The Connected Customer Journey: Unlocking OEM and Dealership Integration with AI

Customer expectations are sky-high in the automotive industry, and operational efficiency is crucial. But what if the key to unlocking the next level of performance isn't just in the vehicles, but in the intelligence that connects every touchpoint? The automotive ecosystem, while innovative, often experiences friction points between OEMs and their dealership networks, resulting in less-than-stellar end-customer experiences. These are compounded by industrywide pressures such as staffing challenges, the need to boost customer loyalty, and the constant search for new sources of revenue. Artificial intelligence offers a powerful answer to these pervasive problems. The path to truly integrated and impactful AI lies in strategic alliances and effective OEM and dealership integration. The collaboration between Encora and STELLA Automotive AI, for instance, is a crucial step toward holistic AI solutions that bridge the gaps and create new value across the automotive journey.

The silo problem: Why a disconnected automotive ecosystem hurts everyone

The automotive industry is driven by rapid technological advancement. But despite the countless innovations, a fundamental obstacle persists: a disconnected ecosystem. Information, processes, and systems often operate in silos, creating resistance that impacts everyone from the manufacturer to the customer. Understanding these pain points is the first step toward building a more integrated and efficient future.

The OEM perspective: Innovation is lost in translation

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are investing heavily in the next generation of mobility, from Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) and intelligent connected cars to innovative digital leasing platforms. The goal is to deliver enhanced value, smarter services, and more personalized experiences. However, these advancements frequently struggle to translate seamlessly to the dealership floor and the customer. When cutting-edge features aren't fully understood or supported at the retail level, or when connected car data doesn't smoothly inform the service process, the intended impact is lost. OEMs and dealers need to work together more closely to ensure new technologies improve the customer's experience instead of being isolated features. 

The dealership perspective: Drowning in a jumble of different systems

For dealership personnel, the daily reality is often one of managing a complex web of tasks: tracking leads, scheduling service appointments, and maintaining consistent customer communication. These repetitive duties can be overwhelming, especially when relying on legacy systems that don't integrate well with each other or with newer OEM platforms. Service advisors might struggle to access vital vehicle data from a connected car system, or the sales team might grapple with lead information scattered across multiple, non-communicating tools. This lack of cohesion severely hinders dealerships’ operational efficiency. The result is often duplicated effort, missed opportunities, and a constant battle to provide timely, informed service, preventing staff from focusing on higher-value customer interactions.

The customer perspective: A frustrating journey

From the customer's viewpoint, these disconnects often lead to a frustrating experience. Their journey can feel like a series of poorly connected encounters. Information provided online might not be accessible to the salesperson in the showroom. A proactive service alert from their connected car might lead to confusion when they call the dealership, or the dealership might miss their call altogether. When systems and departments fail to share information effectively, it leads to irritation and a feeling that the brand doesn't truly know or value them.

The cost of disconnection

The price of this disconnected ecosystem is steep. For OEMs, it means a potentially lower return on their innovation investments. For dealerships, it translates directly to lost revenue through inefficiencies, missed sales, and service opportunities, not to mention the cost of managing or losing frustrated customers. It leads to lower overall customer satisfaction and loyalty across the board. The inability to share data and streamline processes means the entire automotive value chain operates below its potential, leaving money on the table and opportunities unexplored.

The power of unified AI and digital engineering

Addressing these pervasive silos is a necessity for thriving in the current automotive landscape. The path forward lies in fostering integration, enhancing communication, and leveraging technology to create a truly synergistic ecosystem. A combined approach of deep digital engineering and specialized conversational AI can be transformative for dealerships.

Deep digital engineering: Encora's strength

A seamless automotive experience requires a robust technological backbone. Encora brings its profound expertise in digital engineering to lay this groundwork. It's about architecting and building robust, scalable platforms essential for connected mobility initiatives, the intricate systems behind Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), and the resilient cloud infrastructure that underpins modern automotive operations. This foundational work ensures that data can flow, systems can communicate, and innovations can be reliably deployed and scaled.

Specialized conversational AI: STELLA's strength

Layered onto this strong foundation, STELLA Automotive AI delivers its specialized conversational AI, designed specifically for the automotive retail and service environment. This technology excels at streamlining customer interactions at every stage. It’s about automating those everyday, time-consuming tasks, such as scheduling service appointments, answering frequently asked questions, or providing status updates, and freeing up dealership staff. It’s also about personalizing communication, ensuring customers feel heard and valued, whether they're calling, texting, or interacting online.

When these two powerful capabilities converge, the impact on dealerships can be truly transformative. This unified approach turns technological potential into tangible business results.

Benefits for OEMs

For OEMs, the advantages include:

• Ensuring brand consistency and innovation reach the end-user effectively.

• Gaining better insights from dealership-level data.

• Facilitating new service models.

Benefits for dealerships and service managers

For dealers, the advantages include:

• Supercharging lead response and appointment setting with STELLA. 

• Improving CSI scores through smoother, more informed customer interactions.

• Freeing up staff from repetitive tasks to focus on high-value interactions.

• Seamlessly integrating STELLA with existing DMS/CRM.

Tangible use cases impacting operations and revenue

From the design studio to the service bay, the reality is that automotive AI use cases are plentiful:

For service managers

With dealership call center AI or digital assistants like STELLA AI handling inbound service calls, intelligently booking appointments, and answering customers’ questions 24/7, dealerships can focus on high-value tasks. Meanwhile, proactive service reminders are sent to customers and scheduled via service appointment scheduling AI and conversational AI platforms. With STELLA, customers experience reduced call wait times when they call the service department, leading to increased appointment show rates and more repair orders.

For dealership managers (sales and general operations)

Dealership managers find powerful allies in AI for automotive to optimize performance across the board. With AI platforms like STELLA instantly qualifying leads gathered from various channels, valuable sales team resources are focused on the most promising prospects. Simultaneously, AI ensures that all customer inquiries receive consistent, branded responses, maintaining professionalism and building trust. This leads to enhanced automotive BDC efficiency and effectiveness, as teams can manage interactions more smoothly and productively. The cumulative effect is significant, with these AI-driven improvements directly capturing top-line revenue through better lead conversion and service uptake, ultimately increasing overall dealership revenue.

For OEMs

For OEMs, leveraging AI strategically offers a pathway to greater brand coherence and market intelligence. By championing the deployment of consistent AI-powered customer interaction tools across their dealer networks, OEMs can ensure a standardized, high-quality experience for every customer, reinforcing brand values at each touchpoint. This unified approach simultaneously enables the gathering of richer data on customer preferences and vehicle performance through these integrated systems, providing invaluable insights for product refinement and service innovation. Ultimately, a more connected and data-informed dealer network is better equipped to support new ownership models and upstream innovations, such as sophisticated leasing programs or streamlined wholesale parts operations, allowing OEMs to more effectively bring their evolving strategies to market.

Unlock OEM and dealership integration

Adopting integrated AI solutions is essential for staying competitive and keeping pace with automotive industry trends. When partnering with AI solutions, look for deep industry expertise, scalability and integration capabilities, and a proven track record in the automotive industry. Chat with our team about what the STELLA and Encora partnership could mean for your dealership.

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