Shareholder of Carmen Automotive BDC

In the meantime, I have been a shareholder of Carmen Automotive BDC for two years, a call center with a singular mission: to improve online customer contact in the automotive industry! Together with my fellow shareholders Remco de Vette, Koen van de Laar, and Patrick Franke, we are making significant strides in customer contact! Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without our operational director Jeffrey Silva!

Improving online customer contact in the automotive industry!

Why did I get involved?

Becoming a shareholder of a call center was not my initial choice when I embarked on entrepreneurship. Being a dealer for SsangYong and later founding Nieuweautokopen.nl were more deliberate decisions. However, the seed of running a call center began to grow with both companies.

Between 2010 and 2016, I operated a call center with Gerben Beck that qualified leads online, not only for Nieuweautokopen.nl but also for other dealers and importers. We attempted to sell cars directly. During those times, we dealt with all aspects of a call center.

Acquisition by eBay

After the acquisition of Nieuweautokopen.nl by the eBay Classified Group, which included Marktplaats at the time, we transitioned from having our own call center to a remote one. While it worked well, it also gave an uneasy feeling. You are engaged with numbers and Excel sheets on quality, but you lack control.

When the business moved to CARMEN Automotive BDC, I had the opportunity to invest as a shareholder in Carmen. This not only made me directly responsible for the issues at hand but also empowered me to resolve them.

Two years later

Now, two years later, I can confidently say it was a good move! After a challenging initial period, we have built a strong organization with impressive clients, including major OEMs like Ford, Subaru, Stellantis, Toyota, and Kia, as well as large dealer holdings like A-Point and Hedin Automotive.

What do we do?

As a 100% dedicated Business Development Center for the automotive industry, also known as a call center or KCC, we maintain numerous customer contacts via phone (primarily) as well as email and chat. This involves following up on online leads forwarded via Calldrip. Additionally, we handle evening follow-ups for dozens of dealers between 18:00 and 21:00. Other crucial activities for our organization include handling APK appointments, NPS calls, and inbound overflow work.

The beauty of being a shareholder is that I now have control over aspects such as quality and training. I frequently write about online leads and their follow-up, incorporating our vision to guide training and coaching. The quality has visibly improved in recent years. We have achieved our goal of being the best call center, KCC, in the automotive industry.

With Calldrip, I proudly showcase the results and conversation reports of our employees. And it is insightful to see how showroom auto sellers enhance their skills based on that information.

All in all, I am glad that I took the step to become a shareholder of a call center, proudly referred to as a Business Development Center. The key is developing business that would otherwise be left on the shelf.

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