5 Steps to Successfully Implement AI in Your Car Dealership
The 2024 year was an encouraging one for dealerships. According to early reports, new-vehicle sales enjoyed a slight year-over-year bump of 2% in 2024. This shows that opportunity lies ahead. However, it also indicates a need for dealerships to enhance their performance and maximize their efficiency with leading-edge technology including Automotive AI.
Competition for car sales and services remains fierce and requires a tremendous amount of dealership flexibility. And flexibility is made so much easier and more economical with AI solutions.
Consumers are no longer sticking with their local, hometown car dealers. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of people who said they’d buy a vehicle via social media platforms jumped eight percentage points. And a full 92% of shoppers do their browsing online first through a multitude of digital channels.
Indeed, these facts reflect a significant change in the researching and purchasing behavior of consumers. They also indicate some of the reasons why AI for car dealerships is needed more than ever.
What are Automotive AI solutions?
In the modern, ever-changing car dealership world, AI software and processes can transform the revenue potential for businesses that sell and service vehicles. AI technologies can work 24/7, analyze massive amounts of data in seconds, and serve in assistive roles. They can even be given human assistant names, such as “Steve” or “Sarah,” when used as improved, AI agent alternatives to chatbots.
The future of car dealerships inevitably includes AI agents and humans in automotive sales working together. Nevertheless, some dealerships struggle to understand how best to implement automotive AI solutions at their locations. Though they may be open to enjoying the benefits that AI-based automotive sales software can bring, they’re hesitant to invest because they aren’t sure how or when to use it.
No matter where you start, having a structured approach will help drive success. Being able to see a definitive roadmap for the installation and use of AI in auto dealerships is the first step toward taking the plunge. It allows all dealerships to better visualize how innovative products like Impel can reshape the effectiveness and profitability of their businesses.
If you’re in the category of “curious but reluctant”, this five-step guide on bringing AI into your auto dealership is for you and your team. It’s designed to navigate you through a straightforward path that runs from Automotive AI discovery to dominance.
Step 1: Assess your dealership’s AI readiness
Start by conducting an audit of your dealership’s existing digital infrastructure to determine where any performance gaps lie. For starters, generate a list of all the areas that you feel could be improved.
Are your appointment set rates declining? Have your appointment show rates been lagging? Did your close rates plateau recently? How about your ability to win back abandoned customers?
In a perfect world, all of your vital key performance indicators (KPIs) would be as high as possible. In the real world, you’ll likely find some that are underperforming.
Next, make a list of the technological systems that are used by your sales team, starting with your dealership CRM. As you’re assessing your list, look for pain points and opportunities related to your performance gaps.
For instance, are you having trouble using data across different platforms? Are your sales people getting caught up in inefficient snags that cost them customers or slow down their conversion momentum? Where are the bottlenecks in your customer service and inventory management flows?
Be sure to bring in the people who can help answer these questions as part of this step. Having input from diverse perspectives will enable you to get a clear picture of where your current technology, processes, or AI technologies are falling short.
Now you can begin to set some AI implementation goals and KPIs. Case in point, you might decide that you want to shorten the time it takes to get a warm lead to set up an appointment. This is a KPI you can measure; it’s also one that can be positively affected with Automotive AI sales software.
This first step deserves your energy and time. By giving it the focus and commitment it deserves, you can establish realistic AI technology objectives for your dealership.
Step 2. Choose an Automotive AI solution that’s right for your dealership
Every dealership has unique goals Automotive AI products can help them achieve. In this next phase, you’ll want to determine the best AI software and systems to fill performance gaps (and take advantage of unrealized opportunities).
How can you weigh one vendor over another? One, find AI software that can solve some of your challenges immediately.
For instance, perhaps one of your KPIs that’s been waning is customer engagement. In that case, look for customer engagement AI solutions for dealerships that focus on delivering personalized shopping experiences.
Typically, you’ll see conversational AI and AI agents used for these types of technologies. However, it’s critical to make sure that any AI you consider is not just a scripted chatbot following a predetermined flow. You’ll want to use a generative conversational AI platform purpose built for automotive retail. That way, you’ll find it’s so much more than just another standalone generative AI tool that operates in a silo; it sounds natural as it connects with customers.
The strongest customer engagement strategies involve resources that have advanced levels of sophistication and creativity compared to standard AI tools. Impel doesn’t just communicate—it engages with the natural, humanlike touch of a true conversation. Because it can “read between the lines”, this end-to-end AI Operating System goes beyond canned responses to delight and surprise customers.
In fact, people may never know that they’re starting their journeys with your dealership by speaking with an AI agent that’s collecting valuable data about them and their needs. Customers will often leave Google reviews referring to the AI by the “human” name it operates as.
Next up, look toward the future. An AI solution needs to be able to grow with you, not just meet your current needs. In other words, your ideal AI system must have the ability to cover the entire customer lifecycle from sales and marketing to delivery and service.
