BDC Sales Representative

Job Description

Job Description

Summary

The Business Development Center (BDC) Agent is responsible for maximizing sales opportunities generated through the dealership's inbound sales leads and existing customer database.

The primary function of this position is to communicate with prospective and existing customers by telephone, email, and text message to identify customer needs, provide timely and accurate information, maintain customer engagement, and schedule qualified appointments for the dealership's sales team.

A significant component of this position is proactive outbound business development. BDC Agents are expected to consistently mine the dealership's customer and prospect databases, re-engage unsold and inactive customers, work assigned sales and marketing campaigns, and identify new vehicle-purchase opportunities.

This is a performance-driven position. Success is measured through customer contacts, appointments generated, appointment show rate, sold appointments, lead conversion, CRM execution, follow-up performance, and overall contribution to dealership sales.

Essential Duties

Essential Duties include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Responds promptly and professionally to assigned Internet, telephone, text, chat, and other dealership-generated sales leads.

• Communicates with prospective and existing customers primarily by telephone, email, and text message for the purpose of developing sales opportunities and scheduling dealership appointments.

• Makes proactive outbound calls and sends approved text and email communications to prospective and existing customers to generate new vehicle sales opportunities.

• "Mines" the dealership's existing customer and prospect databases to identify new and additional sales opportunities, including previous customers, unsold prospects, inactive leads, orphan customers, lease maturity opportunities, equity opportunities, and other dealership-approved customer campaigns.

• Researches and develops opportunities from assigned customer lists, CRM campaigns, and other dealership-approved sources.

• Identifies and qualifies potential sales opportunities by gathering relevant information regarding the customer's vehicle interests, transportation needs, trade-in vehicle, purchase timeframe, and other information necessary to assist the dealership's sales team.

• Consistently follows up with sales leads through telephone calls, text messages, and emails according to established dealership processes and follow-up schedules.

• Works assigned leads throughout the dealership's established lead lifecycle and does not discontinue follow-up without an appropriate CRM disposition or management direction.

• Re-engages aged, inactive, unsold, and previously unresponsive customers in an effort to create new sales opportunities.

• Schedules qualified customer appointments to visit the dealership and meet with a member of the sales team.

• Establishes clear appointment dates and times and accurately records appointments in the dealership's CRM.

• Confirms scheduled appointments using the dealership's established confirmation process.

• Follows up promptly with customers who miss scheduled appointments and attempts to reschedule the appointment.

• Maintains communication with customers prior to their scheduled appointment to maximize appointment show rates.

• Provides the appropriate salesperson and/or sales manager with relevant customer information prior to or upon the customer's arrival at the dealership.

• Facilitates an organized handoff of customers from the BDC to the dealership sales team.

• Follows up with customers as directed after dealership visits, including unsold showroom customers when assigned, to assist in generating return visits and additional sales opportunities.

• Follows an owner follow-up and prospect development system that encourages repeat and referral business and contributes to customer satisfaction.

• Requests referral opportunities from existing customers when appropriate and in accordance with dealership procedures.

• Maintains an ongoing customer and prospect database to help generate repeat, referral, and future sales opportunities.

• Accurately documents all customer communications, contact attempts, appointments, notes, customer preferences, and lead dispositions in the dealership's CRM.

• Completes assigned CRM tasks and follow-up activities accurately and within established dealership timeframes.

• Maintains an organized customer pipeline and ensures that assigned leads contain accurate and current information.

• Follows dealership policies regarding lead ownership, duplicate leads, reassignment, customer handoffs, appointment attribution, and other lead-management procedures.

• Immediately communicates significant customer concerns, sales opportunities, pricing questions, complaints, or situations requiring management assistance to the appropriate manager.

• Consults regularly with the BDC Manager, Internet Director, Sales Manager, or other designated dealership management.

• Meets or exceeds established dealership performance standards and objectives.

• Performance may be measured using metrics including, but not limited to, response time, outbound activity, customer contact rate, appointment set rate, appointment show rate, sold appointments, lead closing percentage, follow-up completion, CRM task completion, and overall sales contribution.

• Understands that customer communications, including calls, emails, and text messages conducted through dealership-approved systems, may be monitored and reviewed for training, quality assurance, performance management, and compliance purposes.

• Utilizes dealership-approved CRM systems, telephone systems, texting platforms, email systems, and other software necessary to perform assigned duties.

• Checks assigned CRM, email, telephone, and messaging systems frequently throughout the workday and responds to customer inquiries and assigned opportunities promptly.

• Delivers messages intended for other departments promptly and notifies customers when their requests have been forwarded to the appropriate dealership personnel.

• Communicates effectively with customers and prospects according to the customer's preferred method of communication when practical and permitted by dealership policy.

• Maintains professional, courteous, persistent, and customer-focused communication throughout the follow-up process.

• Understands that the objective of BDC communication is to develop the customer relationship, maximize the sales opportunity, and create a qualified dealership appointment for the sales team.

• Remains knowledgeable regarding dealership inventory, Toyota products, vehicle features, model changes, incentives, dealership services, and other information necessary to communicate effectively with customers.

• Directs customers to appropriate dealership and manufacturer product information resources when necessary.

• Attends dealership, BDC, product, sales, CRM, compliance, and other training sessions as scheduled.

• Participates in role-playing, call review, communication review, and other coaching or performance-development activities as required.

• Follows established prospecting, lead-management, appointment-setting, and customer follow-up procedures.

• Knows and follows dealership policies and applicable federal, state, and local requirements governing customer communications and retail automobile sales as they relate to the employee's responsibilities.

• Uses only dealership-approved systems, processes, pricing information, templates, and communication methods when communicating with customers.

• Protects customer information and dealership data and follows dealership policies regarding confidentiality, privacy, and appropriate use of customer information.

• Establishes personal performance and income goals consistent with dealership standards of productivity and develops, with management, strategies for achieving those goals.

• Maintains a professional appearance and professional conduct consistent with dealership standards.

• Maintains regular and reliable attendance and reports to work as scheduled.

• Must be available to work the schedule required by the dealership, which may include evenings, weekends, and holidays.

• Performs other duties and tasks as assigned by management.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None.

Qualifications 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience 

• Associate's degree (A.A.) or equivalent from two-year college or technical school; or six months to one year related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Bachelor's degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university; or one to two years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Two to four years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  
  

Language Skills 

• Bi-Lingual a plus. Ability to read and comprehend simple English instructions, short correspondence, and memos. Ability to write simple correspondence. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients and other employees of the organization.
• Ability to read and interpret English documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret general English business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public.

Mathematical Skills 

• Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
  
  

Reasoning Ability 

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations 

• CA State Sales License
• Valid CA CLEAR Driver's License

  Physical Demands 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Ability to sit for long periods of time

• Ability to utilize and speak with customers on the telephone or other communication device(s)
• Ability to utilize/operate/function with a computer and related devices for extended periods of time

Work Environment 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential office type functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.