Hiring in the United States is a challenge right now – and automotive is no exception. A significant pain point for dealers is hiring for the dealership’s business development center. Many dealers are dealing with the same automotive BDC challenges, and AI solutions can be the answer to address them.
Automotive BDC staffing challenges
For many U.S. franchise auto dealerships, automotive business development centers (BDCs) began as sales support staff. They were hired either part-time or full-time to qualify leads or dealership prospects. They were, and often still are, the first impression a customer has with a specific dealership. Business development representatives (BDRs) usually start the sales process and then hand off a customer to a member of the sales staff to complete the sale. For this reason, BDC representatives are usually perceived as entry-level customer support. BDC managers were often team members with strong sales skills, rather than those with well-developed customer experience or managerial backgrounds. With little prospect for career development or time to build specialized skills, BDC employees often leave their jobs to pursue new professional opportunities. There are many stories of managers struggling with their automotive BDC departments, and many more asking if having a BDC is even worth it.
Today’s dealership BDC staff has taken on additional responsibilities, making it even more vital to hire and retain the most qualified staff possible. In addition to qualifying sales leads, an internal BDC staff also supports the service department, calling customers to schedule routine maintenance, handling inbound calls for appointments, status updates or potentially identifying upgrades or retention opportunities. Many dealer groups with multiple locations have begun centralizing their BDC departments into one larger team, or even outsourcing some of the BDC tasks altogether.
Common Inefficiencies in Today’s Dealership BDCs
Dealers are constantly trying to figure out the most efficient way to structure and increase efficiencies within the automotive BDC department at their stores, and for good reason. The responsibilities of BDRs have grown, without removing any of the original tasks. The staff is still responsible for supporting sales, sending prospect emails, making phone calls, and taking inbound sales and service calls. They’re juggling their sales support responsibilities — making outbound calls and sending prospect emails — with inbound dealership requests. They’re doing service department outreach, alerting customers to vehicle parts recalls while also juggling the inbound customer appointments that need to be booked.
As responsibilities have changed, so have pay plans. Some dealerships pay a small salary plus a performance-based bonus to all BDC representatives. Others do tier-based salaries with bonuses based on appointments that show, or BDC leads that convert to sales. There’s no consistency across the industry around structure or pay for the BDC, and that’s one of the reasons it is considered the most frustrating department of the dealership, according to The BDC Puzzle. Current BDC structures are simply not working for the staff or the customer. BDRs shouldn’t have to be buried under inbound appointment requests when their customer service skills and time could be better spent on outbound prospecting.
According to Hireology CEO Adam Robinson in an Automotive News interview from March 2025, the company’s Loyal Automotive Worker study revealed that flexibility is a top priority for job seekers in automotive retail, with applicants ranking it more important than compensation. Dealers need to find solutions that make a better work-life balance possible as well.
Automating Routine Calls and Scheduling
What if, instead of trying and failing with your BDC, you could create an environment where your employees can develop their careers while handling the most immediate customer needs? What if you could create a more efficient BDC structure where show rates increased and routine tasks — like scheduling customer appointments — didn’t fall through the cracks? This is how true conversational AI can support the BDC. STELLA’s conversational AI technology can handle every inbound call that comes into a dealership. Unlike IVR’s which have an artificial rotation of options, STELLA simply asks, “How can I help you?” Customers can say exactly why they’re calling the store, instead of being forced to select a specific option. STELLA has the ability to integrate with most service schedulers, allowing callers to schedule the appointment right then and there – eliminating the time needed for service sdvisors or BDRs to return phone calls. The STELLA AI technology understands native language and, as is true for real AI, learns the more it’s used. This means that as a dealership implements and uses STELLA, the results get better over time. Dealership management does not need to build if-then statements because STELLA learns without supervision. Implementing STELLA increased the show rates in one Honda dealership by 20%. Additionally, according to a 2025 STELLA Automotive AI survey, 60% of dealers said their appointment set rate increased after implementing AI.
The STELLA conversational AI supports a dealership’s BDC staff. STELLA works every hour of every day, so managers don’t have to worry about missing customers – even when the dealership is closed. BDRs can focus on outbound calls or more complex phone calls, and dealership employees can focus on customers who are in the store. All the while, STELLA handles routine appointments and scheduling in the background. For BDRs, this frees time for customer experience training and development, which leads to employees feeling more valued in their roles. The dealerships that want to be able to retain and train a successful BDC staff in the future will need the automation support that STELLA provides to get there. Ready to see what STELLA’s AI solutions can do to enhance your automotive BDC efforts? Schedule your demo today!
Frequently Asked Questions About Dealership BDCs
What is a BDC in a car dealership?
A Business Development Center (BDC) is the department responsible for handling a dealership’s inbound and outbound communications. BDC representatives qualify leads, schedule service appointments, and support both the sales and service teams to keep customer interactions consistent and efficient.
Why do dealerships struggle with their BDC?
Many dealerships face challenges with BDC turnover, inconsistent pay plans, and the increasing workload of inbound and outbound communication. These issues make it difficult to maintain efficiency, provide quality customer service, and retain skilled employees.
What are the biggest challenges in managing an automotive BDC?
Dealerships often cite staffing shortages, lack of training time, and unclear career growth as key hurdles. BDC teams also juggle multiple systems and priorities, such as handling appointment requests while trying to reach new leads, leading to burnout and missed opportunities.
Should dealerships centralize or outsource their BDC?
Centralizing or outsourcing can improve efficiency for multi-location dealer groups by streamlining communication and staffing. However, smaller stores may see stronger customer relationships from an in-house team supported by automation tools like STELLA Service, Reception, and IntellaVoice, which can handle repetitive tasks while staff focus on personalized service.
How can AI help improve dealership BDC operations?
Conversational AI automates routine calls, appointment scheduling, and basic customer requests. This allows BDC representatives to focus on higher-value interactions, reduces response time, and helps dealerships handle more calls without adding staff.
What makes conversational AI different from IVR systems?
Unlike IVR menus that force callers to select options, conversational AI understands natural speech. STELLA, for example, asks “How can I help you?” and lets callers explain their needs in their own words, booking appointments or answering questions instantly, without manual routing.
Can AI increase dealership appointment show rates?
Yes. By capturing every inbound call and scheduling appointments in real time, conversational AI ensures fewer missed opportunities and higher show rates. In one dealership example, STELLA increased service appointment show rates by 20%.
How can dealerships reduce BDC staff turnover?
Improving career paths, training, and technology support helps keep BDC employees engaged. When routine calls and scheduling are automated, representatives have more time for meaningful customer conversations and professional growth, leading to higher job satisfaction and retention.
What does the future of the automotive BDC look like?
The modern BDC will combine human expertise with AI-powered automation. Routine scheduling and service calls will be handled by AI, while BDC teams focus on customer relationships, outreach, and loyalty programs, creating a more efficient and rewarding environment for both employees and customers.
How can dealerships start implementing AI in their BDC?
Begin by identifying high-volume, repetitive tasks like inbound service calls or appointment scheduling. From there, explore AI solutions such as STELLA Service or Reception, which integrates with most dealer management and service scheduling systems to streamline communication and improve efficiency from day one.
