Glenn Lundy, President of 800% Elite Automotive Club, sees a math problem that's hiding in plain sight at most dealerships. The best-trained salespeople are standing around waiting for walk-ins while support staff handle the bulk of customer interactions online or over the phone.
"We have more customers coming through our internet showroom than we do our physical showroom," Lundy told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Yossi Levi. "Why do we have 10 physical salespeople waiting for ups and two glorified receptionists responding to 75% of leads?"
Why it matters: The traditional model creates two different classes of employees with different training, different expectations, and different opportunities. Meanwhile, internet leads often represent more qualified prospects than random walk-ins.
To fix this, Lundy eliminates the BDC title entirely. Everyone becomes either a "Frontline Salesperson" or a "Showroom Salesperson." Same training, same tools, same pay opportunities.
And restructuring doesn't require hiring anyone new. Lundy takes the four most organized salespeople who excel on phones and makes them “frontline specialists.” The remaining six focus on showroom customers.
"Personnel is still the same, pay is still the same," he said. "I still just have 10 people that I'm paying. I don't need to have 10 showroom salespeople and then go add four BDC, which would be 14 people."
Between the lines: The separation actually improves customer experience. When showroom salespeople try to handle internet leads while doing test drives, response times suffer.
"If your showroom salespeople are handling your leads, the better they get, the worse the experience for the consumer. Because now everybody's out on a test drive while leads are coming in," explained Lundy.
And when both teams understand they're working toward identical goals with identical training, the artificial barriers disappear.
Bottom line: Eliminating department silos through unified training and proper language, creates environments where everyone can succeed without adding headcount or complexity.
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