If there’s one thing that nobody likes, regardless of what kind of business we’re talking about, it’s phone systems.
Long hold times during busy hours, after-hours dealership calls going to voicemail, calls that are missed completely or dropped during peak times, managers being interrupted during conversations – these are the kinds of frustrations that end up with potential customers calling your competitors instead.
Even if you’re able to field a call, that conversation isn’t going to go far unless you really understand what customers want and need and can walk them through to the next steps. Let’s take a look at how automotive voice AI can help close this gap.
How Matador Call AI Works
This is where Matador’s suite of AI dealership call automation agents can step in:
- Receptionist AI is the first point of contact. Just like you’d expect, this system answers the customer’s call, screens the reason why they’re calling, then routes the call to the proper person or department (and saves the customer from having to deal with a phone-tree menu).
- Sales call AI will guide the customer through any vehicle questions, including matching vehicles and option preferences, by accessing the inventory in real time. Sales AI can also look at scheduling and set up an appointment time with the customer.
- Service call AI handles routine maintenance and repair inquiries and can look at the dealership’s system to check scheduling and book an appointment with the service department.
- Voicemail AI is a next-generation solution for after hours calls; instead of a canned response, it supports follow-up by text.
Want to hear how this technology works in the real world? Just listen here:
1. Sales AI: Test Drive Booking
Listen to this call: Hear how Matador’s Call AI handles a customer’s vehicle inquiry, answers their questions, and turns their interest into a scheduled test drive, all in one seamless conversation.
This browser can’t play the stream. Hear Call AI on the product page instead.
2. Sales AI: Alternative Vehicle Recommendations
Listen to this call: What happens when the vehicle a customer wants is no longer available? Hear how Matador’s Call AI keeps the conversation moving by understanding their preferences and recommending alternative vehicles that match their needs.
This browser can’t play the stream. Hear Call AI on the product page instead.
3. Service AI: Appointment Rescheduling
Listen to this call: Plans change, and Matador’s Call AI makes rescheduling easy. Hear how it helps a customer find a new appointment time and updates their service booking without requiring staff assistance.
This browser can’t play the stream. Hear Call AI on the product page instead.
[Note: The dealership names and customer info, including names and phone numbers have been bleeped out of the conversation to protect their privacy]
Natural Conversations Backed By Dealership Intelligence
No more stilted, robotic-sounding voice-synthesized responses; Call AI knows the rhythms and inflections of natural conversations, even with interruptions and multiple questions. This automotive voice AI system can find out about the customer’s preferences, budget and vehicle type, then access the current inventory to start suggesting options.
Call AI can emulate your area’s regional accent (New England, Chicago, Southern, etc.) and can recognize returning customers by phone number. It can even be set up to handle calls and conversations in other languages, if need be.
Imagine this:
Caller: “Hi, I’m looking for a late model Chevy Tahoe”
Call AI: “I’m glad you called, we’ve got a ‘22 model in stock as well as a couple of others. What’s your price range?”
From there, Call AI can discuss pricing, option packages, vehicle color and other preferences, then offer appointment times for the customer to come in for a look at that Tahoe and a test drive.
Appointment Scheduling that Goes Beyond Booking
Call AI streamlines your team’s workload, reduces missed calls and lost leads, and turns customer inquiries into booked appointments:
That includes features like:
- Real-time insights into service department scheduling
- Booking that goes directly into the dealership scheduling system
- Appointments that are coordinated with sales team’s calendars
- Accurate customer information, with no duplication of records or appointments booked mistakenly with the wrong household member
That means a smoother, more friction-free experience for the customers, less paperwork and management for admins and sales teams, and availability that’s more consistent and rewarding.
Reliable Call Handling With the Human Element As Needed
Having an automotive voice AI system doesn’t mean that humans are cut out of the loop. Call AI will forward a call to the appropriate person based on customer conversations, and will reconnect with the customer if a call gets dropped or if there’s a connection issue. It’s also set up to capture customer details and call outcomes for sales staff, so they can follow up on leads and prevent them from falling through the cracks.
All these services and features can be custom fit to your dealership’s systems and best practices for routing, escalation and customer interactions, and will record customer information and important details from the conversation so that the sales team can come prepared when they follow up. That’s all with 24/7 availability, of course.
There are always going to be parts of the sales process that can only be done with human connection, and Call AI can help by getting the customer to the right person at the right time, with the right information on hand to help build that relationship and close the sale.
Wrapping Up
Whether it’s a person or an AI agent, there’s a lot more to phone interactions than simply answering and handling a call. You need to be able to answer specific questions, gauge a customer’s mood and intent, schedule appointments, and provide the service each customer needs. Canned responses from phone trees or programmed website chatbots can’t deliver that level of personalized service. Matador’s Call AI, however, can handle incoming calls regardless of the time of day or call volume, giving sales teams the information they need to capture more leads and come prepared when engaging with customers. It’s an effective way to pre-qualify leads and complete some of the groundwork before bringing in the sales team.
Book a demo with Matador AI and find out how we can help you enhance your dealership’s operations and turn incoming phone calls into booked appointments.
