Interesting talk about the Smart BDC from a internet Sales Manager

[SMART]

I stumbled across this article and found it funny how even this internet sales manager went out there to say its a bit crazy how smart is planning all the leads and reservations through their online system.

Here is the blog post.

" I spent last week in Detroit with all the dealer candidates for the American smart Car franchises. The meeting was about the philosophy of smart USA and an introduction to the product. I had a lot of fun there! However, little about that meeting is relevant to Dealer Refresh, except.... smart (that's right, stay off the shift key!) USA is building a national BDC for all smart dealerships. The BDC will handle all incoming Internet leads and smart USA phone calls (not dealer phone calls). All Internet leads includes the AutoTraders, Cars.coms, the dealer websites, and AutoUSA's of the world....basically anything related to a smart. They do not plan to work with the smart customers to the extent a dealership BDC would, but are planning to make sure the lead is completely scrubbed, and the customer is ready for dealer contact, before being passed to a dealer. The BDC will also handle CSI calls and unsold floor traffic. The goal with CSI is to call the customer within 48 hours of RDR and have those results to the dealer within 24 hours of the customer completing the survey (under 10 questions).
All this for $50 per sold unit that originated in the smart BDC. Eventually smart plans to get involved with lead purchasing through their BDC as there are no plans to use traditional media for advertising.
To the best of my knowledge, no OEM has ever tried to service all their dealers through a centralized, national, BDC."

Link: http://www.dealerrefresh.com/my_weblog/tools/index.html

[spdickey]

This is for all those who thought IB was going to go away once the dealers opened. Nope, they are taking over the automobile sales lead generation.

BDC=Business Development Center (ie sales based call center)
CSI=Customer Satisfaction Index (ie customer no-service center)
RDR=retail delivery receipt (post sale customer contact)
OEM=Original Equipment Manufacturer (smart USA in this case)

[Old smart]

"... The BDC will also handle CSI calls and unsold floor traffic. ..."

Does that suggest that IB, and not the dealers, will ultimately be handling "orphans," e.g., offering the orphan to another on the reservers list in the dealer's area? And, coordinating the disposition (maybe diversion) of the subsequent orphan generated if a pre-confirmed/configured reserver takes the early jump? Would a "walk-in" have to register and become a reserver in IB's fold to qualify to buy an orphan?

[centerxtreme]

Originally Posted by fishrdnc

"... The BDC will also handle CSI calls and unsold floor traffic. ..."

Does that suggest that IB, and not the dealers, will ultimately be handling "orphans," e.g., offering the orphan to another on the reservers list in the dealer's area? And, coordinating the disposition (maybe diversion) of the subsequent orphan generated if a pre-confirmed/configured reserver takes the early jump? Would a "walk-in" have to register and become a reserver in IB's fold to qualify to buy an orphan?

I was just thinking the same thing. Who has the final say with the "orphans"?
I'm waiting to hear from the smart center in Knoxville.

[SeaDoc]

I did hear from the manager in Riverside that the sales people are salaried, no commission, which lends to this new car sales philosophy - time will tell if it works, but I do enjoy the old fashioned sales dickering, buying cars... oh well...

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by centerxtreme

I was just thinking the same thing. Who has the final say with the "orphans"?
I'm waiting to hear from the smart center in Knoxville.

Something that may have to happen is if a dealer compiles a list of orphan seekers, they may have to run it through IB/smartUSA to ensure that it is offered to whomever IB/... deems appropriate. That would also give IB/... a heads up that another orphan may be created which they may divert to another sales region with with a heavier customer load.

[SmartAzz]

Well it would be nice if they offered up the orphans to those waiting with reservations, perhaps by region and reservation #.

So the sales people may not make commission but they are still angling to add fees and extended warranties on..

[spdickey]

"Unsold floor traffic" are folks who come in and don't buy right away. We're not talking orphans here. These people will have their email addys captured by IB and sales follow ups will happen (spam).

The dealers are determining who they will sell the orphans to.

[Smart_ABQ]

I did see where somebody had already purchased an orphan vehicle on another post. However, when I asked our local dealer about this process, I was told that they were being returned and would not be available for local sale. Not sure how accurate that is but this would follow if smart wants to try to fit an orphan vehicle with an actual similar reservation.

[sharonlee]

Originally Posted by spdickey

"Unsold floor traffic" are folks who come in and don't buy right away. We're not talking orphans here. These people will have their email addys captured by IB and sales follow ups will happen (spam).

The dealers are determining who they will sell the orphans to.

What would we do without you....was just about to ask what the heck he was talking about...lol.