AI For Dealerships And When To Take Back Control

Happy 2020. We guarantee that this year there are more AI for dealerships. Similar to many other marketing tools adopted by modern-day businesses, chatbots have become an integral part of the value addition. They are faster, scalable, interactive, and highly effective. It is no hidden fact that chatbots are the future of customer support and marketing. 

Many dealerships have switched to an AI chatbot from live chat because chatbots can now better understand natural language and converse more naturally. Nevertheless, while we strive to make AI better, some interactions are still irreplaceable. We encourage dealers to take over from the bot and build a relationship with your customers when such situations arise. 

Negotiations

We often see that customers hop on to the chat and ask for the best price. Experienced sales should take over price negotiations. Several factors usually determine price and rates, such as the customer’s credit score, his financial standing, the terms of the lease or finance, the vehicle of interest, and the discount the dealership is willing to offer. Some argue that taking humans out of the negotiation equation can maximize profitability in that there is no emotion attached. We agree with that in theory. Nonetheless, until the society has moved beyond that phase, customers today are more inclined and comfortable to haggle with a human. 

Technical Information 

Chatbots for dealerships, such as DealerAI, have significantly advanced over time. They are intelligent enough to understand most customer queries and guide them to the right solution. We do, however, need to categorize chatbots as the frontline of customer service. A licensed technician should handle the technical questions, especially ones relating to safety, such as: 

• Should I continue to drive my car if the engine light is on? 
• My brake has a sharp squeaking sound. What would the problem be?

Neither the receptionist of the dealership nor a salesperson can answer the above questions. The ideal behavior of the chatbot under such circumstances would be to relay the information and guide the customer to the established path of problem resolution. 

Sentiment 

The chatbots shall leverage NLP (Natural Language Processing) to conduct sentiment analysis. While best at solving utilitarian queries and recording frustration, we recommend that a human agent converse directly with the customers to build rapport.

Customers are more inclined to stay royal with you if you can help them with their questions and concerns. Chatbots, equipped with direct access to a vast amount of technical data, help your dealership establish itself as an expert. It is beneficial for you to identify where your staff should take back control and close the loop. 

Find out more at our next post Why AI matters for your Dealership