Automotive

Auto Dealership & Repair Suite

Respond to every internet lead in seconds, fill the service lane on autopilot, and never let a declined job walk out the door for good.

A full operating system for a franchised or independent car dealership and its service department, or a busy independent repair shop. It covers the entire revenue cycle: internet leads qualified and booked before a competitor picks up the phone, service reminders and recalls fired automatically so the lane stays full, declined and recommended work chased until the customer says yes, trade-in enquiries nurtured to a desk visit, parts quotes turned around in minutes, and lapsed customers reactivated before they drift to a rival. Speed and follow-through are where automotive businesses win or lose. This suite makes both happen without adding headcount.

Designed playbook · not a deployment claim

A starting configuration to test against the business's actual evidence and operator constraints.

Illustrative failure hypotheses

Questions for the audit to verify

Internet leads go unanswered for hours while the salesperson is on the floor or at lunch; the shopper has already called the next dealer

Service reminders and recall notices sent late or not at all, leaving service-lane capacity unfilled

Declined and recommended work never followed up, with the customer taking the job to an independent shop weeks later

Trade-in and part-exchange enquiries fall into a black hole after the initial quote, killing a deal that could have been closed

Parts quotes take hours to return, losing the customer to an online retailer or a faster shop

Weak review volume drives shoppers to better-rated competitors on Google and DealerRater

Proposed starting point

A pilot hypothesis to review

Designed role · approval required

Internet Lead Responder

Replies to every inbound vehicle-enquiry lead within seconds, qualifies buyer intent, and routes a briefed prospect to the sales team.

Internet leads to a dealership go cold in under five minutes. An always-on responder that qualifies and books in seconds demonstrates a measurable lift in appointment conversion before the first week is out.

Designed playbook

Proposed work streams and roles

These are configuration ideas to test during an audit. They are not autonomous workers or evidence of a live deployment.

01Forma Core · included with every suite

Forma Core

Runs under every suite. The shared operating spine: front desk, follow-up, reputation, owner reporting, cash, and content.

Front DeskFollow-Up EngineReputation EngineOwner's DigestMoney FlowContent Engine
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Front Desk

    Captures and triages every inbound (email, web form, missed call, DM), then replies, classifies, and routes it to the right place.

  • Follow-Up Engine

    Runs persistent, polite multi-touch follow-up on every quote, no-show, and stalled enquiry until it converts or is cleanly closed.

  • Reputation Engine

    Asks happy customers for reviews at the right moment, drafts replies to every review, and routes negative feedback to a human first.

  • Owner's Digest

    Compiles the weekly (and on-demand) operating picture into a plain-English brief: what happened, what's at risk, what needs a decision.

  • Money Flow

    Issues and chases invoices, tracks AR aging, and reconciles payments so nothing slips and cash comes in faster.

  • Content Engine

    Turns the brand kit into a steady cadence of social, email, and blog content, ready for one-click approval.

02

Sales Lead Response

Capture every internet, phone, and walk-in lead the moment it arrives, qualify it, and book the showroom visit.

Internet Lead ResponderTest-Drive Booker
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Internet Lead Responder

    Replies to every inbound vehicle-enquiry lead within seconds, qualifies buyer intent, and routes a briefed prospect to the sales team.

  • Test-Drive Booker

    Converts qualified enquiries into confirmed showroom appointments with automated reminders to cut no-shows.

03

Service Scheduling & Recalls

Keep the service lane full with automated reminders, recall notices, and frictionless online booking.

Service ReminderRecall & Campaign Alert
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Service Reminder

    Proactively contacts customers due for a service, MOT, or tyre check and books them into the service lane before they drift elsewhere.

  • Recall & Campaign Alert

    Cross-references the dealer's customer vehicles against OEM recall and service-campaign bulletins and books affected owners in for remedy work.

04

Declined-Service Recovery

Turn declined and deferred repairs into booked return visits before the customer chooses a competitor.

Declined-Service Follow-Up
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Declined-Service Follow-Up

    Follows up every declined or deferred repair recommendation with a timed sequence designed to recover the job before the customer goes elsewhere.

05

Trade-In & Valuation Nurture

Move every trade-in enquiry from an online estimate to a desk visit and a signed deal.

Trade-In Nurture
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Trade-In Nurture

    Moves every part-exchange or trade-in valuation enquiry from an online estimate to a confirmed desk visit and deal.

06

Parts & Quotes

Return accurate parts and labour quotes fast enough to win the job before the customer shops elsewhere.

Parts & Quote Responder
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Parts & Quote Responder

    Returns accurate parts availability and labour estimates within minutes of an enquiry so the customer books rather than buying online or calling a faster rival.

07

Reputation & Retention

Build review volume, defend the dealer's star rating, and reactivate customers who have gone quiet.

Review BoosterLapsed-Customer Reactivation
Designed role descriptions ↓
  • Review Booster

    Requests a Google or DealerRater review at the optimal moment after a sale or service visit and routes negative feedback for immediate recovery.

  • Lapsed-Customer Reactivation

    A proposed role to scope and validate before any pilot use.

Measurement design

Candidate measures to baseline

These labels do not claim a result. The audit must define the source, window, method, baseline, and owner before a metric can support a pilot decision.

Median speed-to-lead

Seconds from an internet lead arriving to the first personalised response, the most critical lever for internet lead conversion.

Service retention rate

% of customers returning to the same dealer for their next service, the core metric for parts and labour profitability.

Declined-service recovery rate

A candidate metric; its source and baseline are not yet defined.

Workshop utilisation

% of available technician hours billed, lifted by proactive reminders, recall outreach, and lapsed-customer reactivation.

Internet lead close rate

% of inbound internet leads that result in a vehicle sale, the headline ROI metric for the sales team.

Average Google star rating

Dealer's live Google rating, driven by post-sale and post-service review requests. It directly affects search visibility and walk-in volume.

Connector boundary

Availability is scoped per controlled pilot

Connector names in the internal playbook are planning inputs, not a public integration promise. Current code-live readers are bounded and require account-specific verification before use.

See the commerce pilot boundaries →

Audit first

Validate the playbook against your operation.

Pricing, scope, data access, review boundaries, and success measures are agreed in writing before any paid work.