This is the second in a series of five articles about BDC Best Practices. Setting up a BDC can either drive more traffic into your dealership or drain your time and resources. If you are planning to set up a BDC or already have one in place, you will need to make sure you have the following best practice in place.
Best Practice #2: Perfecting phone skills.
Perfecting phone skills is never-ending at a BDC. Some skills are common sense, but others need to be trained and talked about to get your BDC into the habit of performing these skills without thinking.
First, a BDC representative must remain upbeat and always smile on the phone! We have all heard that customers hear a smile, and it’s true. But customers can also hear annoyance, irritation, and laziness.
Next, make sure your BDRs are aware of their pitch, tone, and rate of speech. This emphasis will help improve your appointment set rate and your customers’ overall satisfaction.
Talk too fast and customers won’t be able to understand you; talk too slow and they will think you are slow and lazy.
Talk too high, and you will fail to convey authority; talk to low, and you will come off too severe. Find a happy middle ground.
Talk clearly and never use slang. You want to make sure to keep it professional.
In addition, ensure that customers know they are being heard on the phone. There are a variety of ways to do this.
Use customers’ names naturally during your conversation. People like to hear their name, and it shows you are paying attention.
Use active listening. Put down everything else you are doing and listen to customers. Take notes if needed to help stay focused. While listening to customers, be sure to give feedback signals that let them know you are still listening on the other end. These include words and short phrases such as “I understand” or “Let me write that down.”
Another good way to show interest is to mirror back phrases and words that customers use. Be careful not to go overboard here because you might appear condescending if you repeat everything back.
Finally, be prepared to answer the customers’ questions. Have all the tools needed at your disposal and make sure you are providing solutions and not excuses to your customers’ problems and requests. Customers want to hear solutions and not reasons why you can’t help them.
Don’t use phrases such as “I can’t” or “I don’t know.” Instead let the customer know what you can do.
Read the next installment in this five-part series: BDC Best Practice #3 - Using consistent scripts.
Looking for previous articles in this series?
