Strategic Partnership Brings Impel’s Generative Conversational AI Technology to the CDK Modern Retail Suite
Syracuse, New York, February 1, 2024 – Impel, the global leader in AI-powered customer lifecycle management for the automotive industry, announced today that Impel’s advanced generative conversational AI platform will become a capability of the CDK Modern Retail Suite within the CDK Dealership Xperience, an open and integrated platform that transforms how dealers sell and service cars and operate their businesses simply in a modern and digital world. The exclusive offering provides CDK customers with hyper-personalized, human-like engagement at scale, 24/7 responsiveness, sophisticated conversational lead handling workflows, consistent long-term follow-up, and automatic appointment setting directly from their CRM system.
Modern dealerships need solutions that can help them more effectively engage, nurture, and convert the influx of digital leads they receive around the clock across a complex omnichannel environment. Increasingly, dealers are reimagining their business models to generate increased productivity and operational efficiency, which are paramount in today’s business environment. Impel’s advanced generative conversational AI automatically engages every incoming lead with natural dialogue via SMS/text and email, delivering nuanced and empathetic conversations, automated appointment setting, and effectively pre-qualifying shoppers without the need for human intervention.
Impel’s enterprise-grade, verticalized AI platform was purpose-built for automotive retailing, going well beyond open-source large language models. By leveraging state-of-the-art Generative AI technology paired with a mix of proprietary models and CDK solution-specific training data, this solution will offer CDK customers the most powerful conversational experience available in the automotive industry. Impel’s unique Automotive Optimization Layer provides retailers with an added level of control for delivering brand compliant responses optimized for dealer and OEM business outcomes. This optimization layer maximizes the accuracy of responses while preventing hallucinations and missteps that are prevalent in generalized LLMs.
“As the leading technology solution provider in automotive retail, we understand that for dealerships to succeed in a space with rapidly evolving consumer expectations, they require innovative tools to help them build better connections and provide elevated customer experiences,” said Brian MacDonald, president and chief executive officer, CDK. “CDK is constantly looking for ways to seamlessly embed technology into our solutions and help dealers get the most out of their investments in our software. With the combination of Impel’s leading AI technology and our ability to utilize the quality, quantity, and diversity of anonymized data across all aspects of the dealership, we have a unique opportunity to develop the industry’s best AI algorithms. This offering further cements our leadership in delivering the most advanced Modern Retail solution that puts both consumer experience and dealer results at the forefront.”
“AI-powered automation and communication offers auto retailers the ability to drive transformative operational efficiency improvements at every touchpoint. Lifecycle management with AI not only maximizes customer lifetime value, but also dramatically enhances the customer experience,” said Devin Daly, CEO and Co-Founder of Impel. “As the defacto AI standard for automotive retail, we’re excited to be partnering with a leading technology provider in CDK Global in our mission to the power the automotive ecosystem with the most sophisticated AI-powered customer lifecycle management solution. By pairing Impel’s generative conversational AI technology with CDK’s modern retailing platform, we can significantly enhance dealership productivity and enable staff to focus on what matters most: building meaningful personal relationships, providing white-glove customer service, and closing more deals. It’s a powerful combination for dealers and consumers alike, and we look forward to continuing to work together to revolutionize automotive retailing.”
About Impel
Impel offers automotive dealers, OEMs, and third-party marketplaces the industry’s most advanced AI-powered customer lifecycle management platform. The company’s end-to-end omnichannel solution leverages proprietary shopper behavioral data and generative conversational AI technology to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at every touchpoint. Impel’s fully integrated platform works seamlessly with all major website, CRM, and DMS platforms. To date, the company has delivered 16 billion shopper interactions, influencing more than $4 billion in Sales and Service revenue across 51 countries.
