How To Dramatically Increase Profits
Using a BDC and Call Monitoring
Revealed in Our Study of the Data Behind 29,000
Phone Calls to Auto Dealerships
Dramatically increasing sales without directly increasing advertising costs is every dealership’s
dream, right? Some may see it as a pipe dream, yet for many dealerships using a call center to
directly handle incoming calls and set appointments is making this dream a reality. A dedicated call
center comprised of phone specialists, and complimented by a call monitoring process has improved
advertising efficiency for many dealers.
Listed below are some of the ways these dealers have made their dreams a reality.
4 Personally and promptly answering every call and tending directly to the caller’s needs by increasing
the scheduling of appointments, maximizing customer satisfaction, and minimizing revenue lost as
calls go unanswered, left on hold, or sent into voice mail. 4 Successfully connecting more incoming calls with the correct dealership product information expert
the first time! 4 Monitoring not only call volume, but also measuring the results generated by the call. Listening
to every call to hear: Who do they ask for? Who do they get? and What happens? Effective call
monitoring provides you “the missing link” in measuring your true ROI per ad source. 4 Successfully obtaining a higher percentage of their customer’s contact information, making follow-up
and future prospecting calls not only possible, but also profitable! 4 Receiving monthly performance reports, making training, coaching, and continual improvement of
the team a realistic expectation! 4 Leveraging real-time call alerts received via email, text, or mobile app to rescue “at-risk profit
opportunities” and proactively eliminate problems off before they start. The bottom line is this: Taking your teams phone handling skills from average to good will create an
increase of $40K+ in gross profit per 100 successfully connected true sales calls to your store.
The Call Center and Call Monitoring
Every item we listed above is a contributing factor in increasing your stores advertising efficiency. Basically
SAVING you MONEY! Each element will be explained in detail, but first, let’s define a call center.
In this discussion, call center refers to a business development center (BDC). In the automotive industry,
a call center (or BDC) ideally is staffed with customer service representatives (NOT salespeople!) who are
responsible for managing every aspect of your callers experience from “dial to smile.” EVERY customer
interaction is understood to have VALUE. Profit opportunities (appointments) are maximized, and the caller’s
perception (CSI) is optimized. Monitoring and transcribing the inbound calls to your call center (BDC) helps
sharpen the team’s skills, increase ROI for all departments, and helps you see your “customer’s voyage”
from a unique perspective, your caller’s perspective.
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In a recent study roughly 29,000 monitored pure sales calls from a combination of both foreign and
domestic dealerships were listened to and summarized. This study revealed that the use of a call center
(BDC) with call monitoring improved dealership profitability significantly. In this study, approximately 12,000
of the calls monitored were from a non-call center environment, while approximately 17,000 were from a
call center environment. The results of this study are summarized below:
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Three Takeaways
1. More Calls Are Answered
Answering incoming calls promptly, handling them directing whenever possible, and effectively and
efficiently aiding the caller in locating the party they are seeking is the most important part of maximizing
the profit potential your phone provides. With sales representatives handling incoming calls, 53.2 percent
are answered or connected successfully with the correct party. In a call center environment, 67.6 percent
are connected successfully, an increase of 27.1 percent. Overall 31.2 percent of incoming calls requesting
sales do not reach an agent prepared to help. In a call center environment this number drops 90.2 percent
to 16.4 percent. We can’t appoint callers who we can’t talk to!
2. More Appointments Are Set
After the proper connection of a call, the scheduling of a firm appointment and maximizing our probability of
talking face-to-face with the caller is the primary goal. With sales representatives handling the calls,
29.3 percent of all sales calls end with an appointment set with the customer. With a dedicated call center,
that number increases 86.7 percent to 54.7 percent! Call center agents are trained to appoint, not sell. This
subtle but notable difference impacts call handling productivity dramatically. We can’t appoint callers who
we try to sell, our mission is to serve!
3. More Customer Information is Obtained
For sales representatives handling incoming calls, 48 percent of incoming callers will provide their personal
contact information (if it’s asked for!). In a call center environment, that number jumps to 64.4 percent.
Our consistent goal must be to provide the caller valued information or service. In order to do that, we
need to make getting our clients personally in touch with our teams, voice mail and messages need to be
understood as simply not acceptable when other options are available. Seek to serve, serve to please!
Layer Call Monitoring for Complete Control of the Phone Handling at
Your Dealership
Ad tracking is very important to the health of a dealership. Spending money on an advertisement that no
one looks at is like throwing money away. With properly utilized call tracking software, every ad you place
should have a different trackable phone number. Only then can you measure which ads work and which
ones don’t.
Ad tracking simply tells you who dialed the phone in response to the message you’ve
provided. Call monitoring tells you how much you can expect to make and whether the
advertisement is worth re-investing in or expanding!
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866.332.9128
Monitoring each call your call center handles allows you to see what the callers are asking about, where
they are being directed, and how they are being handled call by call. On top of the number of phone calls
you generated from your advertising investment, you’ll have the actual results of your campaign … DAILY!
Armed with the facts, you can determine if an ad was truly successful (Did it make the phone ring?), if your
dealership staff needs training (Did we turn calls into appointments? Why or why not?), then truly fine-tune
your advertising message or sales department accordingly.
All of the data that is compiles as monitored calls are listened to can be summarized into a monthly productivity report. A monthly comparison of ad campaigns and their corresponding true productivity allows you
to fine tune your message and the way you choose to deliver it to the buying public. Additional extracted
data will allow you to strategically target the essential elements of phone handling that need added focus
and improvement. Targeted training for the call handlers, management teams, and sales teams can then be
developed and presented, paving your dealerships way to a cycle of continual improvement.
How Do You Obtain An Increase Of Roughly $44,590 In Gross Profit Per
100 Successfully Connected Sales Calls?
4 Fifty-five of every 100 incoming calls in a call center environment end with an appointment made, while
only 29 end that way for a non-call center environment.
4 Eighteen of the 45 (40%) un-appointed incoming calls get follow-up ending in appointments being set
with a call center, while only 14 of the 71 (20%) un-appointed incoming calls have the same result for
non-call center handled calls.
4 The average show rate for call center handled calls with confirmation is 65 percent, while the show rate
for a non-call center without confirmation is 50 percent.
4 That comes out to 47 appointments that show out of 100 total incoming calls for a call center, with only
22 out of 100 for non-call center.
4 Even the closing percentage is affected by having a dedicated call center. For call center assisted,
65 percent of appointments that show end in sales, while non-call center have that same rate at 50
percent.
4 This puts the estimated units delivered per 100 incoming calls at 31 for a call center and 11 for non-call
center.
4 Assuming an average front and back blended PRU of $2,240, a call center environment, mirrored with a
call monitoring tool creates an approximate increase of $44,590 in gross profits per month!
The chart on the next page gives the details.
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If you would like to see better overall results in both profitability and customer satisfaction levels your current
phone handling processes generate, let a dedicated team of specialists, trained to specifically handle in-bound
phone calls, serve you and your callers. A call center–CRC–RMC will help grow your business.
Join the ranks of top performing auto dealerships with call monitoring, transcription and
reporting. Call 866.332.9132 and ask for Chip King or visit callrevu.com today!
*All of the statistics used are from a study performed on 29,000 measured sales department calls for new, used, foreign, domestic dealerships.
Approximately 12,000 of the calls monitored were from a non-call center environment, approximately 17,000 were from a call center environment.
www.callrevu.com •
866.332.9128