Get Them in the Door – Car Sales BDC Policies and Practices

The car sales BDC is an essential part of a successful car dealership today, but to what extreme do you go to get them in the door. What are the practices and policies that you use to manage your BDC? Do you lie to the potential customer and tell them that a car is on the lot when you know it is sold or do you tell them the truth and risk losing them completely. That is one of the main questions that the person that manages a dealership and/or the BDC or Business Development Center needs to answer. You might be able to get them to visit your dealership when you lie to them, but what happens when they find out that he car they wanted is not on your lot? Do they end up making in a scene in your showroom in front of your customers and storm out, will you have to call the police to remove them from the premises or will your car salesman be successful at switching them to another vehicle?

Where’s the Line at Getting Them in the Door?

I have seen and worked with dealers at both ends of the spectrum and I can tell you first hand that telling callers that the car they are looking for is sold and saying thanks for calling will not sell you any cars. So how do you decide on BDC practices and policies that will both sell cars and avoid having your name dragged through the Internet mud all over the reviews sites? You do need to decide and then stick to your guns, but what is the right answer. It’s great to have faith in your car salespeople, but are they really good enough to turn around the customer that has driven for an hour for a car that you sold three days ago so you can switch them to another vehicle? And when they can’t switch the customer do you blame it on the BDC?

BDC Policy and Guidelines

Think long and hard about the above the questions before you decide on practices or a policy that has consumers avoiding your dealership like the plague after they read your online reviews and customer experiences. The car business has such a large base of potential customers that a few disgruntled customers were not a problem, but that was yesterday and today things are changing quickly. The Internet has required the car business to change and adjust in many ways over the last few years and that is going to continue for years to come. Will the procedures, policies and practices of your car sales BDC enhance your business or come back to haunt you in the near future.

Practically everyone has an email address today which makes it very easy for them to visit Google Places, Yahoo Local, Dealer Rater, Facebook, Yelp and numerous other sites that are willing to publish the rants of your unhappy dealership visitor. Not to mention the fact that they can go to all of them and make sure their experience to anyone that wants to check you out before they visit.

Granted we all know that most automobile dealerships have many more happy customers than they do unhappy ones, but the unhappy ones are the ones that are going to damage your reputation online and the happy ones don’t even consider telling the world how happy they are with your car dealership. Right NOW is when you need to decide on the policies and procedures that you use to get your “Phone Ups” in the door.

Later, Fresh Up on the Lot

KB

Read the Book so you can sell them once they get in the door!