Back to all articles

Back to all articles

Many dealers I know created their BDCs by staffing them with a few of their existing floor salespeople and then paying them like floor salespeople (generally on the sold units). Their argument was simply that they needed knowledgeable people to be able to answer customer questions and that they only felt they should pay when this department sold a car. Wrong and wrong.

BDCs Shouldn’t Sell

The truth is that your BDC is more like a bank’s call center than it is a traditional sales team.

You don’t need seasoned salespeople to have a successful call center, and you should never expect them to sell anything.

Their job is to set appointments that show—period.

Selling On The Phone = Selling Fewer Units

When you compensate a BDC agent on a sold unit you are encouraging them to start “selling” on the phone—something that is not just a bad idea, but is also counterproductive. Since your BDC team will inevitably end up over-qualifying each of their prospects, you’ll end up selling fewer units directly from appointments.

Moreover, when you employ “car guys” in this role, you often get a group that spends too much time answering questions and not enough time setting appointments that show.

Like a bank call center, your BDC should be driven by metrics and talk tracks, not selling and product knowledge.

Back to all articles