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How AI is Powering Personalized Consumer Experiences 

The most successful dealerships always put people first. It’s a tried-and-true formula that has endured the test of time, not only in automotive retail, but in the wider business world. So, what role does a decidedly non-human artificial intelligence play in the next generation of automotive sales, and why are so many dealers finding success with AI? 

AI Isn’t Replacing Connection, It’s Empowering It 

Even with the rapid emergence of AI and other modern convenience technologies (including automation), one thing hasn’t changed: Dealerships want to connect with car shoppers in a way that feels real. The irony of AI is that it’s empowering dealers to connect with shoppers better than ever before. It’s not removing the “real” human element, it’s actually helping dealers and consumers connect faster, more confidently, and more efficiently.  

The Connection Between AI and Consumer Satisfaction 

According to a recent Cox Automotive study, car shopper satisfaction is at an all-time high. So, what’s behind the numbers? Mark Vickery, AVP of Performance Management at Cox Automotive, attributes the rise in consumer satisfaction to an increase in personalization. In fact, those dealerships that are seeing the biggest gains are proactively providing more personalization, transparency, and control.  

When a shopper feels like the sales team knows them—not just their name, but their shopping journey—that’s when satisfaction spikes. And that’s where AI comes in. AI is helping dealerships see what shoppers are browsing on Autotrader, what vehicle valuations they’re looking up on Kelley Blue Book, and what vehicles they’re researching on a dealership’s site. By collecting and analyzing consumer data, AI allows for smarter, more relevant conversations with consumers.  

The Power of Predictive AI  

Taking the technology a step further, AI has the power to analyze online activity and predict when a shopper is ready to buy. VinSolutions Predictive Insights with GenAI helps dealerships prioritize high-intent leads, coordinate outreach efforts, and create highly personalized messages with a click of a button like, “I’m thrilled to hear you’re interested in the Mazda CX-90! It’s a fantastic choice—packed with advanced safety features and spacious enough to comfortably accommodate a large family, making road trips with the kids a breeze. Based on your trade-in, I’m confident we can put together a great offer to get you behind the wheel of your new Mazda. Let’s make it happen!” 

 The technology does the heavy lifting. Your team builds the real human relationship. 

AI Is a Strategy, Not Just a Technology 

Dealerships that are seeing success with AI are doing more than simply turning on tools. They have a strategy in place with a trusted technology partner to leverage AI and personalize human connections. While successful dealers still put people first, AI is helping to support them in building real relationships, not replace them.  

As personalization continues to become an important differentiator between dealerships, an investment in AI can help build real human connections—turning browsers into buyers and buyers into loyal, lifelong customers. 

In this fast-paced video, Micah Tindor, Senior Director of Strategy at Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, joins Jade Terreberry, Senior Director of Strategic Planning at Cox Automotive, to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming dealership operations—and why successful adoption starts with culture, not just technology. Bridging strategy with execution, the conversation dives into real-world pain points dealers face, such as accurately pricing inventory and assessing mechanical condition. You’ll see how AI tools are helping teams work smarter, respond faster, and close more profitable deals. Drawing on dealer feedback and real-world examples, this video offers actionable insights to foster team buy-in, increase adoption, and make AI truly applicable for your dealership.

Inventory acquisition is one of the biggest challenges facing dealers today—and it’s not getting easier. In a recent podcast, Micah Tindor joined Chrisey O’Hara to unpack this issue following their visit to NIADA, where acquisition was a hot topic among dealers. “Auction and lease volume is down,” Tindor explained. “That leaves dealers with one option: turn to the consumer market.” 

In this article, we’ll break down what’s driving the inventory crunch and how dealers can build the muscle to overcome it. From auction shortages to shifting consumer behavior, both experts focused on how Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer (ICO) is helping dealers navigate the squeeze. 

The average consumer takes 77 days to sell their vehicle¹, but 56% of Kelley Blue Book® ICO users sell within the first three weeks. ² As Tindor points out, most dealers only follow up on trade-in leads for seven to 30 days—leaving a 47-day gap where potential deals can slip through the cracks. 

