BDC (business development center)

A business development center is the group inside a dealership that works the phones, the internet leads and the text threads rather than the showroom floor. In some stores it is a separate room with its own staff and manager. In others it is a role that floor salespeople rotate through, or a handful of dedicated agents sitting near the desk.

The BDC is usually measured on appointments set, appointments confirmed and appointments shown, rather than on units sold, because the handoff to a salesperson happens when the customer arrives.

Why it matters for a sales manager

The BDC is where most of a store’s paid traffic is either converted into a visit or quietly lost. Whether it is a department or a set of duties, someone has to own the answer rate, the ask and the follow-up, or leads that cost real money go unworked while the floor waits for walk-ins.