TULSA, Okla., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Thrifty Car Sales, a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. , is blazing new trails with the opening of a business development center (BDC). The business development center has opened in Tulsa with dedicated telephone sales agents who take incoming phone calls generated by the marketing efforts of Thrifty Car Sales' 39 U.S. locations. In addition, sales agents make follow- up calls on sold and unsold showroom traffic, missed appointments and referrals. Outgoing calls are also placed to customer referrals and to those who have visited Thrifty Car Sales in the past and left without making a purchase.
"The creation of a BDC should result in more business for Thrifty Car Sales dealers and happier customers," said Jeff Cerefice, Vice President of Thrifty Car Sales. "Our dealers were telling us they had a need for greater traffic flow to their locations, and the business development center is designed to do just that. This is a red-hot concept in the car sales industry right now. Lots of new car dealers with multiple brands are moving to a call/business development center strategy. It takes incoming calls off the showroom floor and channels them to dedicated professionals solely focused on making appointments. We were able to leverage the assets of our worldwide car rental reservation center to deliver an extremely cost-effective, state-of-the art, full-service call center for our dealers."
Industry statistics show that 70 percent of consumers who visit a dealership never receive any type of follow-up, even if it's just a simple phone call to say "thank you". Ninety percent of new or used car purchasers do not receive any communications from dealerships after their purchase.
"Clearly, there are huge opportunities in improved customer service and increased business opportunities for car sales dealers who take the time to follow up with customers," said Cerefice. "Dealers typically don't have the manpower to adequately follow up. Our beta test of the business development center concept for Thrifty Car Sales has already proven very effective."
In the beta test, Thrifty Car Sales did targeted mailings to over 100,000 prospective car buyers. "Our initial tests have been very encouraging," said Cerefice. "Our ratio of sales-to-leads is running well above industry averages. There's no question that this concept is an effective way to drive more business to Thrifty Car Sales dealers."
About Thrifty Car Sales
Thrifty Car Sales is a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. , a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thrifty Car Sales, with 39 locations, franchises retail used car sales dealerships throughout the United States. Dealerships offer a wide range of late model, low mileage vehicles. Thrifty Certified(R) vehicles pass extensive inspection and are backed by a limited warranty. Thrifty Car Sales was founded in 1999.
FCMN Contact: chris.payne@dtag.com
