Fixed Ops Journal - August 2022 - F16

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
TOOLB X
The
A collection of news and notes from around the fi xed ops world
SPOTLIGHT IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
BDC specialist recalibrates
experience for customers
E
ven after 37 years in the automotive
business, John Traver still gets excited
about the day-to-day wins for his
Business Development Center solutions
company, Traver Connect.
In July, the company announced that General
Motors had approved an expansion of its
solutions as an in-Market Retail turnkey product
and Parts and Service Excellence Service
BDC enabler.
" Th is is pretty big for us, " Traver says .
Th e product off erings will help GM dealerships
improve customer satisfaction and focus
on retention ratings in fi xed operations
while they also will receive co-op reimbursement
for their use of the Quick Connect sales
lead product.
Traver says that approval by GM " better
aligns us with their direction, and we're
able to create new products to further align
us. "
" Our job is to assess and recalibrate the BDC
direction, " he says. " What we do is not just
transactional. We're not just processing phone
calls. "
Traver Connect is focused on the impact of
the customer-dealership BDC exchange to
fi nd the convenience - perhaps mobile service
or pickup and delivery - that will motivate
a customer to action.
" We have to get in the customer's seat " to
think about the conversation from their perspective,
he said.
He recalls the days when dealership focus
groups tried to fi nd out what customers wanted.
Now, online review platforms and social
media give consumers a bullhorn.
Meanwhile, online shopping sites have led
PAGE 16 AUGUST 2022
customers to expect transactions to happen
immediately.
" Th e customer expectation has evolved, " he
says. " One-click Amazon ordering, overnight
delivery. "
Traver says the automotive industry must be
mindful of how those evolving expectations can
potentially impact business. Th at's why he's a
fan of the business maxim " It's not the big that
eat the small, it's the fast that eat the slow. "
So how should an exchange between a BDC
agent and a customer go? Traver says that's
easy: " Ask good questions, keep it simple, and
nail the experience, " he says.
Th ose good conversations are what make
Traver content.
" I love the BDC, " he says. " I get to design and
develop solutions to problems that hold us up.
Our industry has always been innovative. And
there's room for everybody in automotive. "
- Dan Shine
FOJ FAST 15
First car: 1974 Pinto wagon. Leaked oil like
a sieve. Once the windshield was smashed
out, so I had to drive to school wearing shop
goggles for about two months.
First concert you attended: Bruce Hornsby
Name a pet peeve: Dishonesty
Most thrilling/adventurous thing you've
done: Starting my fi rst company with hardly
any money after moving away from our home
state
First job: De tasseling corn in Wisconsin for
$2 an hour. Good money; horrible job
One thing you learned on the job you never
forgot: How you treat others really matters.
If you could pick up a new skill, what would
it be? Singing! I can only wish ...
First website you go to in the morning: LOL
- my email. I need to make sure everyone
is taken care of.
What did you want to be when you were a
kid? An NBA player - specifi cally a
Milwaukee Buck.
Do you collect anything? I'm just not into
clutter.
What are your streaming binge shows?
" Blacklist, " " Reacher, " " Yellowstone, " " Blue
Bloods, " " Castle, " " NCIS, " " M*A*S*H " and
" Bull "
First album you bought: George Thorogood
Favorite comfort food: A great burger at
Houston's Restaurant (with spinach and
artichoke dip, please)
Favorite line from a movie: " You can't
handle the truth! " (A Few Good Men) or
" Help me help YOU! " (Jerry Maguire). Both
had Tom Cruise in them.
Who's on your Spotify playlist? Cody
Johnson, Luke Combs, George Strait,
Commodores, Tom Petty, Eddie Money,
Boston, '80s R&B and Tim Keller podcast
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