What is conversational AI?  How is it different than what you experience in other industries?  How can conversational AI best support retail automotive dealerships? Let’s start by defining what conversational AI really is – and isn’t. 


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Conversational AI is transforming the landscape of day-to-day processes. By the end of 2020, over 37% of all American households had a smart home device, such as Amazon’s Alexa. *By 2025, it is forecasted that over $28.7 billion will have been spent on smart home devices in the United States alone. The use of natural language processing and understanding has already become a trusted part of many Americans’ lives, so why has there been a delay in using it for retail automotive?

Honestly, it may just be an issue of clarity. What is conversational AI?  How is it different than what you experience in other industries? How can conversational AI best support retail automotive dealerships? Let’s start by defining what conversational AI really is – and isn’t.

Conversational AI, specifically speech-based virtual assistants, use natural language processing to determine both the intent and needs of a caller. It can recognize accents or different languages (such as Spanish) and route the caller to a predetermined employee for language fluency, if needed. It is not a menu of limited preset options, or a “select 1 for Sales or 2 for Service” phone tree. It provides open-ended questions for the caller, such as “how may I help you?” and will actually improve upon its own technology as it is used. For dealers, this means that the more a conversational AI platform is used to schedule service appointments, the more efficient it will become by recognizing patterns of customer needs that are unique to your store. Conversational AI is not a replacement for your employees. It is implemented to support them so that they can become trained in higher-level tasks within your dealership. 

When evaluating the business case for conversational AI in your specific dealership, the first item to consider is the dealership’s unique priorities. Where would conversational AI fit in best if you were to implement it tomorrow? The majority of businesses use conversational AI technology to handle repetitive tasks – both online and over the phone. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, “finely tuned conversational systems can provide a more personal and engaging experience as they help users perform rote tasks.” **Conversational AI platforms are very good at solving specific problems, so it’s important to determine what those areas are for your dealership or dealerships. 

Some of the areas where conversational AI platforms perform the best are:
          1. Handling customer FAQs
          2. Scheduling service appointments 
          3. Recognizing languages other than English when spoken
          4. Sending appointment reminders or confirmations
          5. Identifying the need for problem escalations, when necessary
          6. Taking care of vehicle status checks in the Service Drive
          7. Troubleshooting real-time during customer calls

If any of these areas sound like problem areas in your store, it might be time to consider implementing a conversational AI platform, like [STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/). In addition to all of the above strengths, this new technology frees employees to focus on outbound, revenue-generating calls and customers on the lot. Conversational AI implemented into the dealership’s phone system also ensures that every call is handled on the first ring, with consistent professionalism, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. It’s one of the best ways to support both your staff and your customers at the same time! 


Article By: 
Jennifer Sanford, Vice President, Marketing and Industry Relations

Sources:
*[Smart home in the United States - Statistics & Facts | Statista](https://www.statista.com/topics/6201/smart-home-in-the-united-states/)
**[The Business Case for Conversational AI - WSJ](https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/the-business-case-for-conversational-ai-01573524125)


The Business Case for Conversational AI in Retail Automotive

There’s been a lot of conversation about conversational AI this year. By now, you know that conversational AI is artificial intelligence that uses Natural Learning Processes (NLP) and Natural Learning Understanding (NLU) to help machines communicate with people through human-like conversations. 

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There’s been a lot of conversation about conversational AI this year. By now, you know that conversational AI is artificial intelligence that uses Natural Learning Processes (NLP) and Natural Learning Understanding (NLU) to help machines communicate with people through human-like conversations. True conversational AI asks open-ended questions, such as STELLA’s favorite, “How can I help you?”, instead of close-ended or either/or scenarios such as: “Press 1 for Sales”. And, while the phrase “conversational AI” is not yet in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, you realize that conversational AI has actual intelligence behind it. That intelligence gives a conversational AI platform the ability to recognize a speaker’s intent so that it can respond with the most relevant information, similar to how a typical human-to-human conversation would occur. 

