Glenn Pasch joined hosts Paul J. Daly and Kyle Mountsier on Automotive State of the Union on October 14 (episode 1474) to talk about AI and Dealership Staff: Finding the Right Balance, the report he wrote for Pasch Group in collaboration with Impel.
The conversation went straight to the questions dealers ask most about AI: why some rollouts stall, what the strongest stores did differently, and what happened to the people on the team.
Why the research started inside the dealership
Most of what’s written about AI in automotive stays at the level of data and technology. Glenn wanted the view from the store, so he asked the people doing the work. He interviewed dealership leaders who between them oversee more than 200 stores, then the vendors who sold and installed their tools, with the same questions for each: how did you roll it out, what got in the way, and what worked?
The answer that kept coming back was planning, and how much ongoing attention AI needs after it goes live.
Three gaps that stall a rollout
- No plan. Some dealers treated AI like a software update, then had to switch it off and start again. The stores that did well began with the problem the tool was meant to solve.
- Systems that don’t connect. An AI that books service appointments has to write them into the scheduler, or customers arrive for appointments the team can’t see. The same break happens when the CRM closes a lead while the AI is still following up; in the report, most CRMs close leads at 30 days while AI follow-up runs 51.
- No policy. Glenn estimated that only about 1% of the stores had a written AI policy. One dealer who believed he was still testing AI found his team already using it to talk with customers.
What the strongest stores did differently
The report’s headline finding: one store that redesigned its workflows around AI lifted contact rates 19%, while stores in the same group, on the same system, managed 3%. On the show, Glenn described what that store and others like it did:
- They planned first and connected every system before launch.
- They told their teams up front what the AI would do and how it would change their day, including the pay plan: who gets credit when the AI sets the appointment.
- They named a champion, one person who owns the AI the way a manager owns a new hire. One dealer, four years in, still reads five to ten of the AI’s customer conversations every day and corrects its answers when they’re off.
Nobody was replaced
None of the dealers Glenn interviewed let anyone go to make room for AI. Headcount changed only through attrition. His explanation is one every sales manager will recognize: stores have always had more leads than their people could reach. The AI picks up the routine follow-up, so salespeople spend their time with customers who are asking questions and ready to talk. That makes the team more productive, and it can make them more money.
A playbook for more than AI
Glenn has seen this pattern before. Every few years a new tool arrives, digital retailing being the last big one, and the industry rushes to one side of the boat expecting the technology to do the work. What gets underestimated each time is the planning, the management and the day-to-day involvement it takes.
That’s why the report ends with tools rather than predictions: a pre-launch checklist and a 30, 60 and 90-day road map. As the hosts pointed out, the same steps hold for almost any new system a store brings in. AI just shows the gaps faster, because it’s talking to customers all day.
A new number to watch
With AI replying in seconds, one dealer stopped treating speed to lead as the measure that matters. He now tracks the handoff: how long it takes a person to reach the customer once the AI asks for help.
Listen, read, and see it live
- The episode: listen to Glenn’s conversation on Automotive State of the Union, and read the ASOTU recap.
- The report: download AI and Dealership Staff free. It includes the pre-launch AI checklist and a first-90-days road map.
- In person: Glenn will talk about the research at the Modern Retailing Conference, November 15–17 in Palm Beach. See upcoming Pasch Group events.
