When the phones ring in your dealership, do they feel like more of a distraction for your staff than a source of revenue? While many of the more basic inquiries could be fielded by a receptionist rather than a sales person or service advisor, you might be surprised to learn that over a quarter of inbound customer calls lead to a vehicle purchase. You certainly don’t want to leave those potential sales and service appointments unanswered.

The right call center solution helps capture more of your incoming calls—and potential revenue—while also increasing your staff’s efficiency. Your reception or call center services should also be knowledgeable in both customer preferences and dealership procedures to better capture those callers and convert them into sales and service customers.

Phone Ringing? Catch Incoming Revenue with Strategic Call Center Solutions

Knowing Why Customers Are Calling

It’s rarely just for your store’s hours or location, as this basic information can easily be found online. Often, potential customers are calling your dealership to discover what—and who—to expect.

Your prospective customers want to find out if your staff are friendly, attentive, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. If their initial encounter with your dealership is unpleasant or off-putting, they’ll end the call and move on to another vehicle sales or service provider. Even worse, allowing calls to go to voicemail defeats the caller’s basic purpose and can portray your store as unconcerned, out of touch, or poorly staffed.

If your dealership receives a high volume of calls every day, it can be unrealistic to expect every call to be answered and handled successfully by a well-trained salesperson or service advisor (or any available staff member). Because your dealership’s customer service reflects on your brand, it’s important to have a dedicated inbound call center solution in place.

Making a Memorable First Impression

If the majority of customers calling your sales department have at least some intent to purchase, how can you ensure those first-time conversations result in the highest possible number of booked appointments—and not in added business for your competitors? The first impression makes all the difference.

Some of the ways to make a memorable first impression with a potential customer include:

• A warm welcome
• Active listening
• Product knowledge
• Tailored recommendations
• Transparency and honesty
• A problem-solving approach
• Follow-up and continued communication

When you use a professional call center service, every one of your callers are able to interact with an engaging, knowledgeable person best fit to handle their needs. Every call is immediately routed to the correct person or team, maximizing efficiency and freeing your sales and service staff for other duties. In addition to handling inbound and outbound calls for both sales and service, a full-service call center can offer other advantages such as customized call campaigns, extensive monitoring, and in-depth reporting to pinpoint any missed opportunities.

Connecting the Customer Lifecycle

Once you’ve captured prospective buyers, keeping them engaged throughout the ownership lifecycle is key to long-term profitability. After customers have made an initial purchase, a professional call center will follow up by obtaining documented customer feedback and ratings about their experience at your store.

For prospects that didn’t purchase a vehicle, follow-up can help you address their key purchase objections, resolve potential CSI issues, or answer any other concerns to help win them back. Building these customer connections in an authentic way helps grow both your brand and your loyal customer base.

Need Assistance? Call in the Professionals

If you’re struggling to overcome some of the common dealership customer service mistakes, we can help. Our professionally trained call center team will help ensure every call is handled promptly, routing customers to the correct person or team and collecting or updating their info to keep your records up-to-date. Want to experience the benefits of the Affinitiv Call Center for yourself? Contact us today for your live demo.