You already know that conversational AI technology, like STELLA, can pick up the majority of your BDC workload or, at a minimum, all of your inbound, repetitive, support tasks. Even with this knowledge, you may be wondering whether conversational AI is the [right choice](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/auto-success-march) for your dealership or dealer group. In order to evaluate this decision for your store, it’s vital to know where your dealership’s processes currently stand. Consider the following:

**1. How many calls are you missing each day?**

If measuring the number of missed calls per day is too granular, what about the number of missed calls per week? Or, per month? 

If you aren’t sure how many calls are currently going unanswered each day, odds are good that you are underestimating the amount of business that could be gained by implementing a conversational AI platform. Regardless of whether you have 10 missed calls a day or 100, those calls represent customers your dealership is turning away – and revenue that you are giving to another, more responsive, dealership. Even one missed call a day is one too many. This is especially true when intelligent voice assistant technology is available to prevent future missed calls. Why would you throw money away if you don’t have to? That’s really what it comes down to with conversational AI. Once a conversational AI platform, like STELLA, is implemented in the store, there are, simply, no more missed calls. Every inbound call can be answered on the first ring. Every. Single. One. 

Moreover, removing the inbound calls from your staff’s workload enables them to prioritize the outbound, revenue-generating tasks that truly grow your business. A 2020 worldwide study of over 10,000 employees found that an average of over three hours a day is spent on manual, repetitive computer tasks*.  If you’re considering a BDC representative’s job functions, this number could be significantly, and unnecessarily, higher. Repetitive tasks kill creativity and high-functioning productivity. They cost your dealership in labor, employee error, and reduced productivity, while also causing physical, mental and psychological health hazards. This all has a tangible effect on your business too. It’s costing you an average of 19 days per employee per year**. Take a minute to tally up the cost of that for your store. Equally as impactful is the fact that data entry is the world’s most hated task*. Think about it. There’s a global consensus on how much data entry is hated and yet what do you ask your BDC staff to do? That’s right, data entry. 

This is where you can improve your dealership culture while increasing your bottom line with conversational AI. By taking all of those manual, repetitive tasks off of your employees and turning them over to a platform like STELLA, you’re not only allowing them to become more productive employees, but also decreasing your risk of error as well. 

**2. Are your service bays optimized?**

Given the current macroeconomics in America, optimizing your service bay is turning out to be a key component of retail automotive financial success. Many dealers think their service bays are optimized until they examine the numbers. How many no-shows did your service department have this week? What is your appointment scheduling plan? Do you book your staff based on the number of hours or the number of appointments?


Let’s say your service bay is currently operating at 75% productivity with five technicians, meaning that your technicians are working an average of 6 out of 8 hours a day. At a rate of $140 an hour per technician, you’ve lost $1,400 a day, or $352,800 a year (based on 21 working days a month). Increasing your productivity  by 5% or 10% would have a significant impact on your bottom line. One of the easiest areas to increase productivity is in the appointment-setting process. Your conversational AI platform can schedule service appointments in a way that’s most efficient for your technicians. Dealers simply cannot afford to have technicians standing around waiting, or a service bay that’s overbooked. Both lead to dissatisfied customers, which leads to lower CSI scores, customer loyalty and decreased revenue.

**3. Are all of your service advisors set up with voicemail that they actually use?**

Along with optimizing your service bay, it’s important to evaluate your phone system. Do all of your service advisors have their own properly set-up voicemail at your dealership? And, equally as important, do they check that voicemail? Ask any of your customers, voicemail at dealerships is like a black hole. The calls go in and are never found again. One of the great benefits of implementing conversational AI within a dealership is the ability to dramatically decrease the number of calls that go to voicemail at your store. The more calls your dealership actually handles with the support of a strong conversational AI platform like STELLA, the greater your customer experience and profits will be. 

No matter where your dealership falls on the spectrum –  whether you’re [measuring](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/auto-success-june) every call that’s gone unanswered or truly aren’t sure how many calls your dealership is missing, STELLA can help. Once your store stops missing calls, optimizes service bay appointments, and sends fewer calls to voicemail, you’ll be amazed at how productive your dealership becomes! And it’s all possible while also [improving the dealership culture](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/more-satisfied-customers) for your staff. Conversational AI is a win-win for every dealership. Contact [STELLA](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) to get started today. 

