Many perceptions have changed, some of the challenges have changed, the economy has changed but (gender neutral) salesmanship, my friends, has NOT. Customers have NOT changed; just some of their buying habits have improved while many of their concerns have worsened. The good news is that the more we change, as professionals, the more we separate ourselves from those unwilling or incapable of changing.

This version, Hybrid BDC 2010 is part of the NVS Road to Success Training Series. The primary function is about developing or enhancing your ability to make and take intelligent, masterful, and persuasive and most importantly; rapport based appointments that show and sell.

What has not changed is that self barometers do work! If you would find a conversation, dull, scripted, slick or demanding, how would you feel or react? We don’t need any more word tracks! The industry has ample. We don’t need more scripts, they don’t work. What we do need for the primary function of this course to work is to clearly identify why we must master communication skills, know exactly how each customer reacts and why and be the exact breath of fresh air they have been waiting for. So what do I mean exactly by building suggesting that the only lasting training is one built on a foundation of Skills not Scripts?

BDCs in 2010 have changed, their core needs have not!

In any Sales team, Internet Dept or BDC, skills are what separate your dealership from what customers consider the stereotypical car-buying experience to be, and skills in the BDC revolve around understanding, alignment and communication. Skills are what can make your dealership stand out from all the other stores in your market.

Right now I see three successful ways of Developing Business or selling more rides:

1) Complete In House BDC/Internet Sales Call Centers. Each agent makes a minimum of 150 dials per day and ALL sales calls are funneled only to the largely staffed and heavily trained/monitored, BDC.

2) Complete Out Sourcing of all the above mentioned functions.

3) Hybrid BDCs. These are done one of two ways, either with a small well trained and prepared BDC and Internet Sales Dept working with equally professional and capable sales teams or by utilizing a Call Center for backup of calls, follow up; etc.

So no matter what, to succeed in 2010, it is all but required to have one of these in place. Quite frankly the acronym BDC, meaning Business Development Center is not in a room, in a book or in a title. It is a way of life. BE THE BDC and you will earn well above average industry income. Habits are either our best friend or worst enemy. It takes 30-60 days for a true habit to take hold and become a way of life. Any goal without a very clear plan of action is still but a wish.

Now that we have established that BDC can mean many things, let’s all ponder the idea of this acronym and agree it now is meaning one clear thing, a Business Development Commitment!

A BDC should make people feel comfortable and excited about the dealership at the same time. To do that, it’s imperative that a business development representative (BDR) sound sincere and speak with customers in a non-confrontational, leading manner. Dependence on scripts or rebuttals in the BDC will not do the job. In fact, they can help set you up for failure by confirming what they thought we were. Rebuttal means argument and that is exactly what they are preparing for. Human instinct will drive someone in an argument into a fight or flight mode and often times the flight mode takes the road of least resistance and they set an appointment with no intention of showing up.

When you think of how your BDRs are communicating with your customers, consider the breakdown of how communication is transmitted—63% of communication is body language, 30% is tonality and only 7% are the actual words we use. Of course, an understandable misconception is that the 63% attributed to body language is eliminated when talking on the phone. It is not, and there are two reasons why. One; try to sound like you are smiling while frowning and two; body language and tonality go hand in hand. (No pun intended) By mastering the ability to adjust the tone of a customer by, say slowing and quieting down, I always relax my hands and posture. I, being a type A. personality (WE need to be able to identify all three personalities and adjust accordingly) am a classic example of having an intense fast paced tone. By slowing down my hand gestures, etc., my tone follows suit. Training and practicing effective communication skills empowers us to speak with common tone and wording. Commonality equals rapport and rapport is what sells an appointment that actually shows, never mind a customer for life!

If you train on just scripts or quick word tracks, you’re putting your money (and possibly your ROI) on that 7% of communication; you’re just training on what is said. I believe in training people on why, not just what and how. Training BDRs to use impact wording and put emphasis on certain words can make a world of difference in people’s perception which is to them, reality. The 93% of communication can be utilized over the phone. How else does one sell the sizzle of a dealership over the phone? Be consistent when they show! Continue to validate all they heard on the phone and work the process, NOTATE extensively.

