Driving Solutions with Jim Fitzpatrick, powered by CBT News

Dealers who embrace AI are winning the customer satisfaction game

• CBT News • Season 1 • Episode 12

Share episode

Mark Vickery of Cox Automotive reveals how AI is transforming car dealerships by personalizing customer interactions and improving satisfaction rates to all-time highs. We explore how dealerships are using predictive technology to understand shopping journeys and connect with customers more effectively while maintaining the human touch that builds lasting relationships.

• AI helps dealers connect with customers faster and more confidently, not replace human interaction
• Customer satisfaction spikes when shoppers feel the dealership knows their journey and preferences
• Predictive Insights with Gen AI alerts dealerships when customers are ready to buy and prioritizes leads
• AI drafts personalized messages based on customer behavior data from AutoTrader, KBB, and websites
• Performance managers with dealership experience help implement technology and develop strategies
• Creating a culture that embraces change is crucial for successful AI implementation
• The AI revolution parallels the internet adoption challenges dealers faced in the late 1990s
• Great customer experience is no longer optional but "the price of admission" for future success
• Amazon's ease of purchasing demonstrates how convenience trumps price shopping
• Tomorrow's technology changes are inevitable—dealers must adapt to thrive

Visit cbtnews.com for more insights on how your dealership can leverage AI to enhance customer experiences and improve profitability.


Driving Solutions is the go-to podcast for dealership professionals who want to stay sharp, informed, and ahead of the curve. Hosted by Jim Fitzpatrick and powered by CBT News, each episode brings you real strategies, smart tools, and expert insights to help you run a more profitable operation.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and visit CBTNews.com for more.

Announcer:

This is Driving Solutions exclusively on cbtnews. com.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Hey everyone, Jim Fitzpatrick, thanks so much for tuning in to another edition of Driving Solutions right here at cbtnews. com. We are joined today by Mark Vickery, who's the Assistant Vice President of Performance Management at Cox Automotive, to talk about how AI is helping dealers personalize the consumer experience and why that matters now more than ever. So, Mark, great to have you back on the show. It's been too long. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your schedule with us.

Mark Vickery:

Thank you, Jim. It's always great to see you.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Sure. So here's the big question what is on the minds of today's dealer? And I know that your team is working diligently to figure all of this AI out, so talk to us about this

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, so I spent a lot of time with dealers here in the last year. So, as we've kind of gone in this latest transformation in our business, and you know, one thing hasn't changed they want to connect with car shoppers in a way that feels real you know, AI a big misconception is not about replacing that connection. It's about helping us get there faster and more confidently.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

o, very good point. So dealers are making those connections. Cox Automotive's most recent study found that the car shopper satisfaction is actually at an all-time high. What's driving that?

Mark Vickery:

You know, I think the dealers that are seeing the biggest gains are the ones who are leaning into providing personalization, transparency, you know, and actually giving up control to the consumer. You know when a shopper feels like the team that they're dealing with knows them and not just their name, you know, but their shopping journey and what that. That's when satisfaction spikes you know so so yeah, dealers, you know, these new tools are allowing dealers to be more efficient, for sure and profitable, but I think the real win is they're creating loyalty with their, with their customers.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, yeah, I can definitely see that. Can you explain what you mean by knowing a shopper by their shopping journey?

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, crazy word right. It used to be called the road to the sale.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah right.

Mark Vickery:

So you know, listen, it's really driven by data. You know we can see that shoppers are, you know, browsing on AutoTrader when they're appraising cars on Kelley Blue Book, and certainly you know what they're looking at on the dealer's website itself. You know that tells us a lot about the consumer what kind of vehicle they want, what they're looking to trade in and maybe even how much they're willing to pay.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, yeah, there's no question. And you guys have got such a bank of data like no other company out there. Let's dig into the tech we're. You know we're always talking about using data on the show. How do you put it to work? That's the big question.

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, you know. So let's say, Jim, you're out shopping for a car. You know, you've maybe compared some prices, you've gotten some online trade-in evaluations on your current car, you've played around on some financing and payment ranges and maybe have a good idea of what the monthly payment is looking like for you. You know well, V in Solutions, predictive Insights with Gen AI, uses that data to determine your readiness to buy and alerts the dealership when you're ready to go. You know, maybe even before you've told them that you're ready to go.

Mark Vickery:

And, even better, it will prioritize those leads so dealership staff can focus on, you know, the ones that matter the most you know, and then there's Gen AI and that uses all of that data that you provided online and really gets to know who you are and what you're looking for, drafting messages like hey Jim, I see you're looking for a new Ford Explorer. Here's a trade in offer on your current vehicle, would you like to come in for a test drive? And it just does all the heavy lifting so your people can focus on you, know, building relationships.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, and we're kind of you're bringing the retail automotive sector into the 21st century by doing this, because other companies like Amazon and others have found their way to the consumer through the same means, right? I mean, this level of service is really now expected by today's automotive shopper, right?

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, I think that's 100% right. You know 100% right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Your performance management team is in the trenches with dealers day in and day out. Any tips from the field on how dealers can optimize these AI tools to drive both satisfaction and results?

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, you know, you're right, that's. A big part of the way we come to market is the performance managers are in the thick of the software every day with dealers all across the country. But they're much more than just technical support. You know, every performance manager on our team comes from dealership experience. So they worked in car dealerships selling cars, so they're to help our dealers think through the big picture. You know, software utilization is important, certainly, but what about strategy and processes and what KPIs should we measure, and so on? Right. So to me, having a partner that supports you in that way is a big part of the equation, for, you know, getting value out of that software. But the end, when it comes down to it, it's up to your culture, the dealer's culture, to drive us into the future. It's about helping your teams lean into change, because it is a difference. This is a different way to sell a car in large ways and feel confident navigating what's next.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, no question.