Sources: 
*Global Research Reveals World's 'Most Hated' Office Tasks ([prnewswire.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-research-reveals-worlds-most-hated-office-tasks-300989956.html))
**Productivity pains: 90% of workers burdened with repetitive tasks ([information-age.com](https://www.information-age.com/productivity-pains-90-workers-repetitive-tasks-7347/?ref=eversign-blog))

Article By: 
Eric Painter, National Sales Director

Is Conversational AI Right For Your Dealership? 

In today’s retail automotive industry, there is no shortage of issues that plague the phone processes and systems of American dealerships. Respected research institutions and call analytics firms have spent years documenting the results that stem from faulty telephone processes within car dealerships. A few highlights include:

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In today’s retail automotive industry, there is no shortage of issues that plague the phone processes and systems of American dealerships. Respected research institutions and call analytics firms have spent years documenting the results that stem from faulty telephone processes within car dealerships. 

### **Let’s take a deeper look at each of these data points.**

**59% of service appointments are made over the phone.**
In July 2020, Statista.com reported that 92.6% of Americans use a smartphone to both access the internet and make calls. With that said, since website chatbots and forms are not the most mobile-friendly experiences, customers still want to call dealerships to schedule vehicle appointments. Unfortunately, when they do reach out to their local dealerships, they are typically met with complicated IVR systems, long wait times, or a dealership’s voicemail box.

**The average hold time for a caller at a dealership is 3 minutes.**
This is the same length of time that it takes to listen to “We are the Champions” by Queen, except you don’t leave a dealership call feeling like a champion. Is keeping your customers on hold for 3 minutes or longer a winning experience for your dealership?
 
**28% hang up before speaking to an employee.**
What happens when your customers sit on hold when they try to contact your store? These customers get frustrated and hang up. According to CarWars, these numbers are only increasing each year. In 2020, 17% hung up. By 2021, it was 28%. What is your dealership doing to circumvent this?

**41% of inbound calls to dealerships are never completed.**
While most callers are currently able to complete their call objectives, an unacceptable number of calls are never completed. Call volumes are increasing, and existing dealership phone processes are simply unable to accommodate the growth. In 2021, an average of 80,694 calls were made to individual retail auto dealerships nationwide, yielding a 6% increase over 2019’s average number of inbound calls per dealership. This means that, in 2021, the average dealership in America missed over 33,000 calls. How much sales and service revenue do you think your store lost with that many missed calls that year?

Dealerships have tried a multitude of solutions to solve these problems. From the creation of internal call centers to outsourced BDC teams to relying on sales and service advisors to answer the phone, nothing has worked. None of these solutions are flexible enough to match dealerships’ daily fluctuating call volumes. And none of them are consistently available after hours or during holidays.

There is a new solution available to car dealerships that addresses these very roadblocks: [conversational AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/blog/conversational-ai-for-your-dealership). This intelligent technology can answer inbound phone calls – regardless of the number of calls or time of day. Conversational AI seamlessly and simultaneously answers hundreds of inbound service center calls every day. Each call is handled professionally:  questions are answered, calls are transferred when necessary, and service appointments are quickly booked.

The implementation of conversational AI saves your existing staff from [extra time and redundant work.](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/more-satisfied-customers) For each call that a conversational AI voice assistant handles, your team can save ten minutes. This means your team just saved ten minutes of answering and processing requests, listening to voicemail, and returning calls, and sorting through the software needed to schedule an appointment. Every minute gained can be put towards handling in-person customer needs, or in the case of a call center, making outbound business development calls.

Most importantly, with conversational AI voice assistance, no call goes unanswered in a dealership. With a true conversational AI assistant, every call is answered on the first ring, regardless of whether it occurs at 8:30am on Monday morning or 9:00pm on Sunday night.  Simple calls are handled, services scheduled, and voicemails reserved only for more complicated issues.  
 