Also because scripts focus on what is said, BDRs reading from them tend to sound robotic. No one likes to be on the phone with someone who sounds as if he or she’s reading from a script. It’s impersonal and insincere. Even if someone has a script down pat, it doesn’t create sincerity. While the best way to sound sincere (of course) is to be genuinely sincere, watching where and how you enunciate your words will create sincerity in your voice. Develop BDI, or Business Development intuition!

Additionally, insincerity detected in a script reader’s or an unprepared voice feeds into the customers’ fear or perception of the car-buying experience—one where the salesperson pushes what he or she wants the customer to buy and worries only about profit. A skillful BDR doesn’t need a script to figuratively validate price being important, identify with the customer, (Alignment) get a target budget range. and then complete the Boomerang© back to leading the call by asking an assumptive question like, aside from price, what would you say is the next most important factor—safety or performance? Master the Boomerang© process or VPL (validate, pace then lead).

By utilizing assumptive questioning, you let customers know that you’re not avoiding or just focusing on money or price, and from their answer, you can find a point of commonality, which is very important. Establishing a point of commonality helps put the prospect at ease and makes overcoming objections later in the conversation easier for the BDR. Sincerity is a breeze in a skillful conversation. Who can’t relate to safety? Practice Active Listening to the point of AWOL (A way of Life)

Too many BDCs, Sales Reps and call centers rely on scripts today. These can be actual printed ones or the habit of saying the same things on every call that has become an unwritten script. Now, I’m not saying we should be just talking or capturing info to or from memory. It is a good idea for anyone representing your dealership to have a guide in front of them with important reminders and fields to fill out. For example, the explanation guide used in my BDC reminds BDRs to obtain important contact information, including two contact numbers and an email address. The law of reciprocation is mentioned and the need to validate and pace to effectively lead a customer to your front door! Review Influence and Persuasion techniques and make a list of your strongest and weakest points.

Also, when examining how we speak on the phone, changing the word order of a sentence or two can have a positive influence on a customer. For example, instead of saying, .If for any reason your contact person is running late, I’ll give you a courtesy call. Will you do the same for me?. That may get a yes, but it does not program the subconscious to actually call. But, if you were to say, .If for any reason your contact person is running late, I’ll give you the courtesy of a call.. See the difference? You give the caller .courtesy. in the second set of sentences instead of .a call. like in the first set. Change the subject then asks…if for any reason you were running late, what would you do?. It gives us another chance to thank them and more times than not, when posed with being late, someone that said what they would do vs. just answering yes will actually call. A customer that calls to say they are running late is a customer that will show and likely sell. Practice Impact Wording, reciprocity and the proper use of the scotoma.

Like other skill sets, BDC skills aren’t accomplished overnight. While there’s a learning curve and some trainees can hone their skills in a week or two, I suggest a minimum of 5-30 days of training and grooming before anyone is working alone on the phone. BDRs in my Outsourcing BDC receive at least eight hours of classroom training, eight hours of role playing and shadowing, testing, and retesting. We of course have the luxury of working in a BDC training center, but anywhere can work. Plus, once they’re skilled BDRs, they continue to have a mentor, as well as becoming a mentor to new BDRs. Mentoring breeds consistency. Know who your coach, manager or Team Leader is, they are accountable for your actions & production.

Two additional mandatory aspects of my BDCs (In-house or Out-sourced) are mirrors in front of every computer monitor and coaches. The mirrors are to help the BDRs maintain the proper tonality; I’ve never seen anyone frowning while talking on the phone in an upbeat voice. To convey genuine sincerity, they need to have the same game face on whether the customers are on the phone or in front of them at the dealership. (Sales reps take notice) The coaches circle the wagons throughout the center making their work to listen to calls, load lips and look for BDRs needing a T.O. It’s far too easy (and far too common) for the atmosphere in a BDC or call center to get boring, and the coaching, whether weekly or monthly, help ward off boredom and keep skills fresh and push the needle with training & incentives for greater production. Be prepared with someone close by for a TO, the phone TO must be as important as on the lot.

When skills are the foundation of a BDC, customers attribute keeping their appointments to their advocate —which is a compliment to the skill-level of a BDR and more people show and sell. Every aspect of our job is closing. Master communication and closing skills with the: barometer technique. Prompt calls backs, and make them feel like they have someone on their side, because they do; use the BDC as more than a dumping ground of customers with whom you have no rapport. Notate more than status, add rapport based discussion starters! Follow the 4 steps to a show, document your work and reap the rewards.

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