AI, The Deal Terminator Coming For You !

[Jamieshap]

Anyone else remember when Kelley Blue Book was the go-to weapon customers used against you?

They’d walk in quoting values like they were facts, ignoring everything else—condition, market, miles, timing. Just whatever number helped their case.

Now they’re using AI. And it’s getting weirder.

I got a call from a sales person I'm working with telling me that his customer called and said that ChatGPT told him his lease deal was bad. He was ready to walk.

But here’s the kicker: the customer was using the free version of ChatGPT... which pulls from data that cuts off in 2022. No access to current rates, rebates, or market conditions. Just outdated info wrapped in confidence.

This is what we’re up against now. Not just bad info, but bad info delivered persuasively by a machine.

If we’re not training our teams to use these tools (or at least understand how customers are using them), we’re flying blind.

So what’s your store doing? Are you addressing AI in training or just waiting until it burns a deal?

Would love to hear what others are seeing.

 

[DjSec]

Anyone else remember when Kelley Blue Book was the go-to weapon customers used against you?

They’d walk in quoting values like they were facts, ignoring everything else—condition, market, miles, timing. Just whatever number helped their case.

Now they’re using AI. And it’s getting weirder.

I got a call from a sales person I'm working with telling me that his customer called and said that ChatGPT told him his lease deal was bad. He was ready to walk.

But here’s the kicker: the customer was using the free version of ChatGPT... which pulls from data that cuts off in 2022. No access to current rates, rebates, or market conditions. Just outdated info wrapped in confidence.

This is what we’re up against now. Not just bad info, but bad info delivered persuasively by a machine.

If we’re not training our teams to use these tools (or at least understand how customers are using them), we’re flying blind.

So what’s your store doing? Are you addressing AI in training or just waiting until it burns a deal?

Would love to hear what others are seeing.

If customers are asking ChatGPT (or Google, or any AI tool) for information about pricing, lease deals, or vehicle value, then the real problem is that they don't trust the dealership!

Maybe this should be seen as an opportunity:

Instead of fighting the AI, use your website to feed it!

By showing current lease incentives, APR specials, and inventory pricing, using structured data and schema markup you become the source the AI uses to display the information.

Create AI-Readable Pages for “Is This a Good Lease Deal for [Model Name]?”, “What’s a Fair Price for a [Year, Make, Model]?”.

Include FAQs like:

“What should I consider when evaluating a lease deal?”

“What affects the value of my trade-in?”

“Why market timing and miles matter more than KBB value?”

This help the AI give better answers and makes you the source for the answer, building more trust for your dealership.

In my humble opinion, whoever feeds the AI wins.

If you give it nothing, it guesses. If you give it facts, it works for you!

 

[Jamieshap]

@DjSec,

I like your thinking about feeding the AI because then you're trying to get it to work for you. The next step is training it to work with you as a team mate or assistant. This makes you a Dynamic Duo

 

[DjSec]

@DjSec,

I like your thinking about feeding the AI because then you're trying to get it to work for you. The next step is training it to work with you as a team mate or assistant. This makes you a Dynamic Duo

I completely agree. By training the AI, you're not just creating content, you're building a powerful engine that serves multiple purposes. That same content can help you rank in AI tools as well as traditional search engines, boost visibility on social platforms, and establish your dealership as a trusted authority.

Even better...that content becomes training data for your own AI tool that you can create and embed into your your own website!

Now you're not just defending against bad information, you're turning AI into a sales assistant, that's designed to convince website visitors that their life would be better, happier, and more productive if they just owned the car your trying to sell them.

Like you said, it’s not just AI vs. your team, it’s plus your team and it ='s more sales!

 

[Jeff Kershner]

...just waiting until it burns a deal. Let's be real.

 

[DjSec]

...just waiting until it burns a deal. Let's be real.

At its core, AI is just a super-fast communicator. If you train it right and limit what it can say, it’s not “closing deals” for you, it’s just delivering consistent, accurate information the way you want it framed.

It’s not about giving the AI full control, it’s about building a smart assistant that answers questions the way your best-trained team member would, 24/7, without attitude or errors. No pressure, no spinning, just the facts you trained it to give.

The goal being to move the customer one step closer to closing the deal, not replacing sales, but supporting them.

 

[Jamieshap]

At its core, AI is just a super-fast communicator. If you train it right and limit what it can say, it’s not “closing deals” for you, it’s just delivering consistent, accurate information the way you want it framed.

It’s not about giving the AI full control, it’s about building a smart assistant that answers questions the way your best-trained team member would, 24/7, without attitude or errors. No pressure, no spinning, just the facts you trained it to give.

The goal being to move the customer one step closer to closing the deal, not replacing sales, but supporting them.

@Jeff Kershner

Another thing to consider, how many deals are burned every day by inexperienced or simply uninformed sales people who have the best intentions. When human beings are overworked and overloaded with details and busy work, they sometimes fail to see the forest through the woods.

Case in point I was working with a Top Lexus Dealer who valued incoming phone calls to such a degree that only managers were allowed to take them. I took three transcripts of phone calls and ran them through an AI phone analysis tool I created. In five seconds the tool identified a trend. The managers were being too transactional and missing opportunities to engage with the customer in a meaningful way. When the general manager saw this data, he instantly realized it was true and said." of course they are. They're too busy.".

There are so many use cases where sales people armed with an AI assistant that they control, could make them far more effective and empathetic and knowledgeable. These are all qualities that customers constantly complain are missing in their sales experience.

This is something that I believe is already a reality. AI won't replace Car sales people. Car sales people who use AI will!

What do you think?

