Most BDC training decks teach reps to "build rapport" and "create urgency." None of that tells a new hire what to say at 9:14am when a lead from three weeks ago finally picks up. Dealers spend about $600K a year generating leads, and roughly 43% of qualified leads still get mishandled somewhere between the form fill and the follow-up call. The gap isn't lead volume. It's what your BDC says, and how often, before the lead goes cold.
This is the training doc we'd hand a new BDC rep on day one: the scripts, the cadence, the objections, and the point where a manager should stop assigning that lead to a human at all.
What is a BDC cadence, actually?
A BDC cadence is the fixed sequence of calls, texts, and emails a rep runs against a new lead over a set window, usually the first 90 days. A working cadence for a dealership is roughly 8-12 touches across calls, texts, and email, front-loaded in the first 7 days, tapering after day 30, and mixing channels so a missed call doesn't kill the whole chain.
The cadence exists so follow-up doesn't depend on a rep's memory or mood that day. If your BDC is "calling people until they answer or tell us to stop," you don't have a cadence, you have a to-do list.
What should a BDC phone script sound like?
Skip the script that opens with "How are you today?" Nobody believes it and it burns five seconds you don't have.
First call (within 5 minutes of the lead): "Hi [Name], this is [Rep] at [Dealership], you were looking at the [Vehicle] online. Is that still something you're shopping for, or has your situation changed?"
That question does two jobs: it confirms the lead is real, and it gives you a branch to work from. If yes, book a specific time slot, not "come by whenever." If no, ask what changed, log it, and move to the next cadence step instead of guessing.
Voicemail (used sparingly, days 1 and 5 only): "Hey [Name], [Rep] from [Dealership]. I've got the [Vehicle] you inquired about and wanted to check timing with you. Text or call me back at this number, [Number]."
Keep voicemails under 20 seconds. Nobody replays a 45-second sales pitch.
What should a BDC text script sound like?
Text gets read. Calls get screened. Your text cadence should carry more of the weight than most BDC training admits.
Day 0 text (after a missed call): "Hi [Name], this is [Rep] at [Dealership]. Tried to reach you about the [Vehicle]. What's a good time today or tomorrow to connect?"
Day 3 text (value nudge, not a pitch): "[Name], we had [X units] of the [Model/Trim] come in this week. Want me to hold one for you to look at?"
Day 10 text (permission-based close): "Still shopping for a [Vehicle], or should I close this out on my end?"
That last one matters more than it looks. It gives the lead a clean off-ramp, which paradoxically gets more replies than another "just checking in."
What's the right day 0-90 cadence?
- Day 0-1: Call within 5 minutes, follow with a text within 15 minutes if no answer, second call same day.
- Day 2-7: One call and one text per day, alternate mornings and afternoons.
- Day 8-30: Drop to 2-3 touches per week, mix in one value-add text (inventory, financing offer, trade-in reminder).
- Day 31-90: Weekly or biweekly touch, mostly text and email, checking for a status change.
- Day 90+: This is where most dealers just stop. The lead sits in the CRM, untouched, until it's effectively dead weight.
That last bucket is the one worth staring at. The average dealership carries about 21,000 dormant leads in its CRM, and roughly 85% of a typical dealer CRM has gone silent for 90 days or more. That's not a follow-up gap, that's most of your database.
How do you handle the top objections?
"I'm still shopping around." "Makes sense, most people look at two or three places. What would make one of them the easy choice, price, trade value, or timing?"
"Send me info by email." "Happy to. What's the best number to text you the details so you're not digging through email later?" (Get the text opt-in, don't just send an email into the void.)
"I already bought." Log it immediately, remove from active cadence, and route to a service or referral cadence instead. This single step keeps your BDC from calling happy owners and annoying them.
"Stop calling me." Honor it immediately and permanently. Beyond being good practice, it's required. TCPA and A2P 10DLC rules govern texting and calling in the US, CASL governs Canada, and opt-outs and quiet hours aren't optional extras, they're the baseline.
How many touches before a lead goes quiet?
Most leads that convert do so within the first 5-8 touches. After that, response rates drop hard, and by touch 10-12 with no reply, you're statistically closer to zero than to a booked appointment. This is the natural point where most BDC managers pull the lead from active cadence and mark it dormant, which is exactly where the lead actually becomes valuable again, just not to a human dialer.
When should you stop manual chasing?
Once a lead has been silent for 90+ days, manual chasing stops paying for itself. A rep's time is worth more on fresh leads than on redialing a name that hasn't answered in three months. But those dormant leads aren't dead, they're just untriggered. Blasting them all with the same "we miss you" email converts at around 0.1%. Reaching out at the right trigger (a rate drop, a trade-in window, a service visit) converts dormant leads at 1-4%, which on a $40K average vehicle is the difference between a rounding error and real revenue on a database that size.
That math is why we built Revvive: it runs the trigger-based reactivation layer on the 90+ day leads your BDC has already exhausted, without adding headcount. If you want to see how it fits your current BDC workflow, book a fit call or read how it works.
Next step
Pull your CRM's lead-status report and count how many contacts have had zero outbound activity in the last 90 days. That number is your real BDC opportunity. If you want a structured way to work through it, start with the Dead-Lead Playbook or run a free Lead-Leakage Audit to see where the cadence above is actually breaking down in your own data.