Jan. 23, 2020—According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, artificial intelligence is the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent behavior. For example, a robot has artificial intelligence.
For Mo Zahabi, artificial intelligence is like a person reading body language. When a person reads body language in other people, they're assessing what's going on behind the scenes.
Within a dealership and other repair facilities, artificial intelligence can be used to understand the sentiment of the customer before he or she even steps foot into the shop, he says. The software can analyze the customer's inbound communication and determine if he or she is happy or simply going through the motions, answering questions.
Zahabi, senior director of product consulting at VinSolutions and Dealertrack F&I, says there are four categories of AI. He breaks down the four categories of AI that are available to dealerships and other repair operators.
Category 1: Monitoring effectiveness of talent and efficiency.
AI determines engagement strength and which lead engagements are trending down.
Category 2: Sentiment and intent summary.
AI analyzes customer emails, texts and what they’re saying and what they mean.
Category 3: Body signal categories.
AI uses KBB and solutions CRM data to eliminate the guessing game of whether the customer is back in the market. Recognizes when an existing customer shows buying signals.
Category 4 (Soon to be):
This would be an AI bot that could read through data, engage the customer and hand off the customer when ready.