The availability of new technology means that car dealers have new options to improve in-person customer experiences. Conversational AI voice assistance is one such option. This new realm already delivers customer service wins to dealerships nationwide. The only question is, ‘Will your dealership be one of these winners?’
 
Call 727-955-3550 or visit [www.meetstella.ai](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/meetstella).

Delight Your Customers ... and Eliminate the Wait!

You joined the many dealers who signed up at NADA to implement this conversational AI in the dealership’s BDC. Congratulations! The question is, now what? Before launching this powerful new technology in your store, there are a few items to consider, such as:


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You went to NADA 2023 in Dallas, Texas. You made your way through the thousands of attendees – dealers, managers, and vendors – only to stumble upon STELLA's booth in Hall F. It looked interesting. You decided that a free cup of Stella Artois beer would go great with that demo you’ve been meaning to do with their team. You listened to a STELLA call and knew when the appointment was scheduled in under two minutes that this was the conversational AI solution your dealership needed.

You joined the many dealers who signed up at NADA to implement this conversational AI in the dealership’s BDC. Congratulations! The question is, now what? Before launching this powerful new technology in your store, there are a few items to consider, such as:

**1. What phone tasks do you want your conversational AI tool to handle?**
You’ve suddenly realized that STELLA can handle any and all inbound dealership phone calls with a simple, “How can I help you?”. It’s the ultimate open-ended question. The possibilities are endless. Fortunately, the team at STELLA understands the unique circumstances behind individual dealerships and caters the degree of conversational AI support to meet your comfort level. Would you like to begin by simply having STELLA answer dealership calls on nights, weekends and holidays? That’s not a problem. Want to have STELLA be the first to respond to all inbound BDC calls, and only involve your employees if an escalation is necessary? That’s possible too. Whether it’s 10 calls a day or 100, there’s built-in flexibility to accommodate your preferences. 

Most dealerships begin using STELLA to answer calls during non-business hours (after hours on days, nights, weekends, and holidays), as well as back up support for BDC representatives during the day. Once dealers, and their staff, see how well STELLA consistently performs these tasks, they’re quick to expand STELLA’s workload!


**2. Conversely, which tasks would you like to keep with your (human) BDC employees?**
Just like the first question, this is equally important. Want to route all Spanish-speaking calls to certain employees in your dealership? STELLA can be set up to do that. Would you like STELLA to handle all service appointments, but you’d rather your BDC staff work directly with customers on repair orders? That’s not a problem. As your dealership’s confidence in this conversational AI grows, these tasks will change. Once STELLA is handling all inbound service appointments and repair orders, your Service and BDC staff can then focus their complete attention on customers walking into the dealership or outbound, revenue-generating calls.

**4. How are you planning to set up your BDC staff so that they’re ready to excel with conversational AI support?**
You’ve decided which processes you want STELLA to take on, and are ready to get started. But implementing any new software brings change to the dealership, even when it’s one as seamless as STELLA. So how do you set up your BDC staff for success? Some of the best ideas for this have actually come from other dealers! When STELLA is handling inbound, redundant tasks, your BDC staff has the freedom to make customer-centric outbound calls. With STELLA handling basic tasks that typically absorb much of an employee’s time, he or she can now learn specialized skills that could launch them into new roles within your store. 

It is critically important for your employees to understand that STELLA will support them. The level of support is up to you, but at the end of the day, STELLA is here to support your customers and your staff alike. Conversational AI is not only a win for your customers, it’s a win for your employees as well. It’s a choice to invest in something that can improve employee morale while also increasing your CSI scores. Your dealership has chosen to implement this software so that you can provide a more fulfilling work environment for your employees –  one where mundane, redundant tasks are removed so that they can learn new skills and accelerate their careers for years to come.


