Inbound Call Safety Net

I had to call a dealership recently about servicing my wife’s vehicle.  At 9:00 am I called the dealership’s main number and the phone rang eight times before it went to voicemail.  I called back and the same thing happened.  I needed an answer right away so I didn’t leave a message and called another dealership that was able to help me.

I understand that the receptionist may have been busy, but this got me to think:

• How many calls does your dealership miss a day?
   
• Does the customer end up calling other dealerships as well?
   
• What do you have in place to insure that you don’t miss phone calls?

One way to fix this issue is to integrate an inbound Call Center.  Majority of dealerships wouldn’t want all of their inbound calls to go to a Call Center, most people think that Call Centers are for prospecting but, what about just the phone calls that don’t get answered?

If all of your calls get answered that’s great, but even if it is just one call a day or even once or twice a week, why not have a safety net or back stop in place, just in case?

If I was able to get someone on the phone to take my message and ensure me that someone would call me back, I would not have gone to another dealership.

What are your thoughts?

About Hunter Swift

Hunter Swift is the Director of Sales Development at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role, he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. Hunter specializes in helping dealerships improve sales and follow-up processes through the use of CRM technology. He is known for his ability to connect with people and demonstrate his knowledge to help others solve their problems. Hunter honed his dealership skills as a salesperson prior to joining DealerSocket. He has earned a Business Degree from Pepperdine University. Hunter can be reached at hswift@dealersocket.com and on social media at @HunterSwift.