Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Industry Spotlight Podcast Recap—the key lessons from top operators, founders, and execs shaping the future of auto retail.
Today’s guests are Jeremy Nowling, Sales and Digital Retailing Director at Rohrman Auto Group, and Matt Muilenburg, Chief Product Officer of Impel.
Together, they discuss why customizing AI responses by lead source changes everything, how to onboard AI like you onboard a new team member, and why vendors refusing to share data with dealer AI are dinosaurs.
Fast, transparent communication is now the baseline customer expectation.
Today’s buyers won’t tolerate delays—they want immediate, thorough answers about anything they’re considering.
"When we want an answer, we don't want to wait 15 minutes or two hours… that is how AI is working for us at the Roarman Automotive Group." — Nowling
Dealers who eliminate wait time earn trust before the shopper looks elsewhere.
AI absorbs the workload that once required a full BDC team.
Meeting rising lead volume used to mean hiring more agents, but Roarman discovered that intelligence—not headcount—is what scales.
"We learned we don't need BDC [Business Development Center] agents. We need a technology that can help with the cadence… AI is not going to replace people. People that don't know how to work alongside AI is what's going to [displace] people." — Nowling
Redeploying BDC talent into sales roles lifts both capability and customer experience.
Tailoring first responses by lead source transforms engagement.
Relevance in the opening message keeps consumers moving forward because the reply reflects exactly what they came in to accomplish.
"That first response hits you right where you're at versus walking you backward." — Nowling
A personalized starting point makes customers feel understood instead of redirected.
Treating all leads the same was costing dealers far more than expected.
Impel identified 10,500 unique lead sources — each representing a different intent, buyer profile, and expectation.
"Surprisingly, 10,500 unique lead sources come into our system on a daily basis… we're tremendously more successful when [we] reach out to that customer in the context where they started." — Muilenburg
Precision messaging fixes blind spots that were quietly limiting conversions.
Presented by:
1. Impel - Meet the AI Operating System built for a new era of automotive retailing. From CRM to service bay, from website to DMS, it unifies and orchestrates every part of your dealership operations—and your customer lifecycle. Visit @ impel.ai and and discover how Impel AI turns routine interactions into VIP experiences.
Personalized first responses can more than double appointment rates.
Lead types that once underperformed—like trade-in forms or long-tail marketplaces— immediately surged when AI mirrored customer intent.
"In some of the categories, we've seen appointment rates go up more than 100% by making this small change." — Muilenburg
Small shifts in relevance create large gains in engagement.
Reviewing AI conversations before outreach enables smoother handoffs.
Salespeople now step into active conversations instead of starting from scratch, which creates a more natural, informed handoff.
"If the general note has multiple layers… educate yourself on how you're going to handle your next text, phone call, or email." — Nowling
Context turns outreach from a cold call into a continuation.
Leadership involvement determines whether AI succeeds or stalls.
Launches work best when GMs stay hands-on, participate in performance meetings, and model the engagement they expect from staff.
"Be present…don't blow off the performance manager. If you're going to launch a product that's going to drive the success of your store… you need to be involved with it." — Nowling
AI becomes effective only when leaders guide it like a real team member.
Fast feedback keeps AI on-brand and prevents drift.
Early oversight ensures that every response reflects what the dealership actually believes and how it wants to communicate.
"If there's an issue, there is a team jumping on it… they raise the alarm to say, ‘Hey, there's a problem. Let's fix it.’" — Nowling
Quick correction creates a tighter, more consistent customer experience.
Service scheduling is already a complete end-to-end AI workflow.
AI can now book service appointments directly in the scheduler, removing one of the highest-volume bottlenecks in the dealership.
"Customers can engage with AI now and go all the way down to booking the appointment right into the scheduling system." — Muilenburg
That frees advisors from nonstop calls and improves both efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Vendor cooperation will shape the next era of dealership technology.
As AI grows, dealers need vendors willing to open their systems instead of guarding data behind walls.
"People believe that data is the moat…but dealers are saying data is what powers the AI. Vendors that try to protect their data are dinosaurs." — Muilenburg
The winners will be the vendors who help dealers use their own data to run smarter, faster operations.