**3. What’s needed in your dealership to roll out a conversational AI voice assistant smoothly?**
This really depends on what you want your intelligent voice assistant to do. If you want it to book all of your service appointments, then STELLA will work in tandem with an automotive service scheduler such as Xtime. Once you decide which processes you’ll offload to STELLA and which ones you’d like to keep with employees in-house, it becomes very simple. You just need to communicate the new changes to your staff and turn on STELLA! There’s no extra software to purchase, or hardware to install in your store. You don’t have to replace your dealership phones, your service scheduling tool, or your CRM. 

You’ve Purchased STELLA. Now What?

How can you be sure to get the most benefit from your dealership’s automotive service scheduler?

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**Q: How can you be sure to get the most benefit from your dealership’s automotive service scheduler?**
 
**A:  Install a conversational AI voice assistant and integrate it with your existing service scheduler for 24-hour online and offline access.  Let me explain…**

 A dealership’s automotive service scheduler software helps service departments manage daily operations. It integrates with a new or used car dealership’s DMS and is typically installed on the dealership’s website as well. It can also give customers the ability to schedule their service appointments online. At its most fundamental level, the service scheduler allows managers within a dealership’s Service Department to create, manage, and track scheduled maintenance and repair orders on a range of vehicles. It typically includes features such as scheduling auto repair appointments, accessing customer records, ordering necessary parts for vehicles in an automotive repair shop, and invoicing.  
 
There are numerous automotive service schedulers available to retail auto dealerships. The most common include Xtime, DealerFX, MyKaarma and Update Promise. Some OEMs even offer incentives to dealers for using specific schedulers on their websites.


Automotive service and appointment schedulers vary in their product offerings and integration capabilities. Because dealership managers and service advisors are the primary users, these tools must integrate with a multitude of DMS providers.  When used as a store’s online appointment scheduler, the same software must also integrate with automotive website providers. It’s never been more important for dealerships to enable customers to schedule appointments online than it is right now. 

Despite the increase in online service scheduling, new and used vehicle owners still call dealerships to schedule appointments. In fact, according to JD Power, 59% of all appointments are still set by people picking up the phone and calling into the dealership. With online options, why do so many people still choose to call a dealership?  Some find the online interface difficult to use. Others simply prefer using the phone to schedule auto repair appointments. 

As a result, each dealership’s phone system must be integrated with its automotive service scheduler in order for these dealerships to experience optimal results. When humans answer the phone at a dealership, they must handle caller details in a sequential manner. For example, the dealership employee needs to confirm the caller’s name, phone number, vehicle needing service, repair needed, transportation type, etc.  All of that takes time and access to a computer with the scheduling software open and working.
 
And, of course, humans can only answer one call at a time.  

This is where a conversational AI voice assistant, like STELLA, improves not only the service scheduler tool itself but also the customer’s service scheduling experience.  A great conversational AI voice assistant can recognize existing customers from their phone numbers alone and instantaneously identify the vehicles in their record. The ideal conversational AI assistant accomplishes this while also presenting available times for service that work best with the caller’s schedule. The maximum phone time to schedule an oil change appointment should be under 2 minutes. 

In addition to the basic must-haves for a successful conversational AI voice assistant integration, dealers should look for other capabilities as well. These include: creating new customer records in the scheduler, accurately mapping repair needs to automotive labor operation codes (“op codes”), arranging transportation methods for the customer, setting up confirmation calls and even transferring calls upon request. A reliable conversational AI assistant understands the customer’s intent without he or she using specific verbal prompts or having to select specific keys on his or her phone. 


When dealerships integrate an existing service scheduler with the evolving technology and intelligence behind a conversational AI assistant, they create a full online and offline, 24/7, customer experience. To learn more about how this can become a reality for your dealership, call 727-955-3550 or visit [meetstella.ai](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/meetstella).  

Article By: Jennifer Sanford, VP of Marketing & Industry Relations.


Automotive Q&A with STELLA

Going to Dallas? That must mean you’re heading to the automotive industry’s premiere event, NADA, January 26-29, 2023. You’ve likely registered for your badge, booked your flight, and secured your hotel room, but may not be sure how to make the most of your time at the show. Fortunately, you’re in luck. The team at STELLA Automotive AI has some great tips for this year’s attendees.

