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How to build the next-gen dealership BDC
Featuring Tina Tasche, Van Horn Automotive Group
Welcome to another edition of expert insights from the Car Dealership Guy Podcast, an episode recap that breaks down the juiciest takeaways from the conversation.
I recently spoke to Tina Tasche, Head of Innovation and Tech at Van Horn Automotive Group, who discusses the evolution of the dealership BDC, her AI features wish list for the call center of the future, and why the traditional lead form is dead.
1. Tina’s background in the car business.
Tina has been in the car business since she was 17, getting her start at the Van Horn Auto Group. Her father, who worked in manufacturing prior to selling cars, was a major inspiration for her joining the company. She has remained at the Van Horn group for nearly 20 years. Today, she oversees 15 dealerships based in Wisconsin, representing six franchises.
2. Organizing a BDC for success.
Van Horn’s Sales and Service Business Development Center (BDC) operates under a single roof, serving the entire company. Tina explains that each division (sales and service) has three teams, with five people in each group. This results in one person handling the BDC operations for each individual storefront. The advantage of this centralized setup is that every customer gets the same experience since every staff member is given the same training program.
“We like the centralized aspect of it because we're training everybody the same way. All the processes, everything is the same way. So it doesn't matter if you go to my Plymouth Chevrolet store or if you go to my Honda Glendale store, you're having the same experience.”
3. Launching AI chatbots.
Over the last year, Tina has overseen the launch of artificial intelligence tools across Van Horne’s BDC teams. These new tools have changed the way the group’s BDC employees operate, boosting efficiency by allowing them to guide the customer through more of the sales process while the AI handles up-front tasks like answering basic customer questions.
“The first thing that people see is like, is the bot taking my job? And that's not the way we look at it at all. We look at it as being able to create more opportunities because the AI can take care of does it have heated seats, know, basic things like that. And now our actual agents don't have to deal with those like lower funnel questions.”
4. Organizing operations around AI.
Introducing more technology into the BDC equation has improved efficiency enough to allow the company to launch a customer relations department, which focuses mainly on after-sales interactions. AI also plays a role in this new department as well. Tina explains that AI can pinpoint topics that come up in conversations with customers, allowing the team to prepare more for the showroom experience or implement changes based on buyer feedback.
“Things like maybe they mentioned…’I'm gonna have the kids with me. Is that okay?’ Well, let's take this budget that we're gonna give the stores and maybe you have some happy meals waiting for them when they get there or something like that. So we're trying to make our salespeople focus more entirely on the showroom experience and then follow up with this customer relations team that can continue the life cycle of the customer journey as a Van Horn customer.”
Tina says that the customer relations department is given a small budget that they can use to enhance the guest’s visit without manager approval. Employees use software to track customer feedback and keep an eye on what strategies helped boost approval.
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5. How AI changes lead generation.
One of the biggest changes of using AI to handle BDC operations is that the software is usually the first to the lead (first to speak to the customer), leaving the employee to handle the follow-up. Tina admits that it took some time to build enough confidence in the technology to allow it to handle first interactions with consumers, especially given her own negative experiences with chatbots in the past.
However, she says that AI has developed extremely quickly, allowing most software today to communicate effectively and engagingly with customers. Now, Van Horn’s AI tools take care of users by phone or internet 24/7, preventing any leads from going untouched for long periods of time and boosting the number of sales.
“Since February I've tracked it and about 35 to 40 % of our AI-influenced car deals have been from leads or chats that came in when we were closed.”
6. AI setup is a process.
Tina explains that implementing AI into dealership operations isn’t an overnight process. Retailers must set up their chatbot to give the right answers and continue updating the software as new customer questions are encountered. Over time, with the right training, the technology becomes more independent and adept at handling issues.
7. Tracking AI’s success
Since implementing AI into Van Horn’s operations, Tina has seen a notable increase in performance across different metrics. Last month, 100% of the dealership group’s leads were set by the AI—that same month, the company hit its highest shown rate of the entire year at 80% (previously at 75%).
Other factors like test drive rates and sales volumes have also improved from earlier in the year when the company relied less heavily on AI. However, Tina emphasizes that in order for AI to be successful, dealers need buy-in from their team.
8. Unlocking new tactics
AI can provide new ways of generating leads for dealerships. Tina explains that since launching a chatbot for Van Horn, most of its high-quality leads are obtained through the tool. While it requires a customer’s phone number in order to function, it continues to exceed expectations when it comes to arranging appointments and getting buyer information.
“One of our biggest places that leads come in from and like the most high-quality leads is actually with our chat tool. So the chat tool…it's kind of unique from some chat tools because it's not a live chat room. And what happens is the customer has to give up their cell phone number as an entry point to it. And…at first everyone said no one's gonna chat with us because phone numbers required, but we actually have found very little reduction in leads from that and it's produced our highest quality leads.”
9. Why data mining is crucial.
Aside from AI, Tina is working on other tech-related projects at Van Horne. Data is a major priority for the dealership group as it allows it to maintain relationships with shoppers well into the future.
Tina notes that the company maintains a targeted list of former and potential customers to reach out to with new programs or deals. She also uses a suite of tools to assist with data mining as well as programs for predicting when customers will be looking for a new deal.
10. Setting BDCs up for success.
While many BDCs have high turnover rates, Tina believes that working in a BDC should be a viable career. At Van Horne, BDC reps are brought in at an early stage in their automotive journey and sometimes even from outside the industry. This allows the company to train them correctly.
Tina also says that her BDC staff are incentivized through collective bonuses rather than individual bonuses, boosting comradery throughout the team and ensuring that employees work together to exceed expectations.
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