Auto Dealers Celebrate AI-Powered Internet Lead Engagement with Conversica, after Nearly 100 Years of Doing It the Hard Way

NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - January 25, 2017) - Conversica, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI) powered business conversations and the only provider of AI-based lead engagement software for automotive dealers, will showcase how modern dealers are using new Conversica® AI-powered assistants to engage customers and convert more leads into showroom visits and service appointments at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Expo, to be held in New Orleans January 26-29, 2017.

Conversica, a sponsor of the NADA100 Convection, will be at booth #5401 on the show floor displaying real-time human conversations between dealers' sales and services leads and the company's autonomous sales and service assistants.

AI to Power the Future of Auto Sales and Service

A leading provider to more than 800 auto dealers around the world, including large dealership groups such as Boch Automotive Group and the Faulkner Organization, Conversica provides a cloud-based artificial intelligence service that presents itself as a dealer's human assistant who reaches out to internet sales and service leads and engages each of them in a human conversation.

With an average 35 percent email engagement rate -- far greater than that of traditional lead engagement methods -- Conversica's sales assistant significantly increases the number of quality conversations with real buyers and reduces the time salespeople and BDC reps spend chasing fruitless leads. From more conversations come more showroom visits, and from that, more vehicles sold.

"We're proud to be a sponsor of the 2017 NADA Convention and celebrate 100 years of the National Automobile Dealers Association," said Dave Marod, SVP of Sales at Conversica. "For more than 90 of those years, dealership salespeople and service advisors had to chase leads the hard way, first with just the phone and now with multiple digital channels. But over the past few years, by leveraging AI, hundreds of dealers now engage every single one of their leads automatically and in a human-like conversation that maximizes their opportunities to sell more vehicles and book more service appointments."

"NADA is the premier event in the automotive industry for learning about new approaches and technologies for improving the dealership," continued Marod. "We look forward to showcasing tremendous innovation at this event for the next 100 years!"

New Improvements, but Weaknesses Persist in Auto Sales Process

At the convention, Conversica will unveil new findings from its annual Lead Follow-up research report focusing on the automotive industry, with the goal of helping auto dealers improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their automotive sales teams. Conversica's report assesses real dealerships on best practices, including their Promptness, Personalization, Persistence, and Performance, aka the 4Ps.

The study, which involved 538 companies, reveals that the majority (68 percent) of sales representatives give up after just one or two attempts at converting a lead, despite research showing the optimal number of attempts is between 5-11 for a prospect to respond. Moreover, nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent) of automotive dealers did not respond at all to a direct sales inquiry from their website.

"While a steady stream of leads from the dealership website or third-party sites looks like huge success, you shouldn't pop the champagne cork just yet," said Don Crawford, automotive industry evangelist for Conversica. "That is when the real work begins: engaging each and every one and turning them into customers. An automated sales assistant goes far beyond traditional autoresponders to create a natural two-way conversation between an auto sales team and leads, allowing the sales rep to engage, nurture and qualify leads automatically. I look forward to seeing a big improvement in the 4Ps in this industry with the continued adoption of AI."

Conversica at NADA100
Attendees are invited to visit Conversica at booth #5401 for a live product demonstration, and information on lead engagement best practices. Those that book a demo in advance will be rewarded with an exclusive Yeti tumbler for their time.

Visitors to the Conversica booth will discover:

• How to increase lead conversion rates, often by 33 percent or more
• How to ensure emails reach the buyer's inbox, an enduring problem for dealers
• How to swiftly determine the hottest leads and save money in the process
• How to free up Service Advisors and book more service appointments automatically

For more information about NADA100, visit www.nadaconvention.org. For more information on Conversica, visit www.conversica.com.

About Conversica
Conversica is the leader in AI-powered business conversations and the only provider of AI-driven lead engagement software for marketing and sales organizations. The flagship Conversica® AI Sales Assistant helps companies find and secure customers more quickly and efficiently by automatically contacting, engaging, qualifying and following up with leads via natural, two-way email conversations. Conversica is used by more than 16,000 salespeople worldwide to optimize sales team productivity. Recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor, Conversica is a portfolio company of Providence Strategic Growth, Kennet Partners and Toba Capital and is headquartered in Foster City, California.

To learn more, visit conversica.com and follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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