) in email when responding to your car sales leads is critical.
Email is the easiest to measure because you can use modern tools to see the email open percentage and email reply percentage.
In preparation for this article, I did a full secret shopping experiment. I contacted a few Bay Area dealers, using the same contact email and contact info. I submitted car sales leads with this format:
NAME: LEJ RUKA
EMAIL: [email protected]
NOTE: I am very interested in this A3 cabriolet.
Tip: I use this site to do research on the dealerships in my area. It generates email addresses immediately that are active for 24 hours. Just don’t close the tab!
So let’s start with the emails I received back. The subject lines are all similar:
You have to secret shop your competition, https://temp-mail.org/ is an easy resource
This is what a female peacock looks like:
Boring, might or might not get the job done
This is what a male peacock looks like:
A little more enticing
You want your emails subject lines to be the male peacock.
I’ve found that the subject line is the most important part of the whole email. It doesn’t matter the content if the email gets deleted!
Here are the standard email subject lines that you are probably using:
Spring Sales Event – Exclusive Deals From *Dealer Name*
or:
Presidents Day Specials Extended Through Friday
or, by far the worst, this one:
Thank you for your Inquiry!
These are all vanilla subject lines, often provided by your CRM. Compare that with some of our best subject lines. Note that these have never, after years of use, generated a negative response back (which I still can’t believe). These are some of our best performing subject lines:
Sorry…
or:
We are the cheapest
and finally our best performing of all time:
Harassment
Now, you can see clearly why people opened these messages. We create some tension with the subject… and then immediately diffuse it within the email. For example, on the email with the subject line “Harassment” we follow with this email:
SUBJECT: Harassment
We know we have been sending you a lot of emails. I can see that you have been opening them, but not responding.
Would you kindly let us know if you are still in the market? Are we emailing too much? Is there a time that is best to get a hold of you?
Here at *our store here*, we value our customers and their time. We look forward to hearing from you.
See how we changed tune? The customer had no idea what to expect when they opened our email. We were the male peacock. They wanted to check us out and learn more.
Let’s talk about the goal of your internet department. You want to convert the highest percentage of car sales leads you can while maintaining a decent gross profit.
Let’s review:
Converting car sales leads has two parts, getting the appointment and selling the appointment. Maintaining decent profit involves knowing the market of the cars you are selling and not getting lazy with pricing.
Let’s review the email I received from Niello Audi.
First step, converting the lead. Niello needed a catchy subject line to catch my attention. This is what I got:
His name means nothing to Lej Ruka, the customer
No information, no catch. Just the name of the Internet guy, but unless you have a local celebrity working your internet leads, the name doesn’t carry much water.
Perhaps your customer will Yelp you (in which case Phillip has great reviews!), but usually that is “upstream” of sending in a lead anyways.
Let’s say the customer clicks the email, putting aside the lackluster subject line.
This is what they get:
This is the customer’s first impression of the dealer
My goal in the email is to convert the car sales leads to appointments and maintain gross profit.
The salesperson confirms that the car is in stock (good!) and provides pricing (potentially good!). The email is decently written, although content wise two things stick out.
First, the term “Elite Internet Sales” in magenta. If I was shopping for a car and didn’t immediately write off that term…
I would google it, and this is what shows up:
What shows up when I google “audi elite internet sales”
Ok, first result is a different dealership. Odd. Oh! Here we go! Phillip must be referring to the 2016 Magna Society? Let’s click that link:
Where’s Phillip? Where is Niello Audi?
Ok, so “Audi Elite Internet Sales” is something he made up.
The take home is that what you put in your emails matter! Every word is important. This is the internet age.
Alright, so the email isn’t particularly compelling, but there is a price! Ok, let’s zoom in on that:
About $5k off!
Is that a good price? Well, if I am Mr. Consumer, I’ll probably go and check truecar.com in Sacramento, and this is what I’ll find:
According to Truecar, Niello is very very cheap
Wow! They are quoting $600 below what Truecar calls “Exceptional” pricing! On the first email. My first pencil!
So, our subject line is weak, our content is odd, and our pricing is below market. This is a good example of what you don’t want to do.
Now, on the flip side. I know that Audi Niello really wants to sell this car. They’ve had it for 200+ days (relatively difficult for a customer to find this out). It’s ok to want to sell your old inventory, and it’s ok to be cheap.
