Many businesses often wonder how Business Development Centers (BDCs), or automotive call centers, can help them. It’s a good question, because if a BDC isn’t doing what it’s supposed to by developing new businesses, it will end up costing your company more money in the long run. Even in the service department, a call center must be sales-centric. Every communication should ideally demonstrate value to your customers. With that in mind, there are a number of great reasons to make use of an automotive call center.
Up-Selling: Finding Potential Marketing Opportunities
A Business Development Center is the “first line of defense” in customer contact. Customers will usually call or use email before they visit a service center or showroom to discuss their existing or new purchases. A well-prepared BDC can find potential customer interests, help discover cross-selling or up-selling opportunities within existing business relationships, and help clients feel cared for by providing them opportunities to get the latest on what’s new and available to them. In short, that initial contact can provide a wealth of data that can lead to a sale, sometimes on the spot.
Simplification: How Call Centers Can Free Up Time for Other Departments
Some things just can’t be handled over the phone or the Internet. They need to be handled in person. Ideally, this is precisely where floor staff or the service department comes in. But a properly prepared BDC anticipates that contact, usually through an initial call, and it can identify sales opportunities that they might not be able to take advantage of. In doing its job properly, the BDC can act as a funnel for sales or service to take advantage of sales opportunities, growing the business in the process.
Take Advantage of the Internet
While many sales leads come from the Internet, often the sales department can fall into bad habits that come from getting a wealth of new data. Anyone with sales experience knows what “cherry-picking” is. And that is a huge danger that can leave huge sales opportunities completely untouched. Having a BDC working with those leads can help uncover previously undiscovered sales opportunities that the sales department might not have noticed. Some auto dealerships intentionally put internet leads through the BDC first, to identify which promising leads should go to which department. This is a massive advantage over simply handing off leads to sales or service, where one might not identify profitable opportunities across departments.
Accessibility: The Power of Being There When Your Clients Need You
Finally, lest we forget, the automotive call center provides needed service and accessibility to clients. It’s best to mention this aspect last, because often auto dealerships who “do it wrong” think of it first. Sometimes a representative will need to handle something related to a routine update, or simply keeping the customer satisfied. These things are part of business and can tie up the sales floor. But an automotive call center can easily handle simple requests by looking for opportunities and offering to customers. Maybe the simple calls end in a sale, but no matter how it ends, the customer finishes their communication knowing their dealership values their business.