Auto dealer BDC calling playbook for appointment setting

What this playbook covers

A BDC earns its keep on two behaviors: speed on fresh leads and reasoned persistence on unsold ones. This playbook covers the lead pipeline, block structure, cadence, dispositions, the three-line workflow, and KPI ranges against production reference points, with the Safeguards boundary drawn in one bright line: no financial details on recorded marketing calls.

List building and hygiene

One queue, every source, timestamps intact. Website forms, marketplace leads, chat handoffs, phone-ups and showroom visitors all import with source and time, because age is the first fact about any lead. Hygiene rules:

• Internal do-not-call suppression before import; stop requests honored and logged the same day.
• Fresh leads ride the inquiry, which supports the call as an established business relationship under 16 CFR 310.2: an inquiry within 90 days or a purchase within 540 days.
• Cold marketing lists, such as owner-base campaigns for model launches, get National DNC scrubbing refreshed at least every 31 days, and every call stays inside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local under 16 CFR 310.4(c) and 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1).
• Bad numbers die on second confirmation. Aged lists rot fast; re-verify before the month-long arcs.

Call block structure

Four blocks across the store day:

Speed block, continuous during store hours. Fresh leads get a first attempt inside five minutes. Whoever staffs the board treats this as the only interrupt-worthy event.

Morning block, 9:00 to 11:00. Unsold follow-up day-1 and day-3 touches, plus service confirmations for the day’s drive.

Afternoon block, 2:00 to 4:30. Deeper unsold arcs (day 7 through 21), no-show recycles, and still-shopping touches with the week’s true reasons.

Evening window, 5:00 to 7:00. The touch window that reaches working shoppers. Text confirmations and next-day appointment reminders go out here.

All calls respect quiet hours at the lead’s local time; the dialer computes it per row.

Attempt cadence

Fresh leads: attempt one inside five minutes, attempt two same day at a different hour, attempt three next morning, then a text with the rep’s direct line. Stop at four on a no-contact lead and disposition to nurture.

Unsold follow-up: seven touches over 45 days on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 35 and 45, calls and texts mixed, each touch carrying a verifiable reason: the unit is still there, a new trim arrived, a service opening exists, end-of-month selection is real. The day-45 close is honest: “This is my last note about this one unless you tell me to keep watching.” Bought-elsewhere leads get congratulated and moved out of the arc.

No-shows: recycled within the week with a new slot and a no-guilt opener: “Yesterday got away from both of us.” Two no-shows without contact move to nurture; the third chase costs more than the appointment pays.

Attempt caps in the dialer enforce the arcs; a rep should never be deciding from memory whether today is a day-14 or a day-21 touch.

Dispositions and what they mean

• Appointment set: slot, vehicle, trade flag, text confirmation sent. The floor sees the context before the shopper parks.
• Confirmed: day-of confirmation text answered yes. Show rate doubles on confirmed rows in most stores.
• No-show: dated recycle task, new reason required.
• Unsold follow-up dated: the arc continues; the next touch and its reason are already on the lead.
• Bought elsewhere: congratulated, out of the arc, tagged for owner-base campaigns at trade-cycle time.
• Still shopping: wants the market; gets a weekly touch with one true fact, not a daily nag.
• Bad number / Left voicemail / Do not call: the mechanical set, honored the same day.

The three-line workflow and AI summaries

Three lines suit the BDC because most connects are short and decision-light. The working rhythm:

• The freshest lead is the next dial; the queue enforces it so the rep never chooses.
• Payment questions get structure, not numbers; the script’s discipline line does the work.
• No income, payoff or banking details on any recorded call, ever; dealers that extend or arrange credit are financial institutions under the FTC Safeguards Rule at 16 CFR 314, and the BDC keeps that boundary by never opening the door.
• Edit the AI summary before the next connect: vehicle, timeline, trade flag, slot, reason. The appointment handoff is only as good as these fields.
• Recording disclosure on in all-party consent states; use it everywhere if the store group crosses state lines.

KPI targets

Ranges against production reference points. In production use across 3-line sessions over 90 days, the median operator ran about 85 dials per active hour and roughly 600 dials per operator day, with person connects around 17.8 percent. Planning ranges for a BDC:

• Speed to first attempt: under 5 minutes in store hours, measured as a median, not an aspiration.
• Dials per active hour: 60 to 90, with fresh-lead blocks at the top and unsold arcs in the middle.
• Person connects: 10 to 25 percent; fresh leads beat aged lists by a wide margin.
• Appointments set: 25 to 40 per 100 person contacts on fresh leads; 8 to 15 per 100 on unsold arcs.
• Show rate: 55 to 75 percent with day-of confirmations; no-show recycles convert 20 to 35 percent within a week.

These figures are measured in production use, 3-line sessions, 90 days; they are reference points, not a promise of results.

Compliance guardrails

Leads and customers ride the established business relationship under 16 CFR 310.2; cold consumer marketing still requires National DNC scrubbing refreshed at least every 31 days, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local hours under 16 CFR 310.4(c) and 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1), immediate opt-out honoring, and TCPA wireless rules at 47 CFR 64.1200 regardless of list origin. Financial details stay out of recorded calls under the Safeguards reading at 16 CFR 314, negotiation stays with the licensed salesperson, and several states require all-party recording consent, so run the disclosure. DialBreeze applies your internal DNC list, quiet hours and attempt caps. This guide describes rules, not legal advice.