AI Texting: Common Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Sell More Cars

Adding AI to your CRM is a great way to help you stay in contact with your customers, especially if you are busy and can’t get to the lead right away. It gives you the opportunity to reach more customers with less people, but I want to warn you: it should NOT replace your people completely.

My company, C&M Coaching, specializes in helping dealers find holes in their internet lead and phone calls processes. One of the ways we do that is through Mystery Shops. We submit an internet lead to a dealership and monitor all communications for the next three business days. The results are scary and we see thousands of text messages every month, from every single CRM out there. Here is what we know: CRM’s are overloaded with AI texts and sales teams haven’t been trained how to properly balance out customer contact with the software.

Issue #1:
Sending too many text messages and not calling the customer. I love texting, it’s faster than a call and more people respond. But it is not the best way to build rapport with a customer. Always try to call your lead first, if they don’t answer then send a text letting them know you just left them a message and ask when is a better time to call them. This allows you an opportunity to open the lines of communication but also hopefully get them on the phone to use your voice inflection and personality to really sell them on purchasing from you. Some software will send text after text and overwhelm the customer, so the salesperson will go in and ‘pause’ the AI software and then forget to check the lead again – leaving the customer hanging.

Issue #2:
Text. No reply. Text. No reply. Text. No reply. This is directly related to issue #1! If you let your AI software send 15 text messages and the customer hasn’t responded to a single one, what makes you think sending a 16th message will be the one that gets them to respond? If you rely only on texting and you get zero response after the first 2 messages, please call the customer. You could have a landline, a wrong number/digit or the wrong person. If we don’t attempt to make the call, we will never know. Bombarding a customer who hasn’t replied with text after text will NOT help you sell a car.

Issue #3:
Letting AI push for an application over and over and over again. This is directly related to issue #2. When we mystery shop, we will see multiple text messages with no introduction from a real person (or a made-up person, but at least it’s an introduction) and only a link to the application. Text after text just pushing for the customer to complete an application online. I realize that we do this to see “how serious” the customer is, but if they have spent the average time online as most customers (14 hours) and they went to your website, saw the opportunity to complete an application but chose to submit an inquiry on a vehicle or “contact us” button instead – they aren’t ready to do an application. And sending them text messages over and over asking them to is simply pushing them away. You absolutely need to call them, have a conversation with them, make them feel heard, valued, show them you are different and then when it’s appropriate you can ask for an application. Texting and pushing applications is very impersonal and makes your customer feel like just another number.

Issue #4:
AI’s texts do not relate to the situation and are not customized to match what may By Maggie Pugesek, C&M Coaching have happened on the phone or in previous texts with customers. If you call and speak to a customer and they say, “let me check my schedule and get back to you”, and AI sends a text message saying “You haven’t finished your application, here is the link…” it seems as though we weren’t listening to the customer the first time around. Instead, you could say:

“Hi Gina, this is Maggie from ABC Motors! Thank you for your time on the phone last week. Have you had an opportunity to check your schedule? I am in the office until 6pm tonight and I have some time right now or later. Do either of those options work for you?”

This at least pertains to the conversation, is personable and attempts to get the customer in the door. Of course I would rather this was a phone call to them, but it’s better than just sending them a text message that doesn’t match what happened when you spoke.

Issue #5:
Salespeople forget how to handle leads because they know the system is going to do the work for them. They will simply let the texts go out and wait for the customer to respond, and never place a phone call. Did you know that 60% of customers will purchase from the dealership that calls them first? And if you call your customer within 5 minutes, you can expect to reach 70-80% of them. Sending only text messages does not produce those statistics. Phone calls and real human voice engagement do. Call first!

What to do instead: Use AI to compliment your sales team, not replace it. You can set up an automated text message, something to let customers know you are here to help. For example, 

“Hi Gina, this is Maggie with ABC Motors! I just received your online inquiry. I am just wrapping up with a customer and will be contacting you shortly. Is this the best number to reach you on? I look forward to chatting with you soon.”

The messaging is clear, we are excited to speak with them, we will be calling them soon and we have received their inquiry. This message feels personal but can be easily automated.

If there is no response via phone, text or email (aka no contact) you can say:

“Hi Gina, this is Maggie again from ABC Motors. I keep missing you and I would love to connect regarding financing for a vehicle. I am here until 6pm tonight, is there a good time to reach you?”

— or —

“Hi Gina, this is Maggie from ABC Motors. I have left a couple of messages but haven’t been able to reach you. Is it easier for us to communicate via text? If so, I am happy to go through the process with you via text.”

Now you are asking questions, hopefully getting the customer to engage. But without this personal connection, we are missing the mark on making the customer feel valued, heard, understood and like we are here to help.

I love AI, I think it’s a great tool to have in our toolbox, but it should not be the only thing your salespeople or BDC staff rely on to get customers in the door. Go through a lead and review the text and communications with the customer, make sure it looks exactly how you want it to, and all the verbiage is professional and makes sense given your customer base. Customize those AI texts to match your selling process but keep it personal and expect your sales team to call your leads – and then make sure they actually do!