In this situation, I’m posing as a customer. I sent in a lead saying that I was “interested in this car”. I stated in my lead that I was in the same zip code as the dealer. This car is not an easy car to find if I’m checking out dealer websites. I’ll prove it to you:
A whopping 2 in Northern California
If I am shopping price and comparing like with like, the only other car is at Audi Marin. Here is the drive I’d need to do to check out the competition:
Quite the drive
Let’s wrap up our analysis. In the internet department, we want to convert leads, and hold gross profit. In this situation, the internet department didn’t try very hard to convert the lead… and gave away all the profit and then some. Not ideal.
The thing is, Phillip is a great sales guy in person. His Yelp is all 5 stars and he seems to have very happy customers! He just needs to work on his email cadence for his car sales leads.
If I wanted to remake Phillip’s email, I’d do three main things differently.
Change my subject line from:
Niello Audi – Phillip Najera
To:
2018 Audi A3 Cabriolet at Niello Audi – Limited Availability
In this way, I’ve already established the grounds for holding gross profit, and I’ve brought up immediately what the customer is interested in.
In the email I would make sure to:
I’d ditch the image heavy format, simplify everything down. Picture of the car is good, everything else you can get rid of. I’ve seen success with a photo of the salesperson being included in the email. Overall less is better.
Your customers text.
Say it back to me.
“My customers text”
Don’t believe me? Spend some time reading these stats:
45 Texting Statistics That Prove Businesses Need to Take SMS Seriously
Texting is the most widely-used and frequently used app on a smartphone, with 97% of Americans using it at least once a day. (Pew Internet)
People worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone. That’s almost 23 billion messages per day, or almost 16 million messages per minute. (Portio Research)
Now that we have that out of the way, how should you text your customers?
First, to stay legal, you need to send an opt in. Your CRM will have this built in.
Second, when reviewing your car sales leads, you need to figure out in what way your customers want to communicate.
To do this, when first receiving car sales leads, our team:
We have found great success with this method, since it allows the customer the choice on how to communicate.
If the customer opts in on text, we try to direct my conversation there immediately. As long as the customer is texting, we don’t recommend calling.
The best texts are short and to the point:
Hi! Stock #37874 the Blue Q5 is here. We have availability at 615pm tonight, work for you? Steve @ Audi
If the customer does not opt in then we recommend waiting to send another opt in text after meeting the customer. I’ll ask them:
Thanks for coming in today. To follow up would you prefer text or call?
If they say text, send the opt in immediately or as soon as possible.
Why do we like text? Because our customers like text. It feels efficient for them. It’s easy to get the customer into the dealer with a text. It’s also unnatural to talk price on text, which is a convenient bonus.
I am a huge fan of having a BDC handle all phone calls, since that is their speciality. I made a guide for improving your BDC here.
Although we will address phone scripts in a future post, we want to simply touch on the frequency of calls for your car sales leads.
When we receive car sales leads, we use the following schedule until we have made contact (note: one voicemail per day!)
Day 1: If lead before noon, call three times (if they don’t answer). If lead is afternoon, call two times.
Day 2: Call in the morning and night
3rd day through 5th day: Call once, alternating morning and night
After that, we move the lead to an unresponsive group, and call on the 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th days. Long term unqualified has calls on the 30th, 45th and 60th day.
Maximizing the conversion of your car sales leads is critical to your business. Make sure to comment below with your thoughts. I’d love to hear what you agree and disagree with!
Once your team is staffed, and IT has your office all prepped, you are ready to start revving up your BDC. In this post, we will elaborate on helpful Automotive BDC Tips and Tricks, answer questions about team synergy, and elaborate on the subject of BDC reps handling pricing.
Want to learn more about being a great BDC rep?
Setting up the BDC and learning the ropes can be hard. When setting up the BDC at my dealership, we had a “BDC wiz” consultant on hand once a month to work with. He provided us with a guide on pay structure, some BDC templates, and some frequently asked questions. The guide was lacking in some key areas that were meant to be left up to us.
Suffice to say; I had some reading to do. Below I’ll break down some of what I’ve learned from online forums, BDC guides, and my own experiences managing our BDC.
The Follow Up Article: How To Be a Good BDC Rep (Click to Open)
Although all of the BDC reps make an hourly wage, the reason they work hard is the bonus structure.
We pay reps with the following plan:
Example BDC pay plan for major metropolitan areas – click to see full size
There is a keen perception online that “BDC reps are not salespeople” and that we should pay for shown appointments but not sold appointments. Paying only for shown appointments seems like a more recent development, but I disagree on both counts. My BDC reps are salespeople, and I treat them as such. I track two main metrics at the end of the month:
With these two metrics, I can compare my rep’s performance against their peers and their previous months. I also check the number of appointments set in the first ten days (for their fast start bonus).
