Case Studies > The Faulkner Organization Boosts Showroom Traffic by 50% with Conversica® AI Solution

The Faulkner Organization Boosts Showroom Traffic by 50% with Conversica® AI Solution

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Virtual Private Cloud
Wearables - Virtual Reality Glasses, Headsets & Controllers

Applicable Industries

Automotive
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Procurement
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Time Sensitive Networking
Traffic Monitoring

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

The Faulkner Organization, founded in 1932 in Harrisburg, PA as a pioneering Oldsmobile dealership, has grown to be one of the state’s largest multi-franchise automobile dealerships. It features 23 leading domestic and import brands, catering to a wide range of customer preferences. Whether drivers are looking for the flagship American Chevrolets and Buicks, or seeking sporty thrills in Fiat or Maserati imports, the sales teams at Faulkner are committed to putting every customer first. The organization is driven by high expectations for customer service and is constantly challenged to keep up with the high volume of internet leads it receives each month.

The Challenge

The Faulkner Organization, one of Pennsylvania's largest multi-franchise automobile dealerships, was struggling to manage the high volume of internet leads it received each month. The company's Internet Sales department was receiving nearly 6,500 leads per month from various sources, including third-party lead aggregators and Faulkner’s own multi-brand website. However, the department's appointment setters could only effectively handle a maximum of 150 leads each day, leading to potential sales opportunities being missed. Consequently, the company's engagement rate consistently hovered around 25 percent. The challenge was to increase lead engagement rates and ensure no potential sales opportunities were overlooked.

The Solution

Faulkner implemented the Conversica Sales AI Assistant to automate the sales conversion process for the thousands of internet leads received each month. The system creates automated, two-way email-based communication with leads using a human persona, determines the lead’s intent in real-time by interpreting text in the email response, alerts the salesperson to contact qualified leads who indicate intention to buy now, and follows up after the salesperson’s initial contact to continue to nurture the lead and get additional information or feedback. The Conversica solution has been rolled out to almost 90 percent of Faulkner's franchises, with plans to bring more franchises on board each month. Nearly 250 salespersons and managers are currently using Conversica at Faulkner, which also provides a wealth of metrics on lead source performance, salesperson responsiveness, and other information to help them make better business decisions.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Conversica has led to a significant improvement in Faulkner's lead engagement and sales conversion process. The system has enabled Faulkner’s Internet sales teams to achieve a higher number of what the company calls “volley-based” customer engagements – a volley of communication back and forth between the customer and the application until the customer provides a phone number, email address, or wants to be contacted by a Faulkner Salesperson. The automated system has also been successful in working with leads that Faulkner had previously considered dead or unresponsive. As a result, the organization has increased the number of sales from leads that are over two weeks old, giving the sales teams more time to pursue promising aged leads that are between 3 and 8 weeks old.

Quantitative Benefit

Increased the engagement rate from 25 percent to more than 55 percent
Increased the number of leads handled by a single appointment setter from 150 to 225 per month, raising qualified showroom traffic by 50 percent
Eliminated the operational expense of hiring additional appointment setters and Sales reps to follow up with 6,500 leads each month