Answer extracted from the Car Dealership Guy Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How should dealership service departments answer incoming phone calls to improve customer retention?
The debate hinges on a fundamental choice: AI agents that catch every call and schedule approximately 30 percent of appointments automatically, or maintaining human-to-human contact during business hours and reserving AI for after-hours overflow. There is no one-size-fits-all answer—both approaches have proven track records, and the best method depends on your dealership's customer expectations and operational capacity.
Richard Lupo advocates for a fully automated solution. His approach uses an AI agent that logs every incoming call and handles appointment scheduling without human intervention. This strategy eliminates missed calls—a real problem given that CDK data shows one in four service calls go on hold with an average hold time of 10 minutes. By automating the intake process, Lupo's system ensures no opportunity slips through the cracks.
Tully Williams represents the opposing view. He emphasizes that customer preference for human interaction remains strong, particularly during standard business hours. Williams operates a dealership with 105 years of history in his market, and his experience tells him that customers still value talking to a person rather than a robot. For his operation, the solution is hybrid: preserve the human touch when staff is available, and deploy AI only after hours when customers cannot reach a live representative.
Both leaders make a shared observation: customers have many service options available. As one panelist noted, "If customers have 16 other service options around them, our job is to become easier than those alternatives." This competitive pressure explains why both automation and accessibility matter, yet they frame solutions differently. Lupo's AI wins on speed and coverage; Williams's human-first approach wins on relationship and loyalty—a point discussed at length in the full panel discussion.
The practical implication is clear: your current call-handling failure rate matters more than the method. If you're losing calls to hold times or missed pickups, an AI agent with a 30 percent appointment conversion rate is likely better than a busy signal. If you're already answering most calls and your retention depends on relationship depth, the hybrid model—human during hours, AI after-hours—may preserve customer loyalty while still covering gaps.
For dealerships with smaller service teams or seasonal demand fluctuations, this episode explores in detail how both leaders implement their respective strategies and what metrics they track to measure success. The tension between automation and human touch is not resolved here—it's validated as a real operational choice that depends on your customer base and your ability to staff the phones consistently.
The after-hours edge case
One area where both leaders agree: AI excels during non-business hours. Customers calling at 6 PM on a Friday or on Sunday morning still need appointment options, and an automated system ensures no opportunity is lost overnight. This hybrid approach sidesteps the philosophical debate by letting each method do what it does best.
Williams's 105-year-old dealership has maintained customer loyalty by honoring the human relationship, yet even he recognizes that after-hours automation is not a threat to that relationship—it's a necessity. The question becomes not whether to use AI at all, but when and how much to trust it with your customer interaction. A curious detail not covered in this answer: the panel also discussed the specific technology behind Apple Tree Automotive's AI system and how it logs calls for quality assurance and training.
"If customers have 16 other service options around them, our job is to become easier than those alternatives."
Yossi Levi — Host, Car Dealership Guy Podcast. Levi moderates conversations among top fixed operations leaders in automotive dealership management, focusing on operational efficiency, customer retention, and modern service department challenges. His podcast brings together industry practitioners who debate real-world solutions to repair order decline, customer friction, and competitive pressure in the service drive.
Key takeaways
- AI call systems can schedule approximately 30 percent of appointments without human intervention, eliminating missed calls entirely.
- Customers prefer human contact during business hours, particularly in long-established dealerships where relationship matters.
- A hybrid approach—human during hours, AI after-hours—addresses both customer preference and operational gaps.
- With one in four service calls going on hold (average 10 minutes), your current call-handling failure rate should drive the technology choice.
See also
What role does customer friction play in repair order decline compared to market availability?
Dave Rogers argues friction accounts for probably 50 percent of the issue, citing that dealers make it very difficult to do business through too many rules and unnecessary barriers.
Why are repair orders declining in automotive dealerships?
There are two competing explanations: fewer units in operation due to lower vehicle sales in the prior year, or dealerships losing customers because they are too difficult to do business with.
Why is Google Performance Max campaign automation becoming increasingly wasteful for car dealerships?
Performance Max campaigns ask dealerships to drop money into a bucket, and Google returns intended outcomes. The problem is that if a dealership isn't capturing those leads efficiently, the spend becomes wasted because intent exists but execution fails.