This document discusses what a Business Development Center (BDC) is and its role in a car dealership. A BDC is responsible for generating sales opportunities for the sales and service departments by managing communications like phone calls, emails, and social media. An effective BDC operates independently but works with other departments. It should have clear objectives defined, such as increasing sales or service revenue. Employee training is important, and the BDC should use technology like email and text reminders efficiently. The document provides tips on voice messages, talking points over scripts, and suggested BDC structures.

1. Business
Development
Center (BDC)
The sales opportunity
hub of your dealership
By Robbie Venezia

2. What is a BDC?
A BDC is responsible for creating sales opportunities for the
Sales and Service departments.
This is key! If your “BDC” does not generate sales
opportunities, then you don’t have a BDC. These (other) types
of departments are called a BCC (Business Communications
Center), CIC (Customer Interaction Center), or simply, a Call
Center.
The BDC should operate as a stand-alone department, that
works with the Sales and Service departments, not FOR the
departments.

3. What is a BDC?
When not generating sales leads, a BDC manages the
majority of your dealerships’ telecommunications needs,
freeing your Sales and Service staff to focus on the customers
in front of them now.
A BDC can also be setup to manage your other
communication needs, such as responding to email or
webform inquiries, participating in a live chats with sales leads,
and even managing your social media (Facebook, Twitter).

4. Know the roll of your BDC
All businesses have the goal of increasing revenue. Having
clear objectives spell out how the BDC will achieve your goals.
Define and understand what your objectives are, and make
sure the staff understands them too.
If your goal is to increase sales revenue, make it a BDC
objective by adding how. Do you want the BDC to focus on
increasing new customers, returning customers, or trade-in
customers? Or a combination of all three? And by how much?
Be reasonable and choose attainable results based off your
historical sales data.
Or, do you want to increase service revenue? Do you want to
do this by increasing the number of customer contacts for
preventative maintenance appointments, making reminder
calls a day or two before scheduled maintenance, or by
following up with no-shows to reschedule?

5. Technology and tips.
Don’t be afraid to use technology to your benefit. If you want to
increase service revenue but also spend less time with
reminders, consider using email for reminders. Or using a text
message reminder service.
If you only use phone calls as reminders, remember your
connection rate, that is the percentage of time you will actually
reach the individual you’re calling, will be about 15%. So for
every 20 you call, you’ll talk to 3 and leave messages for 17.
This means making sure you leave a good impression on
voice mail is important.
Follow these rules for success:
1. Don’t rush! Speak slowly and clearly.
2. Repeat important info, like the date and time of an
appointment or the phone number for the dealership.

6. Technology and tips, cont.
and 3. Use talking points, not scripts*
Instead of designing scripts for your BDC reps to stick to, give
them the skills and tell them the talking points you want
covered. For example, with reminder calls, instead of writing
everything word-for-word, mandate that every reminder call
must include the callers name, dealership phone number and
the date and time of the appointment.
This gives your staff freedom to be themselves and honestly
connect with a customer. It also helps them not to sound like
robots on the phone.

7. Education and training
This is not the area to skimp on! Employee training takes time
and should be continual. One key to a successful BDC is for
the staff to have strong appointment setting skills.
You need to monitor employee and customer interaction not
only for training purposes but for counseling opportunities too.
Sales and Service staff also need to educate the customer.
You don’t want contact with your customers to come as a
surprise, they should be expecting it.
When Sales sells a new car, explain that as part of the
purchase, you have a customer service team that may reach
out to them from time to time. Or when Service closes with a
customer, that the customer service team will reach out to
remind them of their next appointment.

8. Suggested structures
Some popular BDC employee structures
BDC Manager
Asst. BDC Mgr.
BDC Rep’s
BDC Mgr. Education Coord.
BDC Representatives
BDC Mgr.
Lead BDC Rep.
BDC Rep’s
When you think about creating and staffing your BDC, you have
three main options:
1.Recruit an experienced BDC Manager (and pay for it)
2.Promote from within or
3.Hire some new (and save money)

9. Review
 Review your current structure. What works? What doesn’t?
Where do you want it to be?
 Define your scope: Sales, Service, or both?
 Define your objectives: What do you want the BDC to deliver?
 Define your structure: What is the BDC hierarchy and how
does it fit within your dealership hierarchy.

10. Review
 Review your current structure. What works? What doesn’t?
Where do you want it to be?
 Define your scope: Sales, Service, or both?
 Define your objectives: What do you want the BDC to deliver?
 Define your structure: What is the BDC hierarchy and how
does it fit within your dealership hierarchy.