Why Champion Ford didn’t need to hire more to capture Service Demand and 400+ ROs

Champion Ford operates in a high-volume service market with strong seasonal call jumps. 

To not miss customers during periods of high call volume and after hours, Champion Ford deployed ShortLoop’s Phone AI to handle inbound service calls when staff availability was maxed out.

Between August and November alone, the AI handled over 10,000 inbound calls and assisted the team with 400+ ROs compared to the previous year.

The Situation

At Champion Ford, Service call volume spiked sharply right before winter. Call traffic reached up to 3,500 inbound calls each month.

• Advisors were managing walk-ins, approvals, technician scheduling, and constantly fielding inbound calls.
• Many high-intent customers reached voicemail or experienced long hold times; a portion of these never called back.
• Hiring extra staff solely for call coverage wasn’t feasible, and after-hours demand went unanswered.

The dealership needed a way to reliably answer every service call and avoid losing high-intent customers. The service department was the clear focus, but the Champion Ford team also recognized and requested AI support for all other departments. 

The Solution

Champion Ford deployed ShortLoop’s Phone AI to cover inbound service calls during peak hours and after business hours.

The AI:

• Answers calls when advisors are busy or unavailable, 
• Captures the reason for the call, 
• Books service appointments directly, 
• Collects sales lead information, and
• Coordinates with the team for parts calls.

We set ShortLoop’s AI to follow Champion Ford’s existing scheduling and call-routing rules/patterns. Urgent or complex calls are also transferred to a live advisor when needed.

ShortLoop's Impact

After deploying ShortLoop, Champion Ford saw immediate improvement in service output during its busiest months. From September to November, the AI handled 3,300+ service calls, where the store recorded 400+ additional ROs compared to the previous year. 330 of those were new service leads AI booked itself during the call. The AI also helped process ~60 inbound recall inquiries. 

Over the same period, AI handled 1300+ sales calls and 1200+ parts calls, supporting coverage across departments. 

ShortLoop AI saved 145 hours of advisor phone time across those three months. This allowed the team to stay focused on in-lane customers, approvals, and technician coordination rather than phone coverage.

Conclusion

By using ShortLoop to answer overflow and after-hours calls, the store captured more bookings during its busiest periods, increased repair order volume, and reduced advisor phone workload without changing workflows or adding headcount.

The result was simple: fewer missed calls, more scheduled work, and better use of existing staff capacity during peak seasons.