Vision Management Group

39% of dealers say they're using AI now.

Up from 28% last year.

That sounds like progress - until you ask what "using AI" actually means.

In most stores we walk into, it means: a chatbot that sends appointment reminders.
The dealers reporting meaningful improvement in lead-to-close aren't using AI as a decoration on their CRM.

They're using it to spot the follow-up breakdowns their managers are missing:

— Which leads haven't been touched in 48 hours

— Which deals stalled at the trade conversation and never got a callback

— Which salespeople have strong first-contact numbers but a follow-up rate that falls off a cliff

The tool isn't the edge. What the manager does with that data every morning is.

We've been in stores where the same software is installed in both: one drives daily accountability conversations, the other just runs in the background.

The difference isn't the AI. It's the meeting rhythm around it.

What does follow-up accountability look like in your store right now - is someone actually pulling the data, or is it sitting in a dashboard no one opens?

Used vehicle values dropped in May. First time this year:

The Manheim index came in down 1.6% from March. Small number. Big problem for stores that were aggressive at auction in Q1.

We've watched this play out before: dealers who bought used inventory at peak prices are now trying to retail units they can't move at margin.

The ones who move fast cut the loss early and redeploy the capital.

The ones who wait hope the market corrects before it gets worse.

Here's a quick audit to run on Monday:

• Pull every used unit aged 45 days or more.
• Compare your cost-to-market on each one against current comps.
• Flag anything where you're underwater by more than 5%.

That's your problem list. Work it by Friday.

The longer those units sit, the worse it gets - holding cost, market drift, and the floor plan adds up faster than most GMs track week to week.

If you want the aging inventory audit framework we use with clients, DM us.

Your best salespeople are the most frustrated ones.

Not the underperformers. The ones who actually care.

They're working inside a process built for a buyer who walked in without knowing invoice pricing, hadn't researched their trade-in value, and could be moved through a four-square toward a number.

That buyer left five or six years ago.

What we hear consistently from experienced reps across the stores we work with:

"I know this process isn't working. But no one's changed it."

That's a coaching and leadership gap, not a motivation problem.

To fix it, you need to audit which parts of it were calibrated for the market you used to operate in.

Three things we look at first:

1. How much of the desk cycle is built on information asymmetry that no longer exists?

2. Where does the process create friction for a buyer who already knows what they want?

3. What does your team do when a customer arrives better prepared than they are?

Those gaps don't show up in closing ratios right away. They show up in your best reps leaving for the store down the street.

Which part of your current process feels the most dated? Comment it — we'll share what we've seen replace it.

A high call volume to your service department used to feel like a sign things were busy. The best-run stores now see it differently:

If customers are calling to check on their car status, ask when it'll be ready, or find out why no one's called them back, that's not a sign of demand. That's a sign the communication broke down.

We've seen stores where the phone rings constantly in service - and the advisors are too buried to answer properly, so calls go to voicemail, voicemails go unreturned, and CSI tanks.

The real question is: why is the customer calling in the first place?

In a well-run service drive, the customer doesn't need to chase you. Status updates go out before they're asked for. Estimates are sent the moment they're done. Advisors call proactively when there's a delay.

If your customers are calling you, run this quick check:

• What's the average time between vehicle drop-off and first advisor outreach?

• Are advisors sending a text or making a call when work takes longer than expected?

• How many voicemails go unreturned each day?

Inbound call volume in service isn't a KPI to celebrate. It's a red flag worth investigating.

What's the communication workflow in your service drive right now? Drop it in the comments.

Five things your BDC is doing right now that quietly kill your show rate:

1. Responding to leads with a template that doesn't mention anything specific about what the customer asked for.

The customer submitted an inquiry about a specific vehicle with specific questions. They got a "We'd love to earn your business!" reply. They went somewhere else.

2. Bunching all follow-up attempts in the first 48 hours, then going silent.

Three texts in two days, then nothing for a week. That's not a cadence. That's a burst and abandon.

3. Counting a lead as "worked" after two unanswered contacts.

Two texts is not a worked lead. In high-demand periods, the reps who actually connect are the ones who reach at different times of day, use different channels, and don't give up after the second try.

4. Using show rate as the only metric.

If your show rate is 40% and you're happy with it, ask what happened to the other 60%. Where did they go? Did they buy somewhere else? Did they ghost you after a specific touchpoint?

5. Not coaching from call recordings.

We've sat in BDC review meetings where managers talked about numbers for 45 minutes and never played a single call. The coaching lives in the calls.

If more than two of these sound familiar, there's a process issue — not a staffing issue.

Want the BDC scorecard we use to audit call quality and cadence in a single afternoon? Comment "BDC" and we'll share it.