Leveraging AI to deliver superior outcomes for your dealership and your customers.

It seems that these days, you can’t read any business report or attend a conference without hearing about Artificial Intelligence. More specifically, we hear about how AI is going to revolutionize our world, how it will transform the way we interact with each other and the products and services we both consume and require.

Yet, there are a great deal of misconceptions. In automotive retail for example, there are dozens of organizations pitching AI solutions to dealers, but how can these be properly implemented into your business, ensuring true ROI and long-term benefits, instead of just becoming another shiny object?

Look at the process

Marty Meadows, Co-founder and CRO at FliteHouse, which provides revenue solutions and ecoystems for automotive retailers, says explains that a key factor in why new tools and solutions such as don’t work effectively, often boils down to process. A good example is lead generation. Meadows says there are multiple case studies where a vendor was able to boost lead conversions into appointments by 50-75%, the trouble was, once the system and training was put in place, the frequent turnover of salespeople meant the process had to start all over again, leading to inconsistencies and disruptions in delivering a smooth customer experience.

Consistency counts

Today, AI agents can be hugely effective across dealer operations, the key is to have a proper and consistent process in place. In terms of leads converting to appointments, Meadows notes that FliteHouse AI agents follow up with a customer 12-14 times over a 60-day period until the appointment is booked. “This can be done either via phone call, which our AI agents can do, or via text or email,” Meadows explains.

Another critical part in making AI work effectively for dealers, is ensuring that management buys into the solution. “Leadership has to decide that AI will be part of the dealership’s process and not leave those decisions up to individual department managers,” says André-Martin Hobbs, CPO and Co-founder of Decisioning: IT, which provides F&I solutions (including artificial intelligence) for dealers. “Human nature always seeks the path of least resistance,” states Hobbs, “which [often] means doing things the old way and relying on personal judgment.”

Hobbs says that the goal of AI in the Finance and Insurance space, should always be to make the process faster, easier and more transparent, particularly in today’s fast-changing automotive retail environment. “F&I is moving from a back-office step to a central, data-driven part of the customer journey,” Hobbs explains. “Pre-qualification will increasingly happen earlier (online or in the BDC) so when customers sit down with an F&I manager, it’s about trust and advice, not paperwork.”

To that end, AI can prove highly effective in presenting customers with their F&I protection and payment options in real time, boosting efficiency in the process and customer satisfaction. Beyond the sale itself, Hobbs notes that AI can be a great customer retention engine by identifying equity events, term maturities, and warranty opportunities to bring customers back at the right moment. With AI technology he says, “F&I can blend sales, service, and marketing functions into one connected ecosystem that, as Hobbs notes, “keeps relationships and profitability alive well beyond [vehicle] delivery day.”

At FliteHouse, Marty Meadows says that the company has focused on a “crawl, walk and run strategy”—based on extensive research and conversations with dealers and associations such as Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario (MVRO). “Based on that feedback, we launched with three AI agents,” says Meadows. One is a triage agent that essentially functions like a receptionist. The second is a sales agent, while the third is a service agent.

The service agent is a custom, fixed operations AI agent that is “fully conversational, speaks with the customer and answers each phone call, every time,” Meadows explains. Because the service agent can answer every call—enabling each service appointment to be booked, the outcome is an increase in the number of R/Os, and with it, overall enhancement and customer satisfaction related to the vehicle service experience.

On the sales side, it’s a similar outcome. “Every phone call is answered, every appointment booked,” says Meadows, “whether it’s for a vehicle purchase, a test drive or a customer just wants some information on a vehicle including leasing and finance options, or whether they just want to come in and walk the lot. Every single appointment is taken, and every phone call answered.”

Virtual agents can also be a huge benefit when it comes to outbound contact, such as reaching customers during tire changeover season. Meadows notes, that dealerships can also tailor the AI to give loyal customers added benefits, such as offering a complimentary wheel cleaning service when the customer brings in their vehicle to change tires.

While employing this type of technology can result in huge gains in terms of operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, it’s critical that the vendor and dealer work together to deliver a solution that works time and again. This means creating an AI platform and solution that fully integrates with the dealer’s CRM, DMS and operating processes, as well as having a robust support program to ensure consistent success. “At FliteHouse, our approach is to provide full support,” says Meadows. This includes offering services in both French and English, as well as serving as a development hub for the dealership, so that if a process or aspect changes, such as OEMs introducing new programs, “we can adapt to make sure our dealer clients’ businesses are consistent and functioning optimally at all times.” 

Better Tools, Better Performance

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding Artificial Intelligence is that it will replace people in the workplace. While there are some tasks that it can take over, at its essence, AI isn’t about replacing people, but rather giving them better tools so they can perform their roles more effectively. Andre-Martin Hobbs says that Decisioning: IT, the philosophy surrounding AI is about “focusing on technology that amplifies the human element: faster insight, clearer data, and more time for customers.” When done right, he says, AI becomes a natural extension of dealership operations, driving performance, compliance, and customer trust in equal measure. Hobbs says that’s a key part of Decisioning: IT’s F&I solutions such as SAM and Lucy. “SAM Widget is a pre-qualification engine that lives on the dealership’s website, instantly matching customers to the right lender programs and sending enriched, ready-to-work leads directly to the sales or F&I team,” says Hobbs. The Lucy Platform goes a step further in being an AI-powered decisioning and workflow tool that automates credit analysis, optimizes deal structure, and keeps customers engaged through personalized follow-ups and digital communications. “Both tools integrate seamlessly with existing systems to reduce friction for staff and customers,” says Hobbs. “In short, they turn credit and compliance complexity into a streamlined, customer-friendly