Here is an example of the data crunching you can do with just the first two metrics:
What you can do with only shown and sold metrics – click to see full size
Although I think of the BDC reps as salespeople, I never forget the environment they work in. Whereas on the sales floor a disgruntled salesperson can find space to escape their coworkers, in the call center you are shoulder to shoulder. As such, it’s essential to have the reps compete with themselves and not with each other.
If your most successful rep is becoming cocky, try to have them take on more coaching responsibilities with the up and coming reps. Don’t let them laud their success over everyone else.
Strict appointments mean that you only count appointments that show within 30 to 45 minutes of the set time. Soft appointments leave that window to 12 hours.
Online advice stresses to pay on “strict appointments” that arrive within 45 minutes of the time set by the BDC. Although we could see why the idea is so popular (tough love on late appointments might drive the BDC to set firmer appointments), we ended up deciding that it was off-putting for our reps.
We instead opted for a softer window and instead monitored when appointments showed up late and investigated. When there was BDC fault (we can listen to the call), we would use it as a coaching moment.
One topic that seems to be ignored by many BDC experts is the need for strong synergy between the BDC reps and the floor salespeople. At many dealerships, the BDC reps are the “girls in the back” or the “ladies upstairs.” Worst still, some BDC are off-site, destroying much of the possible synergy.
Synergy with the sales floor is critical to maximum BDC effectiveness!
Team synergy
The solution to this is information and contact. After being brought on board, the BDC reps should be given a list of salespeople names, phone numbers and schedules. Make sure that the salespeople’s plans are updated monthly so that appointments are set on the right days and times to coincide with the salespeople.
Next, contact is critical. The BDC should foster the spirit of the sales department, and they should be brought in to the weekly sales department meetings. Although they don’t need to stay for the whole thing (they can skip the lot management reminders at the end) they should be there at the start of the meeting.
When the salespeople see the BDC and interact with them, they are more likely to work together. That means better notes on fresh ups, better communication on preparing for appointments, and better conversions.
Again, I stress that BDC reps should be thought of and treated as salespeople at the dealership. Paying them partly on sold appointments is a vital part of that!
BDC reps are salespeople
A bonus of treating your BDC as salespeople is that they can be funneled into a full cycle sales role. Although I haven’t had this experience at our BDC, I have heard of others doing this.
If you could build out an entire sales floor with employees that hit the phones every spare second they have, you wouldn’t need a BDC. Fact is, it’s difficult to develop a strong phone culture at a dealer, and the BDC is an elegant and practical solution.
Many dealerships can’t even get their salespeople to use the CRM properly!
The BDC has a fantastic effect on the CRM system at the dealership. Since the BDC reps effectively “live” in the CRM, they are the greatest defenders of its usefulness. If you remind your salespeople that the BDC can’t make active calls on their behalf without right notes, you can increase their CRM compliance!
I’ve mentioned this is in my previous article, but it is worth harping on again.
Your BDC reps are going to be spending 40 hours a week in the call center. This picture below is what most call centers look like:
This one looks a bit more like a video game cafe in Korea but never mind that
It’s not very inviting, especially when you remember that they won’t be sitting with new exciting customers every day. The BDC reps get the least face time with other people at the dealership.
It’s for that reason that, in order to maintain a good environment, you have to go above and beyond.
Encourage your BDC reps to bring personal photos. Have them decorate (or do it yourself!). Make sure that you are festive decorations for the holidays, and snacks and drinks available for them.
Make sure to have a shredder box in the office, and do daily checks the first week or two to make sure that there isn’t personal information laying around at end of the day. A lot of BDC reps will write down names and phone numbers- important things to have shredded at the end of the day.
There are a number of health concerns you need to get ahead of with your BDC reps. You don’t want to lose reps to carpal tunnel or lower back pain. BDC reps that don’t have proper ergonomic sitting positions can be susceptible. Carpal tunnel is a numbness and tingling in the hand and arm caused by a pinched nerve in the wrist. Lower back pain is more self explanatory, but equally common and avoidable.
Making sure that your BDC is equipped for ergonomics is your responsibility! Check in with your BDC once a month to check to make sure that they are comfortable and have no complaints. The last thing you want is to find out about a problem when it’s too late!
