Why Finding a Strong Automotive BDC Company To Partner With Matters
Any automotive BDC company worth its salt can make sure its clients never miss a lead, appointment, or call, but a truly effective partner will go the extra mile to integrate the latest technology, customize services, train staff continually, and maintain compliance. Those seemingly small but highly effective actions are the markers you should look for when hiring an automotive BDC company, and they are precisely what Strolid offers.
It’s true that our BDC solutions for car dealers are consistently some of the most robust on today’s market, but that doesn’t mean that Strolid is automatically going to be your best automotive BDC provider. You want a partner that’s both flexible and scalable at levels that suit your dealership. If you’re hunting for the top BDC companies for car dealerships, we have the tips you need to secure the business support you deserve.
Step 1: Evaluate Your Challenges and Goals
Before you schedule an exploratory phone call with an automotive BDC company, you’ll want a solid understanding of the answer to this question: “What does ‘BDC’ stand for in automotive?” You’ll also want to define your dealership’s pain points and goals. For example, maybe you need a missed-leads car dealership solution and have already tried implementing a more robust CRM, hiring more staff, or automating your customer responses without the desired results.
Knowing how your business is struggling and where you want to go in the future is critical – otherwise, the automotive BDC company you select may not take the appropriate steps to get you there. Take stock of the following factors to see what type and size of BDC partner can best support you.
- Your dealership’s lead volume
- Your quarterly and yearly sales and service goals
- The number of BDC representatives you might need to handle incoming and outgoing communication
- The overall sales and service volume your dealership wants to achieve
Remember: The best BDC company automotive leaders can choose is the one that can grow alongside your dealership.
Step 2: Explore Services That Top BDC Companies for Car Dealerships Offer
Now that you’ve identified your dealership’s current struggles and vision for growth, it’s time to investigate an automotive BDC company or two. Each BDC will have a unique approach, so evaluate their systems and services. This advice is equally applicable to dealerships that are dissatisfied with their current arrangement as it is for those choosing their first BDC expert.
Your BDC provider should not only function as a catch-all customer service center, but it should also propel your business toward new growth and stimulate customer loyalty. Before we dive into how you can choose your ideal sales and service BDC associate, let’s examine what a highly qualified automotive BDC company should offer:
- Field inbound calls, emails, chats, and appointment requests
- Reconnect with less active customers to win back business
- Provide 24/7 lead management and customer response
- Personalize communication across multiple channels
- Maintain strong communication with dealership staff
- Train service representatives in an ongoing fashion
- Prove its record of success with similar dealerships
- Report on performance and include detailed analyses
- Integrate AI technology for optimized customer interactions
- Optimize lead conversions and workflow for maximum efficiency
- Adhere to proven BDC best practices
Step 3: Avoid Common Pitfalls
Any organization can call itself the best BDC company – automotive veterans have likely seen these “experts” make their rounds – but if you know what to look for, you can identify those who truly live up to the claim. Make sure that any automotive BDC company you hire doesn’t offer the same cookie-cutter solutions for all of its clients. Your company needs and deserves a tailored business strategy to reach its unique short- and long-term goals.
It’s also no secret that artificial intelligence and machine learning now play key roles in accomplishing these. However, many companies that label themselves the “best automotive BDC providers” rely too heavily on AI. When searching for your preferred automotive BDC company, make sure to ask providers how they couple AI with human influence – AI should be a tool in their arsenal, not their only solution.
Step 4: Choose Your Ideal Automotive BDC Company
Industry experts know that the question is no longer, “Do we need an automotive BDC company?” Instead, dealership leaders like you are digging into how to choose a BDC company that’s best for the job. Thankfully, identifying the best automotive BDC providers isn’t difficult if you’re equipped with substantial information. Here’s a checklist you can follow so your next (or first) experience with an outsourced BDC automotive partner can be a great one.
The right automotive BDC company for your dealership will:
- Couple detailed reports with actionable insights so you can not only measure the performance of your BDC partner, but also optimize future customer interactions.
- Deliver call center software, customer interaction tracking, and AI BDC automotive systems that can both organize and analyze incoming data.
- Integrate their platforms seamlessly with your existing management systems.
- Scale with your company as it grows and handle increasing levels of call volume, data storage, and analytics.
- Provide knowledgeable BDC representatives who can work with your team to answer any questions and resolve any issues.
- Offer 24/7 customer service to make sure no client goes unheard and dealership retention and loyalty are prioritized.
- Understand the demands of both the sales and service branches of your dealership and support your staff accordingly.
- Transparently communicate BDC cost, contract terms, and additional service fees so you always know you’re within your budget.
Explore Strolid BDC Solutions for Car Dealers
Don’t waste your time and resources onboarding an ineffectual automotive BDC company; demand top-tier performance from your BDC partner. That’s precisely what you’ll gain with Strolid. Our BDC sales team will handle the gargantuan tasks of customer engagement so your staff can focus their efforts on closing deals and building customer relationships.
Prompt Customer Service
Strolid ensures that every customer receives rapid responses with end-to-end customer communication services, including 24/7 chat and lead response from trained BDC representatives. We also guarantee reliable and consistent responses to customer inquiries through proven phone scripts.
Seamless CRM Integration
No need to worry about working our solutions around your existing systems: The Strolid platform can integrate with your existing CRM to log, track, and analyze customer interactions. This also proves beneficial to your customers, as our system helps pinpoint and solve customers’ problems so they trust your dealership.
Full Transparency
Strolid maintains full transparency and accountability so your team can be privy to all of our customer interactions on your behalf. You’ll have full access to our AI transcripts and analytic assessments. Plus, you can contact your Strolid BDC representative with any questions.
AI + Human Expertise
Our signature balance of machine learning and human input means your business will enjoy robust reporting capabilities, valuable customer interaction insights, and optimized sales. We believe that the best results are driven by combining AI technology with a Strolid BDC representative.
Free Dealership Assessments
Schedule a complimentary Strolid assessment to explore your company’s lead conversion rate, sales data, workflow, follow-ups, and sales team performance – that’s a $1,500 value for free. Strolid injects data-driven, human-centric AI analytics into your daily operations to make your dealership the ultimate automotive destination.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do dealerships need a BDC company?
All dealerships need some type of BDC support, whether that be from an in-house team or an outsourced partner, to ensure that no customer communication goes unanswered, no appointment is forgotten, and no sales opportunity is missed. Strolid can help you decide whether your dealership needs outsourced BDC vs. in-house BDC. See how the former can save you from missed leads and training headaches.
Is AI enough to run a BDC effectively, or do you need human agents?
After years of testing the waters of artificial intelligence, the Strolid team firmly believes that AI is most effective when it’s coupled with human input. When you partner with Strolid for automotive BDC support, you’ll gain our AI-driven vCon technology for streamlined data tracking and real BDC representatives for everything else, meaning you get the best of both worlds.
When is it time to switch or evaluate a new BDC provider?
Regularly evaluating your BDC partner’s performance will tell you when a change is necessary. If you notice slow lead response times, low appointment rates, or missed customer communications of any kind, it’s likely time for a new BDC solution. Your automotive BDC company should also maintain compliance, integrate with your systems, and offer specialized knowledge of your industry to provide a complete package.
