I'm always keeping my ear to the ground when it comes to new offerings in our space. I've been playing around with website chat options here in the last couple weeks and wanted to see the latest in AI chat for our sites. We currently have ActivEngage (humans) because of an "exclusive" integration with our Accelerate DR tools. We have yet to see any benefit of having an integration within the DR tool. No, I'm not putting ActivEngage on notice, just looking...
We are a DriveCentric group and adding the Drive AI chat would make a lot of sense for us right now because it is really really good BUT they have no way to direct leads to the correct XML addresses from our group or market sites. Not their fault, we run a tangled web of 14 URLs representing our 9 "stores". We have a couple of those tiny points combined within 7 business, DMS and CRM entities. We allow shoppers on any of the group or market sites to see any car at any store of their choosing so want to make sure their selection, regardless of vehicle location, goes to the store they want to do business with. This has been a challenge to make sure chat introductions starts with "select your store" for all our past providers but most have figured it out. Gubagoo and AE were able to make this happen (although it is broken right now from AE).
With that said, I'm also not convinced that human chat, that is a contracted external team, is better than 2024 AI advancements. In poking around last week, I had a Matador rep a call me back after asking where they were on AI chat (I'm not that familiar with their overall offerings). He returned my call stating they were partnering with a new entity that is new to the US, a company called
Seezar. Interesting journey through projects for governments of the UAE and Europe tied to automotive. Their approach in their current offering is more than just chat but rather an AI concierge on the site. You can ask for vehicle recommendations, list out your search almost like a prompt, ask for details about a car or comparisons, etc. It returns results pretty well, conversational friendly, running OpenAI, etc. Check out the AI chat icon on
BMW Retailer | Glasgow, Hamilton, Hillington & Stirling | Douglas Park and a used listing site
Car Dealer | Knebworth, Hertfordshire | Carverse Here is their
slide deck. Not sure they would also be able to solve the XML routing challenge we have but it was an interesting direction they were taking. I was connected with a demo (they said I was their first one in the US?) by going through Sam Villeareal at Matador
[email protected] (913) 339-8647 if you want to reach out but there are direct contacts on the slide desk as well. Let me know if anyone else has seen this or taken a demo.
hahahaha... But, the post has value, check out the science!
