Common outsourced BDC pricing models
Flat monthly fee. A set price for a defined scope, such as certain lead sources, departments and hours. Predictable and easy to budget. The key is making sure the scope is written down clearly.
Per agent or per hour. You pay for dedicated agent time. Works well if you want a fixed amount of capacity, but you’re paying for time, not results.
Per lead. A fee for each lead worked. Simple, but can get expensive at high volume, and it doesn’t tell you anything about outcomes.
Per appointment. A fee for each appointment set. Sounds results-based, but it can encourage weak appointments that never show. If you consider it, ask whether it’s per appointment set or per appointment shown.
Per minute. Common with generic answering services. Rewards long calls rather than outcomes, and costs are hard to predict.
The real cost of an in-house BDC
When stores compare an outsourced quote to “just hiring a couple of people,” they often count only hourly wages. A full in-house BDC also includes:
- Wages and commissions or bonuses for agents
- Payroll taxes, benefits and paid time off
- A BDC manager to hire, coach and run the team
- Phone lines, software seats and equipment
- Training time before a new agent is productive
- Turnover: recruiting, re-training and the lost appointments while seats are empty
- Coverage gaps during sick days, vacations and busy seasons
- Bilingual hiring, which narrows the candidate pool
Add those up honestly before comparing.
How to compare quotes fairly
- Write down the scope. Which lead sources, which departments, inbound or outbound, which hours, which languages.
- Ask how results are measured. Appointments set, appointments shown, and sold or repair orders, all visible in your CRM.
- Ask about the follow-up cadence. How many attempts, over how many days, across which channels?
- Ask about starting small. Can you start with one lead source and expand later?
- Calculate cost per shown appointment. Divide the monthly cost by shown appointments. That’s the number that matters.
What results to expect
Results depend on your lead sources and process, so be wary of anyone who promises specific numbers before seeing your store. As a real reference point, our first 30 days on KBB Instant Cash Offer leads for a Central Florida Ford dealership produced 38 booked appointments from 3,522 outreach attempts, with an 83% show rate on appointments that came due. See the BDC ROI guide for how to calculate whether a BDC pays for itself.
Get a quote
Contact us with the lead sources and departments you want covered, and we’ll put together a defined monthly scope.