How Motor City Lexus of Bakersfield Uses Conversica to Target Automotive Service Customers

Automotive service customers know they need to take care of their vehicles. But it’s all too easy for drivers to bump a service appointment to the bottom of their to-do lists. Day after day—week after week—that auto service appointment gets nudged further into the future. This spells bad news for the driver and their vehicle.

Dealerships often try to get ahead of routine maintenance by connecting with customers over the phone, email, or SMS. But even with multiple contact options, it can be tough to get busy people to respond. And chasing down a customer to make an appointment can be time-consuming for employees.

Luckily, Conversation Automation solutions from Conversica can persistently and politely pursue customers to make that important service appointment.

Lawrence Dyer, Business and Development team member at Motor City Lexus of Bakersfield Service, shares his experience using a Conversica AI Assistant to help connect with automotive service customers and drive revenue for the business.

Using Conversica AI Assistants for an Automotive Services Business

Motor City Lexus of Bakersfield Service adopted Conversica in 2019 to automate two-way conversations with customers. The goal was to motivate more customers to book service appointments—which generate revenue for the business.

Dyer joined the company after the Conversation Automation solution was already deployed. For him, it was a very new way of doing business. “When I got used to it, I really loved it,” Dyer says. “It takes away a lot of the tedious stuff I used to do before.”

So, rather than manually reaching out to contacts in hopes of getting them through the door, the AI Assistant (named “Mia”) autonomously pursues contacts with personalized messages proven to drive revenue opportunities. Better still, conversations delivered by the AI solution feel real and human-like.

“People are emailing in to get their appointments scheduled or their questions answered,” Dyer says. “When I answer, they ask to speak to Mia. And, of course, I’m Mia.”

Dyer starts each workday by checking the Conversica platform. “I do it every morning before I even start my other work,” Dyer says.

Dyer especially appreciates that he can seamlessly access Conversica from his smartphone. “If anyone responds [to the AI Assistant] in the evening, I can respond as Mia saying that someone will give them a call in the morning to schedule an appointment or answer their questions,” Dyer says.

Dyer says the AI Assistant helped keep customers connected even during the pandemic years as the business was short-staffed. But he’s really looking forward to the years ahead.

“Our business is growing,” Dyer says. “If it keeps growing at this rate, we’ll need two Mias—me and someone else—to handle the incoming requests.”