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Going to Dallas? That must mean you’re heading to the automotive industry’s premiere event, NADA, January 26-29, 2023. You’ve likely registered for your badge, booked your flight, and secured your hotel room, but may not be sure how to make the most of your time at the show. Fortunately, you’re in luck. The team at STELLA has some great tips for this year’s attendees.

**#1. Download the NADA Mobile App**
With over 80 educational workshop sessions, five keynote sessions and more than five hundred exhibitors, you’re going to need the mobile app to help you keep track of it all. You can bookmark workshops that you’d like to attend, and even reach out to partners, like STELLA, that you’d like to meet with while you’re there. It’s free and [easy to download](https://www.core-apps.com/dl/nadashow2023?utm_campaign=qr)!

**#2. Block out time for the NADA 2023 keynote sessions**
NADA has a great variety of[ main stage speakers](https://www.nada.org/nada-show/main-stage-speakers) and [distinguished speaker series leaders](https://www.nada.org/nada-show/distinguished-speaker-series) this year- from Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders to former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. The first two days of the NADA Expo, Friday and Saturday, each have their main stage session in the afternoon, from 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm CST. Since Sunday is a shorter day for the conference and expo, the main stage speaker’s inspirational session is from 9:00am - 10:00am CST. You won’t want to miss any of these speakers, so be sure to schedule appointments around them in your mobile app. 

**#3. Pre-schedule your meetings with exhibitors**
Whether it’s grabbing a cup of coffee, stopping by a booth on the show floor, or grabbing a meal, every meeting at NADA is easier when it’s prescheduled. The show is a marathon, not a sprint, and, unless you enjoy waiting in lines for four days nonstop, you’ll want to make sure you set up specific times for any company you’d like to meet. This goes for OEMs, vendors, or even the National Automobile Dealers Association staff! During the expo hours, this not only helps exhibitors honor your time, but also to adjust booth staffing needs accordingly. Several of the OEMs have booths on site this year. It’s easy to schedule NADA exhibitor appointments directly in the mobile app or on the [exhibitor’s website.](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/nada2023)

**#4. Wear comfortable shoes and keep your appointments**
This goes hand in hand with #3. As mentioned previously, the show is a marathon with exhibitors spread over 600,000 square feet of the Kay Hutchinson Bailey Convention Center. It’s going to take some time to get from Hall A to Hall F, so plan accordingly. It might help to take a look at the [NADA Expo Floor Plan](https://www.nadaconvention.org/NADA2023/Public/eventmap.aspx?MapID=91&MapItBoothID=164384&MapItBooth=6047) in advance and see if you can schedule appointments in the same hall back to back. While it’s great to get your 20,000+ steps in each day during NADA, it wastes a lot of your time constantly going back and forth between the various halls. Be sure to find out where your OEMs are prior to attending the show in person, as they’re spread out across the entire convention center. Ford Motor Company, for example, is in Hall A, while Stellantis is in Hall F. Knowing this ahead of time will help keep frustration to a minimum on site. Give yourself some grace time to get from one meeting to the next so that you can better honor the times you’ve set with them. If you do need to reschedule a meeting, be sure you have a cell phone number to call to do so. You’ll find that most, if not all, exhibitors will be very understanding if you should need to reschedule- especially when given a heads up.


**#5. Have Fun!**
NADA is a fantastic time to network and learn from other dealers and technology partners. Take advantage of the lunches, dinners, happy hours, and parties to make new connections in the automotive industry. There’s just as much business done off the show floor as on it at NADA. 

Whether you’re going to NADA’s opening night [Roundup at Gilley’s,](https://www.nada.org/nada-show/nada-show-roundup-gilleys) or stopping by Booth# 6047 for a glass of Stella Artois beer from STELLA, take some time to have fun!

Five things to do to maximize your time at NADA 2023

The word “AI” is used so frequently in automotive that the true definition has gotten lost. Dealers are hearing about artificial intelligence (AI) built into chat tools, email software, digital marketing platforms and recently, in telephone software. But how do you know if what you’re buying is really AI?

