1. New Vision Sales Automobile Dealer Sales Training – Article Series
Outsource to In-House:
The 40,000-ft. View – Part 1 of 4
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2. Can a dealer begin business development as an outsourced service
and transition to an in-house operation? My answer to that
question is a resounding “yes.” Of course, that “yes” comes with
a few ifs. This route will work if everybody’s prepared for it,
if everybody’s properly trained for it and if there’s proper
communication between the outsourced module and the dealership’s
management.
Since this is such a large topic, in order to explore it in-
depth, this article is the first of a four-part series dedicated
to the topic “Outsource to In-House.” This is the first of four
parts in which I’ll cover the bird’s eye view, and over the next
parts, I will focus on the three imperative stages of the
transitional process:
1. Preparation – Choose an outsourced provider, which functions
to outsource and a point person to communicate with the
outsourced BDC on a daily basis. Also, get buy-in from
management staff during this stage.
2. The Ramp-Up Process – Get buy-in from the rest of the staff,
and determine the functions your in-house BDC will perform. Also
in this stage is getting proper equipment and hardware in place
and initial training so employees can begin to familiarize
themselves with the new or updated processes. Key members of
management should receive training on greeting appointments and
the reverse TO process. Plus, towards the end of this stage, you
begin hiring/recruiting.
3. The Final Stages – While still outsourcing, the outsourced
provider comes in to begin full-scale training of your BDC
employees. There will be some overlap, but that’s necessary for
a natural, seamless transition. The new processes are mastered,
and the switch from outsource to 100-percent in-house is
complete.
The entire process varies and can take anywhere from a month to
a year, or longer. First, the dealer must examine the options
for outsourced providers. It’s very important that dealers do
their homework when choosing a provider. I recommend a provider
with a flat fee, as opposed to one that charges per appointment,
so you’ll know your cost upfront. Plus, the provider you choose
must be able to help you make the transition to in-house
operations.
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3. So, you, the dealer, asks yourself, “Why would I want to go this
route?” The main reason is to gain and maintain control.
Granted, some control is sacrificed upfront because an
outsourced center will handle the calls; ultimately, however,
once the process is complete, the dealer will have more control
than ever over the phones than ever.
Once a dealership gains control of its phones, it stands to sell
a lot more cars each month, and in this economic environment,
dealers can’t pass up opportunities. As I said last month, each
appointment needs to be treated like precious gold. It’s my
belief, with regards to Internet sales and business development
as a whole, the quicker your dealership converts an e-mail into
a phone call or a phone call into an appointment, the better off
you are because if you don’t, one of your competitors will.
As the saying goes, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” There
are many dealers out there leading the way in business
development efforts. You can join the leaders to reap the most
rewards. Even if you start out as a follower with the goal of
becoming a leader, in today’s market, following is much better
than doing nothing at all.
I’ve seen many dealers selling between 100 and 200 cars a month
who benefit from small in-house BDCs consisting of one to three
people, and I’ve seen dealers selling 300-plus cars with fully-
operational “death stars” for BDCs employing several people. For
the smaller dealer with only a couple of salespeople, strictly
outsourcing may be the better option because it doesn’t make
sense to have more business development representatives working
the phones than salespeople on the lot.
So, what does the dealer need to do to ensure this outsource to
in-house BDC is a success? The dealer must have a growth
mindset, and equally crucial is buy-in that trickles from the
top all the way down. With buy-in, the dealer stands to reap big
rewards once the in-house BDC is fully operational.
For those dealers asking themselves if they can afford to take
on such a big transformation right now, ask yourself if you can
afford not to. If there are tumbleweeds blowing across the sales
floor and salespeople aren’t blasting the phones, then someone
needs to be on the phones getting customers in your store. Plus,
it will allow you to account for every dollar spent on
advertising and to determine where your ad dollars are best
spent as well as where they’re not effective.
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4. www.NewVisionSales.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/NewVisionSales
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewVisionSales
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/NewVisionSales
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grodean
New Vision Sales Inc.
1670 Hwy 160 West Suite 206
Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708
803-802-2124
Toll Free: 866-532-2827
Info@NewVisionSales.com
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