Building the Consumer Acquisition Muscle 

Today’s consumers are more informed and more selective. “The average consumer has 2.6 cash offers at the time of sale,” said Tindor. “While both Millennials and Gen Z are now seeking between four and six cash offers”.³  

And while the average consumer takes 77 days to sell their vehicle, 56% of Kelley Blue Book® ICO users sell within the first three weeks. “Over half of our clients are still converting within three weeks,” Tindor noted. But the remaining half? That’s where dealers need to work to build up their follow-up muscle.  

Most dealers follow up with trade-in leads for just 7 to 30 days. That leaves a 47-day gap where potential deals are slipping through the cracks. 

The Inventory Squeeze: What’s Causing It? 

The traditional sources of inventory are drying up. Auction volume is dropping. In fact, “…with off-lease being down by 36% in 2025 and estimated to be down by 27% by 2026, there are simply fewer vehicles flowing back into the market,” according to Tindor.⁴  

With fewer cars available through auctions and lease returns, dealers are increasingly turning to consumers. But sourcing from consumers isn’t just a shift in strategy, as Tindor explains, it’s an opportunity. 

Tools Dealers Can Use for ICO Follow-Up Activation  

Effective ICO follow-up begins with having the right foundational tools in place. These capabilities are essential for any dealership looking to flex those muscles and confidently follow up with expired offers. With these tools, dealers can ensure they’re staying engaged with consumers and maximizing every opportunity to acquire quality inventory. 

CRM Email Journeys  

• Automated Drip Campaigns: Set up time-based email sequences that trigger when an ICO expires.  

• Personalized Messaging: Use dynamic fields to include vehicle details, offer amount, and expiration date.  

• Behavior-Based Triggers: Re-engage customers who opened previous emails but didn’t act. 

SMS/Text Campaigns  

• Quick, direct follow-up with high open rates.  

• Include prompts to schedule an appointment.  

BDC (Business Development Center) Call Scripts  

• Equip BDC reps with tailored scripts to follow up on expired offers.  

• Include talking points like updated market value, trade-in options, and appointment scheduling.   

Kelley Blue Book’s ICO platform is helping dealers close that gap with tools designed for today’s market realities, too.  

Automated Follow-Up with RE-ENGAGE 

• Automatically send personalized email campaigns after an offer expires to keep your dealership top-of-mind and improve conversion rates.  

Coming Soon More Motivation for Consumers…   

A new set of tools to encourage and motivate consumers to visit a dealer will be launched in Q3. Post-expiration email follow-up will enable conversions beyond the expiration date—helping dealers close that 47-day gap and stay top of mind for ICO customers. ICO customers will be automatically added to email journeys that encourage them to re-submit their offer and continue the process of selling or trading-in their vehicle.     

The Bottom Line 

Inventory challenges aren’t going away—but they are evolving. Dealers who adapt by mastering consumer acquisition and leveraging tools like ICO will be best positioned to thrive. 

Now is the time to act. Build muscle. Close the gap. And let Kelley Blue Book ICO help you source smarter. 

Ready to Build Your Muscle? Reach out to our team to learn more about what’s included with your Instant Cash Offer and other exciting enhancements coming soon.  

Get Started. 

¹Source: 2024 Disposal Survey  

²Source: 2024 KBB ICO Transactions  

³ Source: Cox Automotive Research & Intelligence 

⁴ Source: Cox Automotive Data 

Cox Automotive hosted an electrifying event at the legendary Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX—bringing together top automotive minds, dealer partners, and Cox Automotive leaders for a high-octane experience that fused insight with adrenaline.

This wasn’t just another industry event—it was a showcase of how Cox Automotive is driving real, innovative, and measurable change.