Read up on OSHA’s ergonomic guidelines here!
BDC reps can get burned out from the constant calling. If you have they well managed and driven, they will be spending the vast majority of their eight hours at work calling, leaving voicemails, and repeating very similar things over and over again.
My solution has been to have an unofficial relaxed day off policy. When BDC reps ask for time off, it is very rare that I say no. I keep rough track, but family and balance is critical to productive reps.
Some authorities in the BDC space recommend to have your BDC reps never talk price. I agree that the scripting the BDCs use should veer away from pricing. Some customers will not relent, and it is useful to give your reps some tools to use. Although I don’t recommend letting them desk deals over the phone, I do encourage them to share lease special offers.
Everyone at the dealership, let alone BDC reps, should know the best lease specials that your store has on offer. Lease offers are the best way to move aged units, reach quotas, and fill your lease portfolio.
When a customer asks:
“Whats your best price on an Audi Q5?”
Rather than responding with:
“I understand that staying within your budget is important. Although I can’t negotiate the price over the phone, I can reserve a time for you to meet with my manager to discuss price.”
Instead, you can have them mention the lease special:
“I understand that price is important, we have some amazing lease specials right now. We have a $399/m lease special running on a showroom unit right now! It might be gone by this weekend, but I’d love to have my manager get you more details when you arrive.”
By providing a hint of what you have on offer, you can increase appointment conversion. You also create urgency by mentioning that the “best deal” might be gone, rather than giving an ultimatum or no information at all.
We will delve into more details on my thoughts on BDC pricing in the next article.
We’ve touched on treating your reps as salespeople, team synergy, and ergonomics. We’ve started breaking into the topic of pricing.
Trying to improve? Consider reaching out for direct coaching, more information here: https://carsalesstory.com/coaching/
Thanks for reading so far. I’d love feedback from your experiences running or working in an Automotive BDC. Let me know below in the comments!
This post is the first in my “Automotive BDC Training” series. The BDC is the “Business Development Center” at a car dealership. In this post, you are going to be learning about the hiring, onboarding, and training of your new BDC.
Want to learn more about being a great BDC rep?
When I started my dealerships BDC, I was faced with a lack of guidance on what to look for when building out my team. The GM of the store recommended I take a few of the underperforming sales reps, which I figured was a terrible idea. Why in the world would you take your worst reps and put them in such a crucial position!
We actually hired an outside consultant to help us build out our team and he was more useful. He brought us a decent BDC “rule book” and suggested that we poach BDC reps from other stores. This idea was appealing but harder to execute on.
The problem was who I could poach with our budget for pay. The best BDC reps from other stores were killing it and didn’t want to leave. These superstars wouldn’t really make more money at our dealer. Being superstars they also were treated very nicely by their managers and were generally happy.
This left us with the unhappy reps to poach. I interviewed a few reps from other stores, but the reasons they wanted to leave (personal disputes and manager disagreements) weren’t enticing. On top of that, these reps were often unclear on their monthly numbers. If your rep doesn’t know how many appointments they set last month and what tier they hit chances are they aren’t very money motivated.
We found our reps on craigslist, but your mileage may vary
So I looked outside of automotive, and in a month and a half had built my team. The reps we found were all from craigslist ad postings.
My partner and I did many interviews when hiring for our BDC. We narrowed down the key things we are looking for and distilled them into a simple list of nonnegotiables:
These 4 bullet points were a great starting point.
We also tried to make sure that the reps wouldn’t have too much ego. Ego would destroy the culture of our BDC. A little was ok!
Technical capabilities are also key. This is not a receptionist role, the reps need to be comfortable using different websites. They will be responsible for using your inventory management software to check on the availability of vehicles. They are going to be in the CRM every day, living in your customer database. If they are technically challenged they will be a drag on your team.
Headsets are 100% mandatory
The environment of the BDC needs to be taken into account when hiring. You are staffing a group that will sit next to each other, in cubicles, making 50 to 100 phone calls a day. They are going to be hearing each other say almost the same thing over and over again, and they need to stay motivated.
I personally could never do what the BDC reps do, and for that reason, I have profound respect for those able to succeed in that environment. Having reps that like working with each other is a huge bonus as they can help each other. The less that the reps rely on management to solve simple issues, the more efficient the whole dealership.
Note that there are no perfect reps. Everyone has compromises. Don’t get lost looking for perfection, find people that are trainable.
