How AI-Powered Data Activation Helped Mtn. View Ford Win More Leads from Website Visitors 

After taking the world by storm in late 2022, ChatGPT has completely transformed the way people think and engage with generative AI. The applications for this technology are many and wide reaching and at Fullpath, we developed a new integration designed to improve the dealership customer experience. 

Fullpath’s ChatGPT integration is designed to help dealers harness the powerful technology created by OpenAI to offer shoppers a personalized, data-driven experience on the dealership website. By integrating with the dealership’s data sources – including shopper data, inventory data, specials information and more, the chat can provide website visitors with dealership specific, informative answers to every incoming question around the clock – with zero added manpower required. 

Looking to take their dealership website shopping experience to the next level, Mtn. View Ford in Chattanooga, Tennessee replaced their industry standard chatbot technology with Fullpath’s data-driven ChatGPT integration in March of 2024. By May of 2024, just three months after launch, the dealership saw a nearly 50% conversion rate on all chats held on their website. 

Fullpath’s ChatGPT chatbot is integrated with the dealership’s data allowing the chat to leverage dealership and shopper data including vehicle of interest, special offers, service schedules and more, increasing the likelihood of successfully engaging the shopper. 

When compared to other Ford dealerships who were using standard chatbots during that same two month period, Mtn. View Ford saw more than double the number of conversations started by the chatbot. The chat also served as the source for more than 60% of their website conversions, as compared to other dealerships who saw only 21% of their leads sources from their industry standard chats. 

Because Fullpath’s ChatGPT chatbot learns from its conversations over time, the chat becomes increasingly more effective at prompting shoppers and engaging them in conversation. In the three months following implementation on their site, Mtn. View Ford saw a steady increase in the number of shopper conversations held and in the number of leads submitted as a result of those conversations.  

Fullpath’s ChatGPT not only offers data-rich answers to shopper questions, it is carefully formulated to encourage conversions, ensuring shoppers get all the information they need as seamlessly as possible before being passed on to the dealership for human followup. Shopper conversations on the Mtn. View Ford website saw an average of just 6 messages sent back and forth before resulting in a conversion.

“Let me be fully transparent,” says Don Erwin, Director of Digital Marketing and Communication at Mtn. View Auto.  “I’ve incorporated chat widgets on my websites going back to 2005  so I’m no stranger to Live-Chat features and their place in the customer shopping journey. Therefore, initially, I was hugely skeptical about replacing our human-managed chat widgets, expecting the bot to lack the intuition and engagement we were accustomed to observing.”

“However, I have been blown away by the efficiency, customer acceptance, and overall engagement [Fullpath’s ChaGPT] provides. Our website visitors seamlessly receive guidance to specific vehicle pages and assistance with trade-ins or financing, significantly enhancing their shopping experience. I highly recommend giving Fullpath’s ChatGPT a try – it’s a must-have for boosting customer interaction and satisfaction.”