Opinion: Don’t let AI become the customer service department

This article originally appeared in the October edition of Powersports Business.

I have a beef with AI. And while this particular gripe didn’t happen at a powersports dealership, I think there’s a pretty good lesson in it for our industry.

We recently bought a used car for my wife. Like a lot of people shopping for a powersports vehicle, we did our homework before we ever went looking. We researched models, model years, reliability, common problems and prices. We looked at dealership websites and Facebook Marketplace, asked questions and went down plenty of rabbit holes. I have to admit that I’m somewhat addicted to looking at vehicles on Facebook Marketplace anyway. I rarely find anything worth pursuing, but I enjoy the hunt. This time, though, the hunt had a purpose. We needed a car.

After about a month, the fun was starting to wear off. Every vehicle we found seemed to have something wrong with it. A model we liked had a bad reputation. A particular model year had a list of known problems. Another checked all the boxes except the ones that mattered to my wife. It became a game of whack‑­a‑­mole.

And that’s when something occurred to me that applies directly to powersports: By the time a customer walks into your dealership, they may have already spent a tremendous amount of time trying to make a decision. They’re not necessarily coming in looking for somebody to educate them about the entire market. Sometimes they’re exhausted from trying to figure it out.

Eventually, one Saturday morning, we decided to drive around to some dealerships. I hate tire‑­kicking, and I don’t like wasting a salesperson’s time when I’m not sure I’m going to buy anything. But my wife wanted to look at some cars in person, so I agreed.

We stopped at a large‑volume dealership and, to my surprise, found one we liked at the first dealership we visited.

A lot about the dealership impressed me. It was a busy Saturday in August, and the place was packed. The car was what my wife wanted, even though I was a little apprehensive — it was the same brand as our previous car, which was a maintenance nightmare. We also used AI to narrow down models and model years we were considering, and this particular year had a pretty good reputation. 

The dealership offered a limited lifetime powertrain warranty and three years of free oil changes. The salesperson also showed us documentation detailing the work the dealership had put into the car before putting it on the lot, including a 150‑­point inspection. I was beginning to think maybe my usual approach to buying vehicles was outdated.

Then we got back from the test drive and I did what any car guy would do: I opened the hood — or tried to. The hood cable was broken. The salesperson told us not to worry. Their service department would contact us and get the problem fixed. After we got the car home, I noticed some drips on the driveway and a trouble code related to a headlight‑­aim sensor. I called the salesperson, and again, I was told not to worry. Service would take care of it.

Then we entered the service department. After about a week, I still hadn’t heard from service. I called the salesperson again and learned that it apparently takes seven to 10 days for the sale to work its way through the dealership’s system before service can get involved. Eventually we got in, and much of the communication was handled through an automated process.

When AI can hurt a dealership

I understand why dealerships are doing this. Service departments are busy. Customers call constantly. Dealers need systems that can handle appointments, updates and routine communication without requiring an employee to spend all day answering the phone. Powersports dealerships are increasingly using AI and automation for exactly these reasons, and there are legitimate benefits.

But there’s a big difference between using AI to make customer service better and using AI to keep customers away from the people who are supposed to be providing the service.

Our first service appointment didn’t go particularly well. We dropped off the car, explained the problems and expected to hear something reasonably soon. Instead, the next communication we received was an automated message telling us that the service writer handling our appointment was no longer with the dealership. That was a huge red flag, but we were stuck in the middle now.

By that point, I wasn’t thinking about the car anymore. I was thinking about the customer experience. It doesn’t matter how good your AI is. It doesn’t matter how slick your website is or how impressive your showroom looks. If the customer experience is bad, that’s what the customer is going to remember.

And that’s the lesson I think powersports dealers need to consider as more AI tools enter the dealership. I’m not anti‑­AI. Quite the opposite. I’ve seen enough examples in this industry to understand why dealers are using it. An AI system can respond to a lead at midnight, answer basic questions, schedule appointments and follow up with customers who otherwise might fall through the cracks. It can help a dealership do things that simply weren’t practical when every interaction required a human being.

But AI should be the tool that helps your employees provide better customer service. It shouldn’t become the customer service department.

The irony is that the more technology we put between ourselves and customers, the more valuable the human interaction becomes. A customer who buys a motorcycle is buying something emotional. They want to ride it. They want to talk about it. They want to know when it will be ready and what the technician found. Most importantly, they want to know that somebody at the dealership actually knows who they are and cares about their situation.

That’s why dealerships need to be careful about measuring the success of new technology solely by how much work it takes off an employee’s plate. The better question is whether it makes the customer’s experience better.

We eventually got the car situation sorted out. But the service experience is what I’ll remember most, and it won’t be a fond memory.

I think that’s an important lesson for powersports dealers. The sale isn’t the customer experience. It’s the beginning of it.