Non-Billable Hours: A Growing Problem for Car Dealerships

In today’s automotive retail environment, the number of non-billable hours is staggering. Tasks performed by receptionists and internal or external customer contact centres are becoming a significant cost burden for dealerships. Even more concerning, a large portion of these hours is spent handling calls that ultimately result in a call-back request—a process that wastes both time and resources.

To operate more efficiently and improve the customer experience, dealerships must address the root cause of these inefficiencies: non-billable hours. The solution? Automation.

However, automation is impossible without first digitising these interactions. This is where AutoChat comes in.

Step 1: Digitise

Before you can automate, you need a unified way to manage customer interactions. AutoChat adds an AI Communication Layer on top of your internal systems, enabling seamless customer contact across multiple channels, all with the same consistent tone of voice. This ensures that customer enquiries are handled efficiently, whether they come through your website, WhatsApp, or other platforms.

Step 2: Automate

With digitisation in place, we use large language models (LLMs) to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Our vision—our North Star—is to eliminate the need for manual customer contact altogether by automating every call reason dealerships encounter.

The top two reasons for calls at dealerships are:

1. Scheduling a service appointment
2. Requesting the status of a workshop appointment

But it doesn’t stop there. AutoChat also automates tasks like booking test drives, arranging showroom appointments, and guiding customers to the perfect car in stock—all tailored to their preferences.

Additionally, mundane customer queries—such as dealership opening hours or whether they can drop off their car outside of opening times—are handled instantly. By addressing these repetitive tasks, AutoChat reduces the burden on your most valuable resources: your people.

AutoChat connects to your internal systems, enabling customers to handle these enquiries via a website assistant or proactively through WhatsApp. Looking ahead, we foresee a future where your dealership’s telephone system is also integrated with an AI assistant that can handle full conversations—booking appointments or providing status updates instantly and efficiently.

The Benefits of Automation with AutoChat

• Reduce costs by minimising non-billable hours.
• Increase efficiency with fewer call-back requests.
• Enhance the customer experience by providing instant, proactive service.
• Free up your team to focus on higher-value work rather than repetitive tasks.

AutoChat transforms how dealerships handle customer contact: from manual to digital, and from digital to automated. The result? A leaner, smarter, and more customer-centric operation.

Would you like to explore how AutoChat can help reduce your non-billable hours and optimise your financial results? Let’s connect.