Choosing one system that manages the whole customer journey is important. You don’t want to be stuck switching systems when the customer moves from the sales process into fixed operations. Keeping everything on one platform avoids this headache and provides a more unified customer experience.
Not every AI system has this kind of built-in growth ability. You’ll want to locate one that has predictive powers and can be trained on your dealership’s unique data and internal processes. That way, it can learn how to get better at responsibilities like qualifying leads or adjusting dynamic pricing in real time to meet your market’s realities and demand.
Third, be on the lookout for AI dealership solutions that keep your data secure. Table stakes should be a safe tech infrastructure. After all, cyber threats are costly to your dealership and its reputation. Look for an AI platform that serves up protection along with performance — like Impel.
Impel is the only end-to-end AI Operating System in the auto dealership world. With more than 8,000 car dealership AI installations across the world, our customers benefit from the best practices that can only be gained from hands-on experience within the automotive industry. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with the most popular automotive sector systems and products, allowing it to be a turnkey, ROI-producing, and highly secure AI technology choice.
Step 3: Prepare your team and data for Automotive AI software installation
Most of the time when businesses “switch over” their software, employees are likely to grumble about learning new systems. The beauty of Impel’s AI system is that it essentially sits on top of most existing dealership software rather than tearing down what employees are familiar with and replacing it entirely.
This makes the transition process much less daunting for employees who are resistant to process changes. To reduce the effects of employee hesitation even further, empower certain leaders and employees to be your AI champions.
In advance of installing your new AI solution, talk with your team about establishing new workflows. Brainstorm how everyone will integrate the AI tools they’ll have into their daily operations.
You may want to formalize processes through the creation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to assist in defining roles and responsibilities. For example, you’ll need to turn off your after-hours auto-responder, as customers now have a humanlike assistant available to help them 24/7. Sales reps will start their day differently; they’ll immediately prioritize appointments that were scheduled overnight.
In addition, you’ll want to look at workflows to reduce “clash.” This involves things like turning off an auto-responder or making sure that sales teams are not reaching out at the same time as the AI, as this would cause substantial friction for all parties.
Step 4: Integrate an AI solution
Bringing AI into your dealership is exciting, and starting with a phased implementation that involves just a few individuals or teams is a great way to launch your AI efforts. Phasing your AI deployment gives people the chance to beta test your car dealership AI product, thereby allowing you to develop best practices you can execute across other departments later.
Phasing can also help you start small when it comes to filling your AI Knowledge Bank. A Knowledge Bank is a powerful centralized source that can be trained to customize communications and AI responses so the AI system can become more independent and be able to answer commonly asked questions in detail. Not every Automotive AI solution offers this capability, so it’s a good idea to check on this as you evaluate platforms.
When you’re in this step, you will be integrating your AI tools with other products you’re using, such as your dealership CRM. Plan to gauge the success of your connectivity with the assistance of the AI partner you’ve chosen.
For instance, Impel works with all clients throughout the integration phase as part of a commitment to providing assistance throughout the full implementation process. Our team makes certain that the dealership customers we serve have prepared their businesses technically to have the required systems and support they need. Once preparation is completed, the dealership is transitioned to an Impel performance manager who oversees the account.
Step 5: Measure results and optimize outcomes
Congratulations: You’ve moved to the last step of bringing AI into your car dealership. Now, it’s time to put it into full gear and get the biggest ROI you can by implementing a few strategies.
First, set and track some KPIs (ideally with the help of a hands-on AI product team). From sales conversion metrics to customer satisfaction scores, you should pick measurable identifiers to keep tabs on. Otherwise, it’s difficult to prove exactly how your AI software is moving you toward your goals.
Will results vary depending upon your baseline and goals? Absolutely, but naming KPIs upfront (that are based on the performance gaps from Step 1) will keep everyone focused on setting and reaching goalposts.
Next, gather user feedback as part of your data collection. Knowing whether or not staff members are actually using the new AI software is essential. If adoption rates falter, you want to be able to intervene quickly. As part of this process, have your admins monitor customer reactions to AI conversations directly to see how they’re responding to your AI systems.
Be sure to ask your AI software partner for best practices and tips as well. You’ll want to select a longtime partner who has your best interest in mind and is knowledgeable in trends, provides practical guides, and gives exceptional customer service.
One way to assess your software partner goes back to the basics. If all your questions are not being answered to your satisfaction in a timely manner, implementation may be delayed or impaired.
Finally, stay focused on continuous improvement throughout your dealership. As an example, you’ll find that you want to expand some of your AI capabilities because they’re working so well. In that case, you can work with your AI solutions vendor to look at other AI applications that may be appropriate for your objectives.
Harnessing the potential of AI in auto dealerships
There’s no doubt that AI will continue to become a huge differentiator for car dealerships. You can remain competitive by going through the proven five-step process to bring AI into your business now.
If you’re excited by the prospect of revving up your sales and reputation with the help of an AI tool built for the automotive world, get in touch with Impel. Our team can help you get on the right track so you can stand out in your market and maximize your profits.
