IndustryAutomotive
A sales call should never wait behind "is my car ready."
Service generates the call volume. Sales generates the margin. On most phone systems they are the same line, in the same order, answered by whoever is not busy. We separate them, hold the ones that have to be held, and price the monthly bill by simultaneous calls, not by how many people work at the store.
§What usually starts this
Stores do not replace phone systems for fun. Something starts it.
Which one brought you here?
Sales cannot get a line
Service swamps the main number in the morning, and a buyer calling about a listing gets a hold or voicemail.
Nobody knows what rings out
Calls are being missed, and nobody can say how many or in which department.
The marketing spend is a guess
Nobody can say which listing, spot or mailer actually produces a phone up.
A salesperson left
Customers had their personal cell number, so the relationship left with them.
You added a rooftop
The new store came with its own phone system, its own bill and no way to pass a call across.
§Four departments
Sales, service, parts, body. Each one is a different business.
They have different hours, different people, different urgency, and different consequences when a call is missed. On most systems they share one main number, one receptionist and one queue.
What that produces is predictable. Service swamps the line in the morning. A buyer calling about a listing gets voicemail or a hold, decides you are busy, and calls the dealer twenty minutes down the road.
Separate paths per department. Each with its own hours, its own queue and its own people.
A receptionist or BDC in front. If you have one, with visibility into what is holding where.
Parts and wholesale on their own line. So trade calls do not land in the customer queue.
Reporting by department. Including calls that rang out. That is usually the first time a GM sees the size of the problem in a number rather than an argument.
§Status calls
Most of your service calls are one question.
“Is it ready.” It is a short call, there are a lot of them, and they arrive in the same rush your advisors spend writing repair orders with customers standing at the desk.
You cannot stop those calls, and pretending a phone system eliminates them would be dishonest. What you can do is stop them competing with every other call in the building.
Their own queue. Status calls wait in line with each other, not with a buyer.
Whoever can answer. Routed to anyone who can answer a status question, not to a specific advisor who is with a customer.
A callback, not a hold. The caller can choose to be called back instead of waiting.
Counted. You see how many ring out, because right now nobody knows.
§Phone ups
The call is the lead, and you are already supposed to be measuring it.
A number for each source. The listing site, the radio spot, the mailer, the used lot sign, the service reminder. Each one rings the right department and reports separately, so you can see which spend actually produces a phone up.
Recording. Normal practice in this industry, and the system supports it per number, per queue or on demand.
Your policy. Whether you record, who you record and what you tell callers is your decision. We configure it. We do not advise on it.
§Off the desk
Advisors and salespeople are on the drive, on the lot, or under a car.
The 3CX app on their mobile is their extension. A salesperson calling a customer back shows the store’s number, not a personal cell, which keeps the relationship and the record with the store when that salesperson leaves.
Transfers reach somebody on the lot the same way they reach the desk. Voicemail arrives in email with the audio, so it gets heard between customers rather than at the end of a shift.
§The price
Transparent Billing and Licensing with SPARK VoIP
The 3CX license is annual, sold separately, and has to carry every extension. The monthly bill is $30 per simultaneous call, which means per SIP trunk. We size both from your people and your phones. You do not have to count your calls.
Worked example: an independent shop with three advisors, a manager, a parts person and an owner, plus phones out in the bays, is around twelve extensions. That fits the 8 SC license, which holds up to 40 extensions, on eight trunks. That is $240 a month, plus an 8 SC license, annual.
A franchise rooftop with sales, service, parts, body, a BDC and a receptionist runs higher on both counts. Adding a salesperson adds an extension, and if that pushes past the license’s extension limit, the license steps up. We tell you before it does. Tracking numbers and any new numbers are listed separately.
§Groups
Three rooftops, one system.
Every store keeps its own numbers and its own department routing. Calls can roll between stores, which matters most for a parts request or a used inventory question the other lot can answer.
Adding a rooftop is an extension range and a set of numbers, not a second phone system and a second bill. Four digit dialing between stores, and one shared pool of calls.
§Changing systems
Your old system stays live until your numbers have landed.
Every number comes with you. Main, department and tracking numbers. We set your go-live date. The port date belongs to the carrier you are leaving, and it does not move your go-live.
Standard remote install is free. Handsets provisioned, department routing and hours built, and 911 location data set for each store.
Custom work is quoted first. Anything beyond the standard install is $125 an hour, and you see the quote before we start.
A real person answers. If they can fix it on the call, they do. If not, they open a ticket and tell you what happens next. After hours, call (918) 608-8888 for 24 hour emergency support. The hosted system runs at 99.9 percent uptime.
§Questions
What people ask before they call.
Can we keep every number?
Yes, including the department numbers and the tracking numbers. Your old system stays live until they have landed.
Does it work with our CRM or DMS?
It depends entirely on which one. Tell us the name and we will give you a straight yes, a no, or custom work at $125 an hour, quoted first. We are not going to imply an integration exists.
Can we record sales calls?
Yes, per number, per queue or on demand. Your policy, our configuration.
Can the BDC see what service is holding?
Yes, if you want it that way. Visibility is set per team.
What about after hours and Sundays?
Set per department. Service closed, sales open, parts closed is a normal setup, and it changes without rebuilding anything.
What happens if the store loses internet or power?
The phone system is not in your building, so it keeps running. Your staff keep working on their mobile phones with the 3CX app.
Are we locked in?
Month to month on our side. The 3CX license is annual.
Twenty minutes, and bring your departments.
Tell us your departments, how many people you have, how many phones, how many stores, and which numbers you need to keep, tracking numbers included. You will get your size, your monthly rate and your license line on that call.
Or call (888) 223-1094