 

[DjSec]

@Jeff Kershner

Another thing to consider, how many deals are burned every day by inexperienced or simply uninformed sales people who have the best intentions. When human beings are overworked and overloaded with details and busy work, they sometimes fail to see the forest through the woods.

Case in point I was working with a Top Lexus Dealer who valued incoming phone calls to such a degree that only managers were allowed to take them. I took three transcripts of phone calls and ran them through an AI phone analysis tool I created. In five seconds the tool identified a trend. The managers were being too transactional and missing opportunities to engage with the customer in a meaningful way. When the general manager saw this data, he instantly realized it was true and said." of course they are. They're too busy.".

There are so many use cases where sales people armed with an AI assistant that they control, could make them far more effective and empathetic and knowledgeable. These are all qualities that customers constantly complain are missing in their sales experience.

This is something that I believe is already a reality. AI won't replace Car sales people. Car sales people who use AI will!

What do you think?

I agree with you 100%. The real question is what will the car buying experience look like in five or ten years?

Imagine AI not just assisting but enhancing the sales process by working behind the scenes with your CRM and DMS data. Instead of cold calls or guesswork, AI could identify the right customers to reach out to at exactly the right time.

Take Sandy, for example. The system knows her equity position, her loan maturity date, her previous service history, and her browsing behavior on the dealership website. AI could use that data to craft hyper-personalized campaigns writing the emails, sending them automatically, following her interactions, and even predicting when she’s likely to walk through the dealership door.

Then the AI notifies the salesperson:
"Sandy is about to arrive. Here's everything you need to know, her trade-in value, the models she's looked at, her buying history, her preferred contact method, and even possible objections."

This isn't science fiction, it’s the near future. And I completely agree:
AI won't replace car salespeople. Car salespeople who use AI will replace those who don't.

 

[Jamieshap]

I agree with you 100%. The real question is what will the car buying experience look like in five or ten years?

Imagine AI not just assisting but enhancing the sales process by working behind the scenes with your CRM and DMS data. Instead of cold calls or guesswork, AI could identify the right customers to reach out to at exactly the right time.

Take Sandy, for example. The system knows her equity position, her loan maturity date, her previous service history, and her browsing behavior on the dealership website. AI could use that data to craft hyper-personalized campaigns writing the emails, sending them automatically, following her interactions, and even predicting when she’s likely to walk through the dealership door.

Then the AI notifies the salesperson:
"Sandy is about to arrive. Here's everything you need to know, her trade-in value, the models she's looked at, her buying history, her preferred contact method, and even possible objections."

This isn't science fiction, it’s the near future. And I completely agree:
AI won't replace car salespeople. Car salespeople who use AI will replace those who don't@

I agree with you 100%. The real question is what will the car buying experience look like in five or ten years?

Imagine AI not just assisting but enhancing the sales process by working behind the scenes with your CRM and DMS data. Instead of cold calls or guesswork, AI could identify the right customers to reach out to at exactly the right time.

Take Sandy, for example. The system knows her equity position, her loan maturity date, her previous service history, and her browsing behavior on the dealership website. AI could use that data to craft hyper-personalized campaigns writing the emails, sending them automatically, following her interactions, and even predicting when she’s likely to walk through the dealership door.

Then the AI notifies the salesperson:
"Sandy is about to arrive. Here's everything you need to know, her trade-in value, the models she's looked at, her buying history, her preferred contact method, and even possible objections."

This isn't science fiction, it’s the near future. And I completely agree:
AI won't replace car salespeople. Car salespeople who use AI will replace those who don't.

@DjSec, Your spot on and I don mean to sound flippant but I really think, what will the car buying experience look like in 6 months. Your thoughts on CRM are 100% correct. CRM as we know it is already a dead man walking. I have already created custom Chat GPT tools that act like a living breathing CRM system. I can talk or type to them and they will take my information without me having to navigate clunky user field's. They also can think analyze and provide assessment of behavioral patterns and customer types, giving me real time suggestions on how to communicate, empathize and close more deals. The tools I'm creating will ultimately connect directly to the CRM systems, but for now much of the information has to be copied and pasted into the CRM's. It still works. It puts the information management wants in the system, but allows the user to have a much more intelligent and productive assistant not just a receptacle of information.

 

[DjSec]

Jamieshap said​

Your spot on and I don mean to sound flippant but I really think, what will the car buying experience look like in 6 months. Your thoughts on CRM are 100% correct. CRM as we know it is already a dead man walking. I have already created custom Chat GPT tools that act like a living breathing CRM system. I can talk or type to them and they will take my information without me having to navigate clunky user field's. They also can think analyze and provide assessment of behavioral patterns and customer types, giving me real time suggestions on how to communicate, empathize and close more deals. The tools I'm creating will ultimately connect directly to the CRM systems, but for now much of the information has to be copied and pasted into the CRM's. It still works. It puts the information management wants in the system, but allows the user to have a much more intelligent and productive assistant not just a receptacle of information.

You're absolutely right, it’s not five years out. It's happening right now.

I completely agree that CRM, as we know it, is on life support. The concept of forcing salespeople to spend half their day clicking through clunky drop-downs and filling out fields is obsolete.

What you're building is exactly where this industry is headed. A CRM that listens, thinks, and adapts in real time, one that's actually a partner in the sales process instead of just a digital filing cabinet.

CRMs aren't going away but the way we interact with them will be completely different.

It'll be voice-driven, AI-assisted, conversational, and predictive. Imagine every salesperson having their own AI assistant that not only captures data but recommends what to say, when to follow up, what to offer, and how to build real rapport based on customer behavior patterns.

The dealership of the future won’t be about forcing compliance with processes; it’ll be about empowering people with tools that remove friction and make them better.

I’m curious, do you think the major CRM companies are ready for this shift, or are they about to get disrupted?