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The word “AI” is used so frequently in automotive that the true definition has gotten lost. Dealers are hearing about artificial intelligence (AI) built into chat tools, email software, digital marketing platforms and recently, in telephone software. But how do you know if what you’re buying is really AI? At STELLA, we know how important it is to make sure you are purchasing exactly what your dealership needs. Here are three tips to consider when purchasing conversational AI for your dealership.

**1. Is it an IVR or conversational AI?**
Many phone systems are actually IVR tools. An interactive voice response is an automated phone system that allows calls to access a limited set of pre-recorded menu options. You’ll be familiar with this if you’ve ever placed a call and gotten a “Press or say 1 for Sales, Press or say 2 for Service, Press or say 3 for Parts, etc” type recording. While IVRs do help set up a specific menu of options, there is no artificial intelligence involved, and certainly no conversational AI that takes place. IVR software prolongs wait times, since callers must listen to a list of options- sometimes multiple times in a row, before selecting the option closest to what they want. Thanks to the overly abundant use of IVRs in today’s automotive dealerships, the average wait time for a caller is over 2 minutes! This has led to 28% of callers to auto dealerships to simply give up and hang up in 2021. An IVR is helpful only when the caller's needs fit neatly into the list of preset recorded options. Conversational AI, on the other hand, doesn’t have a menu list of recorded options for callers to select from. Instead, callers explain what they need and [the software is intelligent](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/what-is-a-dialog-manager) enough to either handle the task, or at a minimum, recognize which department to transfer the caller to for assistance. Conversational AI can recognize speech in other languages.  For example, if a Spanish-speaking caller contacts your dealership, true conversational AI technology will recognize that the language is not English and connect the caller with a Spanish-speaking employee.

**2.	Is it a fully-unassisted platform?**
Does the AI platform need a human’s involvement to fulfill its tasks? If it does, that’s considered an assisted platform and does not qualify as conversational AI. For example, if your telephone AI tool makes callers transfer to a human to book an appointment at your dealership, that’s not true AI. A true AI platform can [respond to the caller's needs](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/what-does-stella-actually-do) and fulfill the tasks that it’s been set up to do on its own. This means that if you purchase AI software that claims to be able to book appointments, the software can fulfill those requests without human intervention. A fully unassisted platform is goal-oriented. Using AI within today’s retail automotive dealerships doesn’t help if humans still must do all of the work. That defeats the purpose of implementing the software in the first place. If software needs human supervision in any capacity, that is not conversational AI. A true conversational AI platform does not need human oversight to make sure that the task or goals are being completed. When shopping for conversational AI software, be sure to ask whether the technology is fully unassisted and/or unsupervised. If it still needs humans to do the work, keep shopping!

**3.	Does it use natural language?**
Natural language processing is a tremendous differentiator when considering true conversational AI for your new or used car dealership. NLP refers to the ability of your AI software to [understand spoken words](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/what-is-stella-learning-and-how) or text the same way that a human would. Basically, once NLP is implemented, the software understands the intent of the conversation, not just a few select keywords. When it comes to selecting a conversational AI telephone system, this would reflect in the ability for the software to ask open-ended questions such as, “How many I help you?”. Natural language processing enables the AI software within your dealership to interpret speech, measure sentiment, and determine what’s most important all on its own. With NLP, the conversational AI platform [learns on its own](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/news/what-is-stella-learning-and-how) the more it is used within a dealership. This means that the software improves as its used within your stores. Any AI software without NLP will only ever be as good as the first day it’s implemented. It will not improve with use.  

The next time you’re looking to purchase conversational AI software for your dealership or dealer group, remember to consider three questions: 

1. Is it an IVR?
2. Is it fully unassisted and unsupervised?
3. Does it utilize natural language processing?

If the software isn’t an IVR, is completely unassisted and unsupervised, and uses natural language processing, you’ve found a winner, or, more likely, you’ve found STELLA!

Article By: Ben Okuka, Head of Product

3 Tips for Purchasing Conversational AI Software for Your Dealership

Hiring in the United States is a challenge right now – and automotive is no exception. A significant pain point for dealers is hiring for the dealership’s business development center. 

