Impel has been awarded IT Innovation of the Year in the UK’s Motor Trader awards, highlighting the importance of AI in automotive retail throughout the customer lifecycle
We’re delighted to announce that Impel has received the prestigious IT Innovation of the Year accolade from the 2024 Motor Trader Independent Dealer Awards. This recognition celebrates our success in enabling UK dealerships to engage, convert, and retain customers across the automotive lifecycle with AI.
“We’re deeply honoured to be recognised by Motor Trader as a leading provider of Automotive AI for dealerships in the UK. I’d like to congratulate the entire Impel organisation, especially our amazing UK team, and thank our clients for their invaluable support.” – Ben Cooper, Managing Director, International
The recognition validates a deep-rooted problem prohibiting so many dealers from reaching their full potential. Today, 43% of qualified dealership leads are mishandled1, but sales reps aren’t slacking – they simply don’t have the time and resources to engage, qualify, and ensure long-term follow-up with every lead.
Poor customer experiences and missed sales opportunities hurt consumers and dealers alike, and the need for AI-powered customer engagement has never been greater.
How AI in auto is transforming UK dealerships
Fortunately, verticalized Automotive AI solutions like Impel have become so humanlike, automotive retailers across the UK now have a cost-effective and highly impactful solution to their lead management challenges. Impel AI goes far beyond transforming the initial sales process – it supports the entire customer journey from webchat to sales to service and eventual part exchanges or car buying. With Impel AI, dealers can drive conversions and reinforce customer loyalty across every touchpoint.
24/7 communication
In an era of tech-enabled convenience, customers expect information to be accessible 24/7, and car buyers are no exception. A large portion of the car-buying process takes place outside of office hours, and customers have come to expect always-on, instant engagement. That’s why humanlike AI-powered chat and lead management solutions that are tailored specifically to automotive retail are so effective.
The sales and service buyer journey doesn’t start when someone contacts the dealership: It starts with self-education, when would-be buyers conduct initial research. Retailers should expect that customers are looking at several dealership options, so instant responsiveness, comprehensive question handling, and consistent follow-up are critical to ensure dealers capture every opportunity. Impel’s AI ensures dealers can respond to routine queries immediately without human intervention, thoroughly pre-qualifying leads and efficiently moving them through the sales process. That way, sales reps receive highly actionable, valuable leads.
Timely and personalised customer service outreach
Car ownership lifecycles are getting longer, and retaining existing customers is much more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. This trend has increased dealership reliance on aftersales service for a large portion of their revenue. By mining DMS data and automating hyper-personalised customer engagement throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle, Impel ensures auto retailers never miss an opportunity to engage customers, generate service appointments, and increase loyalty.
Enhanced car buying experiences for all
Inventory acquisition opportunities abound, but many dealerships lack the operational capacity to capture and convert them at scale. And yet, used vehicles account for around 80% of the UK passenger car market.
UK dealerships are turning to AI to ensure every car buying lead is engaged and qualified. With Impel AI, dealership staff can focus on high-intent prospects and customers while Impel AI gets to work walking car-buying leads through the process and even setting up appointments.
Seamless dealership integration
You can’t realise the true potential of AI-powered automation if it’s simply bolted on to existing systems. Instead, it must be deeply integrated with other mission-critical platforms, including DMS and CMS software. By providing seamless integration with all leading automotive dealership software, Impel has established itself as the foundation and “brain” of the dealership tech stack.
Learn more about Impel’s award-winning Automotive AI
Listen in to our latest discussion with CarDealer magazine on how British dealers are using AI in automotive retail, or contact us to get started today.
Impel is a proven innovator in the automotive sector, providing fully AI-augmented customer lifecycle management to dealers throughout the UK and beyond. Request your demo today to experience the difference.
