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The word known as Business Development Center, hence BDC has been thrown around for quite some time in sales and service. On the sales side of the business the term BDC is acceptable. As your organization has built and developed a center to create business through lead generation, appointment setting and drive business to your sales floor. Well there are fantastic individuals such as Sean Bradley and Stan Sher that can build develop and track progression and success with there fantastic sales and technology process. The fixed operations side of the business needs 1/3 of what a BDC is and its called a Customer Retention Department known as a CRD.

A CRD is a department based on calling,emailing,texting current customers service and parts specials utilizing your current DMS client base. Verifying appointments, setting appointments for special order parts, calling the customer for vehicle pick, calling customers to verify they are COMPLETELY SATISFIED with there previous visit, and finally calling customers to upsell previously declined repairs withing 14 days of there previous visit. The training process for these individuals are completely different from what sales calls a BDC. What do we call these indivuals?

Client Care Specialist!  As a client care specialist you are a trained to upsell, set the appointment and gurantee customer satisfaction. The Service Consultants position is to take care of the customer standing in front of them on that scheduled day. the CCS's job is to make sure that customer is never forgotten and to develop a strong repore for the dealership and eliminate lost opportunities. Service Consultants, no matter how much you train and or monitor there progress let opportunities slip through there hands. Its not there fault. The CCS is a back up and service and parts very own marketing and sales department.

Benefits:

• A customer is never forgotten about
• Current Customers along with customer that havent been at the dealership in 30+days are made aware of current specials. (emails,texts etc.. are great but a personal phone call attaching a current special to a previously declined repair where it is now affordable for the customer is POWERFUL!
• Customers are called to verify repairs are made correctly and if not they reschedule immediately and forward complaint to Manager for quick resolution
• Potential lost opportunities are never lost
• The value of the multi point inspection and what the customer just threw in the glove box is revisited,never out of site or out of mind
• Parts will never be sitting on a shelf for more than 30+days

How can you afford this expense?

• Part time employees from 2pm-8pm  Customers are easier to get ahold of later in the day (no benefits required)
• $8.50 to $10.00 per hour
• Bonus paid on a percentage of business recaptured
• Bonus paid on department CSI/ISI

Why every dealership haven't invested a interest in creating a CRD amazes me. Very economical, gurantees results, MAKES YOU $$$$$$$. The simple fact is there is not anyone out there that offers this service to build this department for you. MIND YOU I CREATED THIS BUSINESS PLAN AND IT WORKS. THE DINOSAURS I SPEAK OF IN THE OPERATIONS FIELD TRY TO SPEAK ON THINGS SUCH AS TECHNOLOGIES ETC...THEY ARE SO FAR BEHIND THE 8 BAR IT IS AMUSING. THEY THINK EMAILING A SERVICE AND PARTS CUSTOMER THEIR MULTI POINT INSPECTION IS NEW!!!!! PLEASE WAKE UP DEALER PRINCIPLES AND INVEST IN YOUR AFTERSALES AND INVEST IN YOUR SERVICE DIRECTORS, MANAGERS MOST OF THEM SPEAK OF STORIES 10 EVEN 3 YRS AGO,BUSINESS CHANGES EVERYDAY AND UNTIL YOU STOP LIVING IN THE DARK AGES AND HOW THINGS USED TO WORK THE NEEDLE WILL NEVER MOVE!  REMEMBER YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS TODAY.

Regards,

Richard A. Browne

Fixed Operations Specialist/ Subject Matter Expert