Mark Vickery:

Think about Jim when we first started. Getting internet leads, you know, if you go back to whenever that you know. Dark ages were.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Probably around mid-90s, mid to late 90s.

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, mid-90s going into late 90s. That was a challenging time for us you know the leads came on the fax machine and we farmed them out to salespeople and we didn't know what to do, what to say, what to talk about, and everybody was. You know, nobody was serious, it was all about they were looking for $10,000 cars. And well, guess what we figured out?

Mark Vickery:

how to handle those leads and how to process them and how to properly, you know, set them up for an appointment and then, ultimately, you then ultimately sell a car. This is no different than that. We just are going to maybe be with the customer throughout their entire time in the dealership, rather than leaving them alone to search our competitors' inventory while we're at the sales desk getting numbers.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

And that's exactly what they do, right?

Mark Vickery:

That is exactly right, that's all we're doing now. We're really kind of selling the car the same way we always have. We're just going to interact with the consumer in different ways, with more data than we've ever had before. Yeah, that's great.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Hey, the study we mentioned earlier also maps out the emotional highs and lows consumers feel as they purchase a vehicle. How can dealers show up better during these moments?

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, so you know, I think we've seen that buyers are the most satisfied when the sales team is knowledgeable and supportive, and you said it earlier, Jim, you know I mean we do this in every other thing we buy, and even Amazon for goodness sakes. They know when I need toilet paper.

Mark Vickery:

I don't have to tell them.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

How do they know that?

Mark Vickery:

Because they know man, they know how much I use, and so AI helps us show up earlier, before the shopper even walks in. Predictive insights, tells us who's likely to buy and when they're getting ready to buy. Gen AI helps us speak to them in a way that feels personal. You know, it's about building connections, I think.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

No question, no question. Any final thoughts as we close this segment out, that dealers can implement AI and automation?

Mark Vickery:

Yeah, so I think you know the dealerships that put people first, and maybe not even just their customers, but also their employees. You know that you got to be aligned with values that technology brings to the park. Creating cultures where the tech doesn't replace the humans- it just supports them. And gives them the tools to meet customers where they are, when they're there, you know, and clears away clutter, you know, so the staff can focus on. You know the important things like building customer relationships, and you know answering questions in real time face to face. You know, in the same screen together right and what are the next steps that matter to the customer, not to me, right? Yeah, wasn't that long ago. If you broke from my road to the sale, I'd just as soon not sell you the car, okay? Well, now we're going to follow them on the journey that they want to go on.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, no question.

Mark Vickery:

I don't think the great customer experience is just kind of a good thing to have. It's the price of admission going forward.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I agree, I completely agree. For those dealers that want to not just survive but thrive in the future, these kinds of tools are essential to the bottom line right.

Mark Vickery:

And guess what we're going to get there. Tomorrow's happening, whether we want it to or not, you can think back to that internet analogy from, say, 97. We got where we got, that's right. It happened we didn't choose for it to happen, it happened. That's what this is. So it's up to you know leaders and managers and vendor partners like us at Cox Automotive to help. You know teams believe in the tools that we've built and what's possible you know, when we embrace them.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right. I was in the business even before the internet. I'm really dating myself right now, but there's a lot of dealers out there my age, so they can appreciate this. But I was in the selling cars and managing showrooms when somebody would walk in with the consumer reports underneath their arm and we would like scatter and go oh, my god, you've got this individual that's going to hold you up to every single safety feature. They knew more about the car than you did. They would take weeks to buy a vehicle from the time they visited the dealership. So you know, salespeople were diving underneath the desk. And then, of course, when the internet came along, it was the same kind of thing. Somebody came in and said, hey, I was just on your website, or I was on the internet, and here's what I found. And you're like, oh my gosh, when are we going to get a break? You know? and now that's all shifted right.

Mark Vickery:

The Internet doesn't have any cars. You want to buy a car? You're going to buy it from me.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

We used all those lines right, absolutely Exactly. Well, maybe you'd like to have the Internet service your car, but at the end of the day, you know, the industry embraced the Internet and obviously now it's the greatest tool out there for for dealers you know, and now.

Mark Vickery:

I think it's our opportunity to grab back some of our declining margins. You know I mean customers that listen. I don't know how often you shop on Amazon. I Amazon comes to my house almost every day and zero percent of the time do I shop their prices uh, same same, all I know is. I pick up my phone and I've got a new roll of saran wrap showing up.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

They make it way too easy. They make it way too easy to buy a product.

Mark Vickery:

It's unbelievable and it's, and it's because it's easier. I enjoy that. That's what we're talking about here, people right we're spending more money in f and I than they were were without these tools, isn't that?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

great, that's good. Right, that's fantastic. Great for the dealer, for the consumer, for everybody involved. It really is Right on. So no question about it. Mark Vickery, assistant Vice President of Performance Management at Cox Automotive. It is always a pleasure catching up with you, sir. This is great information for our dealer community. So thank you so much for stopping by CBT. We very much appreciate it.

Mark Vickery:

Thank you so much. Great to see you as always. You too.

Announcer:

Thanks for watching Driving Solutions exclusively on cbtnewscom.