Over the years, dealers have continued investing heavily in digital tools that, in theory, connect them to customers more seamlessly and instantly.
But William Camastro, dealer partner of Gold Coast Cadillac, argues that without intentional manual touchpoints, these tools often limit personal connections, creating more distance between customers and the dealership.
Driving the news: "If your people and your processes don't match the digital experience that the customer has had, you're wasting your money,” he told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli de’ Martino.
The problem: Service department staff are among the busiest in the entire dealership. And Camastro observed that service advisors talking to customers in person, often turn down the phone volume, leading to missed calls and frustrated customers. On top of that, customers who have their car delivered to their home, usually don’t absorb any information about dealership programs, or follow-up processes.
So, Camastro decided to build a system where manual touchpoints trigger deliberate digital engagement rather than compete with it.
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How it works: Gold Coast hands every customer a physical thank you letter at point of sale (not delivery) that gets read to them by the salesperson.
The letter outlines all of the benefits of buying from Gold Coast, like loaner programs, VIP loyalty cards, and service perks.
It also includes Camastro's personal cell phone number (yes, really).
Plus, each letter has a QR code that sends customers directly to the store’s online appointment scheduler.
"We zap the QR code at point of sale, and it ties the customer right into our appointment schedule before they even take delivery of their car," Camastro explained.
Worth noting: To solve for service advisor bandwidth Gold Coast uses Numa, an agentic AI system that shoulders some of the call volume.
The result: Camastro’s customers book 40% of the dealership’s appointments, about four times higher than the industry average. Now, his advisors can focus on higher-level tasks like tailoring recommendations, managing workflows, and providing top-tier experiences.
From Camastro’s POV: Auto retailing is, and will continue being a relationship-first business.
As he put it: “If you think that engaging with customers is ever going to be trumped by digital, you're dead wrong. You're dead wrong. We don't have a chat bot as the president of the United States. You don't have a chat bot as a wife or a husband. You don't have a chat bot for a dog. And if you walked into a business where it had nothing but speakers and chatbots, you probably wouldn't buy very much there. That human interaction, that human engagement is extremely important.”
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