Attendees got hands-on with Cox Automotive’s latest tools, exploring how transparency, speed, and connected workflows are reshaping the retail experience. Live polls and feedback sessions revealed common pain points—like desk manager bottlenecks and disconnected systems—and how Deal Central is solving them with real-time communication and streamlined processes.

Of course, no visit to COTA is complete without some high-speed excitement. Guests toured the garages, climbed the observation tower, and hit the track in BMW M3’s—adding a rush of adrenaline to an already exhilarating day.

Driven by Innovation wasn’t just an event—it was a statement. Cox Automotive is leading the charge toward a faster, smarter, and more customer-centric future. And for those who missed it? The momentum is just getting started.

Matt Warpinski, Director of Performance Management, Xtime 

There’s no right or wrong way to use reporting. In fact, the only wrong way is to NOT use reporting. Reporting offers insights into trends and what our consumers are doing. It also helps uncover gaps in your processes by finding out if your staff is actually behaving the way you expect. 

Sometimes reporting gives us answers and results, but at other times it gives us questions. For instance, if an advisor is not using the tablet – why? Do they not know how to use the tablet? Is there a technical issue? If say that they can’t find the services they’re looking for, that means there’s a setup problem. So, the things we find from reporting give us insights that we can use to manage our day and our business and become successful.  

When it comes to managing behaviors and processes, we need to not only know what’s happening, but also analyze what is happening. As people leaders, we need to determine how we can: 

• Create a better experience for our customers who want a digital experience 

• Help our employees have a better quality of life at work 

• Gain more efficiencies and make more money 

If our customers are happy and getting a great digital experience, and our employees are following the processes and doing the behaviors we ask them to, everyone wins.  

With that in mind, we recently showcased tips for using key Xtime reporting capabilities in our 2025 Fixed Ops Focus Series: Reporting Enhancements webinar. Here is some of the hands-on advice from that session. 

BDC Appointments Overview Report 

This report is great for helping you understand what is happening every day in your BDC.  

You can filter the results by individual dealership name (or see the entire dealer group), choose a date range, see a specific call center or appointment taker name, and view the trends by day, month, week or year. There are high-level KPIs at the top: Created Appointments, Total Scheduled Appointments, Cancelled Appointments, Total Appointments Showed, and Show Rate.  

When you scroll down, you’ll see a summary page that will help you identify which stores have great KPIs and which ones might provide opportunities for improvement.  

In the details, you can drill down to look at specific appointment agents to find out what their appointment records look like. For instance, you can check to see if they have an email for every customer. We know that with an email address, there’s a better likelihood that they’ll get appointment reminders, appointment confirmations and our Invite marketing campaigns. So, emails are crucial, and we want to make sure we’re collecting them for each customer.  

If you’re looking for more work, you can export a list of all no-show appointments. Since these are people who have already raised their hands and said they want to come in, the chances of recapturing their business are good. You can use that data to create an Invite marketing campaign to bring in more service business.  

Advisor Appointments Overview Report 

This is a very useful report that helps you analyze appointment data in a lot of different ways. The dashboard shows the following high-level KPIs: Walk-Ins, Total Scheduled Appointments, Show Rate, Total Appt Dollars, Inspect Upsells, RO Dollars.  

Some of the ways to use this report include looking at online appointments to see how they compare to appointments made by advisors or by the BDC. You can see what was on the appointment when it was created, if any declined services were added, and if there were any Inspect upsells.  

Look at the volume of appointments an advisor has coming in and the dollars that were included on those appointments. Based on total RO dollar data, you can see who is struggling to sell and who is selling a lot. Once you find out which advisors are excelling at their jobs, ask them questions to find out what is different about their approaches. Then you can partner underperformers with overperformers and improve results across the department.  

You can click through to each RO to examine performance and individual service details. We make it easy for you to drill down into the information that’s presented and find opportunities to help improve how you run your business. 

Want to do more with your reporting? 

If you’d like to explore more ways to find opportunities through reporting, contact your Performance Manager. Not an Xtime customer yet? Schedule a demo to see how Xtime reporting can help drive fixed ops success.