If you begin shopping for your car online, you’re likely interacting with AI chatbots that are utilized to answer consumer questions on dealer websites.

It might read like a real person, but many chatbots have been programmed with the most common questions and scenarios to aid consumers as they interact with a dealer website. It’s amazing how life-like these chatbots have become and the extent of what they can do. Dealers using AI chatbots free up time for their staff during business hours and allow shoppers to interact with the website during off hours.

Here are several roles the AI chatbots fulfill on dealer websites.

Customer questions are answered

The most important and impactful way dealers are utilizing chatbots on their websites is the ability to answer questions. Instead of calls going to the sales team or dealer personnel answering texts and messages all day, the chatbots can handle most of the questions, especially those that are considered the most frequently asked. Typically, a car dealer only needs one type of chatbot to get this done, ensuring customers have questions answered quickly.

Budgets are calculated

An automotive chatbot can help answer questions, but this AI system can also help figure out the appropriate budget for a customer. This can be one of the most important aspects of automotive lead generation. If AI chatbots on dealer websites can calculate the car budget for a customer, they are more likely to work with that dealership. The chatbot can calculate monthly payments and utilize various income data to help shoppers understand how much car they can afford to buy.

Which cars are available?

One of the most important questions that customers have when shopping is which vehicles are available. This isn’t something that requires a person to provide the information; it’s better left to the chatbots. Using current inventory data, the chatbot can provide search results to consumers based on their search criteria. This could be specific models, desirable features, models with rebates, or vehicles with high safety ratings. Anything that shoppers can think of, the chatbot should be able to search for and provide from the website. This helps make the shopping experience much more enjoyable.

Does your car need maintenance?

Once customers have purchased a vehicle, they need to have it service. What better place than the dealership they trusted to sell them the vehicle to help them maintain it. Many AI chatbots on dealers websites send reminders to customers based on anticipated mileage, but shoppers who also visit the website to setup car maintenance can do so anytime day or night. This is a much more convenient way to set up the maintenance appointment required to care for a vehicle.

Chatbots can schedule sales activities

One of the most important sales activities for any customer is a test drive. This is part of the lead generation strategy that puts customers behind the wheel of their desired car, truck, or SUV. Test drivers should be scheduled and organized, which is where the automotive chatbots can be useful. By collecting the information and scheduling the drives, the sales team can focus on selling vehicles and preparing for the test drives that are scheduled for the day through the online system.

Guidance through the services

The AI chatbots on dealer websites engage with customers by providing information regarding various services and comprehensive information to ensure potential customers are as informed as possible. Automotive chatbots can generate car sales leads and automate the lead process to help a dealership grow at all times of the day or night. This is one of the most important uses of these chatbots, which can quickly become an integral part of the dealership selling process. In fact, the chatbot is often the first interaction most customers have with the dealership.

Provide a live chat when required

Some aspects of the car-selling process cannot be completed or answered with a chatbot. When this is the case, the chatbot can facilitate a scheduled live chat session with customers who choose to chat online from home rather than visiting the dealership. This allows the customer to stay in the comfort of their home, and the dealer sales agent can schedule time to sit and talk with the customer about their questions and needs. This is a great way to put faces together and push the sales process forward.

AI chatbots have grown to do more than answer a few questions on dealer websites and can handle much of the sales process for the dealership.