There’s been a lot of talk about AI and its potential to transform how we interact with customers. New software products have been launched, promising to revolutionize service customer marketing. However, I believe AI is a feature, not a standalone product.
How Can AI Impact Your Service Department?
What do I mean by this? AI is a powerful tool when incorporated into existing workflows.
Here’s how I see it making a difference in Service Marketing:
Maintenance Sales Enablement: Ensuring BDC staff can effectively communicate the value of services like Tire Rotations or Transmission Flushes with crafted responses, quick objection-handling techniques, and product confidence.
Texting: Standard templates like, “Hi Bob, we see your 2022 Toyota Camry is due for service. Please call us at 1-888-555-1212 or reply to this message to book,” once made sense, but they need to evolve. With 85% of customers ignoring these messages, AI offers a way to send personalized, engaging marketing messages that invite genuine conversation and escalate to a human when the customer is ready to book.
Ringless Voice Drops: Similar to texting, leaving the same voicemail like, “Hello, this is Amanda from ABC Motors. Just a friendly reminder that your vehicle is due for maintenance,” was once practical. Now, AI-powered virtual agents can deliver highly personalized, targeted messages that sound professional and natural.
Missed Calls: Customers dislike long holds or voicemails. AI can streamline this process by capturing intent, summarizing conversations, and sending actionable information to dealership teams without requiring them to listen to the full message. It can even help move the conversation from voice to text if this is something the customer is open to.
These are essential areas where modern service departments can use AI. However, until now, dealerships needed to invest in multiple costly products and integrate each into their existing workflows. Not only was this complex, but it also required additional DMS integrations and extensive staff training. This is why I believe AI should be a set of features within existing products, not a series of additional products you need to buy.
What is DealerMine Doing?
At DealerMine Service CRM, we’re excited to be launching a series of new features that seamlessly incorporate AI into our solution. We’ve worked closely with some of the most successful dealers across North America to build AI solutions into dealers existing workflows. The results so far have been amazing!
In just four months, this feature has driven an 18% Increase in average Maintenance Sales per Repair Order for dealers using it.
AI Maintenance Groups: DealerMine’s Maintenance Groups can now auto-update with high-quality information, detailing service benefits and providing tips for overcoming objections.
When customers reply, we categorize their intent and pass it to BDC staff, streamlining responses and escalating only when customer intent is clear.
AI Batch Texting: Starting now , DealerMine customers can replace static maintenance reminders with engaging, informative messages. This demo showcases how you can add relevant information and encourage customer responses.
AI Voicemail and Voice Drops:By early next year, DealerMine customers will be able to send highly personalized ringless voicemails with customer names, vehicle details, and specific service reminders. Additionally, BDC agents will have AI-powered voicemails that allow them to move to their next call without manually recording a message, maximizing productivity and efficiency.
And there's more on the way
By integrating each of these features into an existing Service Department, you can help improve customer engagement, increase your average maintenance sales per repair order, and allow your staff to focus on revenue generating activities. All in one product!
