NADA 2022: Stella Automotive AI Debuts Virtual Digital Assistant

NADA 2022: STELLA Automotive AI Debuts Virtual Digital Assistant

Stella, an artificial intelligent digital voice assistant, can answer the phone in one ring, lower hold times, answer frequently asked questions and book service appointments.

Hunter Swift, VP of product for Stella Automotive AI, showcases the company’s artificial intelligent digital voice assistant, which can answer the phone in one ring, lower hold times, answer frequently asked questions and book service appointments.

For more information, visit stellaautomotive.com.

To view all of our NADA 2022 videos, click HERE.


Hunter Swift: My name is Hunter Swift. I’m the VP of product for Stella Automotive AI. We’re super excited to be publicly debuting Stella Virtual Digital Assistant for automotive. What she can do is really amazing. We solve so many problems at the dealership in regards to improving customer satisfaction, increasing customer engagement, low lowering cost, and just helping the dealership set more appointments and schedule more test drives.

I’d love to show you a demo.

So as Stella is an artificial intelligent digital voice assistant that answers phones at the dealership. She answers it in one ring, lowers hold times, and can even answer frequently asked questions and book service appointments. If you’re familiar with Alexa or Siri, it’s very similar, but we add it to the dealership’s phone lines and it’s a digital assistant that works 24/7 and can handle unlimited amount of calls.

So one of the nice things about Stella is it doesn’t disrupt any processes at the dealership. It doesn’t require any type of training. We teach Stella the artificial intelligence. We insert that on your phone line. And in fact, let me just call a dealership right now and I can introduce you to Stella.

Stella: Good evening. Thank you for calling the Empire Subaru of Huntington service scheduling center. This call may be recorded for quality assurance. I’m your digital assistant Stella. I can book, change or cancel appointments. How can I help you today?

Hunter Swift: Yes, I want to bring in my 2019 Subaru WX in for service.

Stella: Okay. Could you please state the approximate mileage of your vehicle?

Hunter Swift: 15,000 miles.

Stella: Okay, please state your first name and then spell it.

Hunter Swift: Hunter, H U N T E R.

Stella: Now please state your last name and then spell it.

Hunter Swift: Swift. S W I F T.

Stella: What type of service does your vehicle require?

Hunter Swift: An oil change and tire rotation.

Stella: Thank you. Before we proceed, do you require any other services for your vehicle?

Hunter Swift: I have a check engine light on as well.

Stella: Okay. Let’s book your appointment. Will you be dropping off your vehicle?

Hunter Swift: Actually, does your dealership offer loaner vehicles?

Stella: Sorry. We do not offer any loaner service. Okay. Let’s book your appointment. Will you be dropping off your vehicle?

Hunter Swift: Actually, I’ll be waiting

Stella: Please wait while I check our schedule. I have an appointment available for next week on Monday at 7:45 AM for waiter. Would that suit you?

Hunter Swift: Actually, do you have anything in the afternoon?

Stella: I have an appointment available for next week on Monday at 2:15 PM for waiter. Would that be okay for you?

Hunter Swift: Actually, do you have anything on Wednesday between 8 and 11?

Stella: I have an appointment available for next week on Wednesday at 8:00 AM for waiter. Would that be okay for you?

Hunter Swift: So, what it did on that call was it recognized my caller ID to find out if I was an existing or new customer. I was a new customer, so it asked me for my name. If it was an existing customer, we would pull from the scheduler that I was an existing customer and say, are you calling in regards to the vehicle that you own? So we kind of speed up that process.

The next thing we’re able to do is figure out what the reason they want to bring their car in and match it up to an existing off code in their service scheduler. Then what we do is we ask about the availability of transports, right? So, I asked if there was loaner; they weren’t available. She offered if I wanted to wait or a shuttle, or if I was going to drop off the vehicle, and then based off that was able to give me an available appointment.

Now I did a little bit of appointment negotiation and did things like later, earlier, next week, in between, and she’s able to understand all of that to set an appropriate appointment for that customer.

That call probably was maybe two minutes. When we call dealerships and do mystery shops, we’re noticing that it takes about anywhere between 45 seconds to even a minute before the phone rings. And if somebody wants to schedule a service appointment, sometimes it could even be a whole time of a minute and a half to three minutes. Without any hold time, we can set that appointment, she works 24 hours a day and can handle unlimited amount of calls. It’s really a no brainer.

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