Once you’ve decided on a rep, there are a few tricks to set up for success. I like to have my new reps make a list of 3 things that they will bring to the table for the team. Oftentimes new reps will mention their skills with Excel or Google Sheets, which can be very useful when building out your “landing page” for reps.
Keep this list of three things they promise to bring to the team!
This list of 3 things is also useful down the line for coaching. If you have a rep that isn’t performing, you can use this list to have them self-adjust. Just by reminding them of their stated commitments can be a useful tool.
You should strive to ease new reps into their new role. The job, calling customers and facing constant rejection, can be overwhelming for a new rep. On their first day set them up with a more experienced rep to learn the cadence of a good call. If you are hiring your very first rep then do the calls yourself and have them listen.
Make sure to set them up for success by starting them with low hanging fruit (such as fresh up follow up). By calling relatively easy conversion lists, they will build confidence and skills in a good environment.
Excel or Google Sheets skills are a huge plus to stay organized!
Do not have them handle inbound calls when they are first hired. Inbound calls come in randomly and you want your reps to be able to plan and prepare for each call. If they are juggling inbound and outbound at the start they will start to feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed reps drag down their entire team and burn out quickly. Always monitor for overwhelm.
Try to foresee the pain points of your employees. For example, multiple logins and passwords are aggravating to keep track of for new reps. By having day 1 a google sheet with all of their usernames and passwords you will avoid yourself a future headache. A password manager like LastPass or 1Password can be great (if your IT lets them work!).
Your BDC reps need to be fluent in your CRM, your inventory management software, and your phone system. They also need to be set up with a “landing page” that has essential information all in one place.
In the CRM make sure that your reps can find the new web leads, navigate the filters/folders of customers from different reps and input new customers. They need to understand how you are going to track them and what metrics you care about. The most important important important metrics you need to keep a handle on are:
The clock is ticking on your leads!
Those are the bare minimum for you to follow and they need to know that you are watching these. If you have short response times and low update days you know that your customers are at least in touch with your reps. How they handle the calls when they get the customers on the phone you can improve with coaching.
Your inventory management system is probably a pain in the ass. That makes it no less important. Inventory management software efficiency is key to handling a phone call smoothly. It’s very good if a customer wants a specific car and the rep can find it in a few seconds. The customer gets the impression that your dealership has its ducks in a row.
Your phone system shouldn’t be ignored. Make sure your reps know how to forward calls to the right places. They need to have a list of all extensions so that they don’t waste time trying to place phone calls.
Your reps should have daily responsibilities. In assigning and scheduling the activities of your reps you need to keep the community in mind. It will be clear to your reps very quickly that some lists of customers have more potential than others. If left to their own the reps will fight for the highest likely conversion lists while ignoring other lists.
The easiest way to handle this with a small team is round-robin style excel or google sheet guide. Here is an example from my store:
Keeping organized with their daily schedule
If you look at Monday the 2nd you will see that each list has an initial of one of the reps assigned to it. Their initials rotate every day so every list gets hit every day and every rep gets a chance with each list. Your update days will be low and your reps will feel that the system is fair.
Note that the red text in the bottom left says:
“RED ITEMS MUST BE COVERED WHEN SOMEONE IS OUT OFF OFFICE (SICK/VACA ETC)”
This is an important note. The red lists are the most critical and cannot be missed even if a rep is sick. Someone else will need to cover that list.
Each of the lists in the “tasks” column has it’s own filter/folder in the CRM system. The filters are organized inside the CRM by update date.
There is an incredible amount of information that BDC reps need to have at their fingertips. The landing page is a sheet in a google sheets document that has all of this information in one place.
I’ve cannibalized this one to protect the passwords etc but it should give you a good idea of what I’m talking about (click to see full size):
The landing page has all of the basic reference information in one place
This landing page will protect the sanity of your BDC reps and let them handle calls in an efficient manner!
Happy reps make better phone calls. Call centers are generally drab and gray, boring places that can make a bad call feel like an eternity.
Snacks, drinks and good design are key!
Encourage your reps to decorate (or do it yourself). Get seasonal and encourage them to have family photos on their desks. You want your reps to like being in the office as much as possible.
Your reps should be money motivated. I love the idea proposed over at Auto Dealer Monthly:
“One contest I use is called “Take Ben Home.” I’ll put up a $100 bill on the board and offer to let the BDR … with the most shows over an established standard for the day or weekend, take Ben home. They really do get motivated for that extra $100. Dinners and other rewards are very smart investments to make in your top producers.”
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