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Hiring in the United States is a challenge right now – and automotive is no exception. A significant pain point for dealers is hiring for the dealership’s business development center. 

For many franchise auto dealerships in the U.S., automotive business development centers (BDCs) started out as sales support staff. They were hired either part-time or full-time to qualify leads or dealership prospects. They were, and often still are, the first impression a customer has with a specific dealership. Business development representatives (BDRs) usually start the sales process and then hand off a customer to a member of the sales staff to complete the sale.  For this reason, BDC representatives are usually perceived as entry-level customer support. BDC managers were often team members with strong sales skills, not necessarily those with a well-developed customer experience or managerial background. With little prospect for career development or time to build specialized skills, BDC employees often leave their jobs to pursue new professional opportunities. There are many stories of managers struggling with their automotive BDC departments, and many more asking if having a BDC is even worth it.

Today’s dealership BDC staff has taken on additional responsibilities, making it even more vital to hire and retain the most qualified staff possible. In addition to qualifying sales leads, an internal BDC staff also supports the service department – calling customers to schedule routine maintenance, handling inbound calls for appointments, status updates or potentially identifying upgrades or retention opportunities. Many dealer groups with multiple locations have begun centralizing their BDC departments into one larger team, or even outsourcing some of the BDC tasks altogether. 

Dealers are constantly trying to figure out the most efficient way to structure and increase efficiencies within the automotive BDC department at their stores and, for good reason. The responsibilities of BDRs have grown, without removing any of the original tasks. The staff is still responsible for supporting sales, sending out prospect emails or making phone calls, and taking inbound calls for sales and service as well. They’re juggling their sales support responsibilities – making outbound calls and sending prospect emails – with inbound dealership requests.  They’re doing service department outreach – alerting customers to vehicle parts recalls while also juggling the inbound customer appointments that need to be booked. As responsibilities have changed, so have pay plans. Some dealerships pay a small salary plus performance-based bonus to all BDC representatives. Others do tier-based salaries with bonuses based on appointments that show, or BDC leads that convert to sales. There’s no consistency across the industry around structure or pay for the BDC, and that’s one of the reasons it is considered the most frustrating department of the dealership.* Current BDC structures are simply not working – for the staff or the customer. BDRs shouldn’t have to be buried under inbound appointment requests when their customer service skills, and time, could be better spent on outbound prospecting. 


What if, instead of trying and failing with your BDC, you could create an environment where your employees are able to develop their careers while handling the most immediate customer needs? What if you could create a more efficient BDC structure where show rates increased and routine tasks – like scheduling customer appointments – didn’t fall through the cracks? This is how true conversational AI can support the BDC.  STELLA’s conversational AI technology can handle every inbound call that comes into a dealership. Unlike IVR’s which have an artificial rotation of options, STELLA simply asks “How can I help you?” Customers can say exactly why they’re calling the store, instead of being forced to select a specific option. STELLA has the ability to integrate with most service schedulers, allowing callers to schedule the appointment right then and there – eliminating the time needed for Service Advisors or BDRs to return phone calls.  The STELLA AI technology understands native language and, as is true for real AI, learns the more it’s used. This means that as a dealership implements and uses STELLA, the results get better over time. Dealership management does not need to build if-then statements because STELLA learns without supervision. Implementing STELLA increased the show rates in one Honda dealership by 20%.

The STELLA conversational AI supports a dealership’s BDC staff. STELLA works every hour of every day so managers don’t have to worry about missing customers – even when the dealership is closed. BDRs can focus on outbound calls or more complex phone calls, and dealership employees can focus on customers that are in the store.  All the while, STELLA handles routine appointments and scheduling in the background. For BDRs, this frees time for customer experience training and development, which leads to employees feeling more valued in their roles. The dealerships that want to be able to retain and train a successful BDC staff in the future will need the automation support that STELLA provides to get there.


Sources: 
* [The BDC Puzzle](autosoftdms.com)


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