The automotive industry has always been fast-paced, but in today’s digital-first world, speed and personalization are more important than ever. Dealers who once relied on phone calls, mailers, and clunky CRMs now face a new reality: modern car buyers expect instant, transparent communication. That’s where AI Powered Automotive CRM software powered by AI is making the difference.
One of the clearest examples comes from Always Auto, a new independent dealership founded by longtime industry veteran Josh Letsis. His story reveals how adopting TECOBI’s AI Powered Automotive CRM software transformed his small dealership into a scalable, efficient operation in record time.
Table of Contents
1. Starting Over: From Franchise Veteran to Independent Dealer
Josh Letsis spent nearly three decades in the franchise dealership world before taking a leap into entrepreneurship. In early 2025, he launched Always Auto, moving into a large former Toyota facility and starting from scratch. Unlike franchise stores with built-in support, independent dealers often face tough hurdles: building relationships with banks, generating leads, and managing customer follow-up with limited staff.
Josh knew the old playbook wouldn’t cut it. He’d seen firsthand how traditional CRM systems turn salespeople into order-taking button pushers. As he put it, “CRMs are great at giving salespeople busy work, but terrible at helping them focus on real buyers.”
That realization pushed him toward a new approach: replacing outdated tools with AI powered automotive CRM software designed for speed, efficiency, and customer engagement.
2. Lean Team, Big Results
Always Auto launched with just six salespeople and a couple of managers. For most independents, that would mean struggling to keep up with incoming leads. But Josh made a bold decision: instead of relying on a legacy CRM, he made TECOBI the core of his dealership’s operations.
“Literally TECOBI is our CRM,” Josh explained. “All of our follow-up, emails, text messages, and phone calls go through TECOBI. We do zero follow-up through our old system.”
The results were immediate. Even with a small team, Always Auto started generating over a thousand leads a month through Facebook and Instagram ads, exactly what we teach in How to Use Facebook and Instagram Ads to Generate High-Quality Auto Leads. Thanks to dealership lead follow-up automation, TECOBI’s AI worked those leads 24/7, qualifying buyers and setting appointments.
One day, Josh walked into the sales meeting and noticed an appointment on the board with no salesperson attached. It turned out TECOBI’s AI had handled the entire conversation and set the appointment itself, without human intervention. As Car Dealer Magazine recently highlighted, fast AI responses often engage buyers within minutes—even after hours. Josh saw this firsthand at Always Auto.
3. Scaling Time Through Automation
Josh often talks about TECOBI as a “massive scalable timesaver.” And that’s the best way to think about automation in AI Powered Automotive CRM Software.
Instead of asking salespeople to grind through 1,000 leads each month, TECOBI nurtures every prospect automatically. Out of those 1,000, perhaps 300 will eventually engage, and only then does a salesperson step in. That means no wasted effort, no chasing ghosts—just focused time spent with buyers who are actually ready to talk.
Josh put it simply: “The amount of work we do with a couple of managers and six salespeople is insane. [TECOBI] is a way to scale your time. We all wish we could squeeze a few more hours into every single day—this helps us do that.”
This efficiency mirrors what Fast Company reported: dealerships using AI grow faster because sales teams spend time selling, not chasing cold leads.
4. Personalized AI Engagement
Skeptics often wonder: won’t customers notice if they’re talking to a bot? Josh’s experience says otherwise.
One customer mentioned she couldn’t move forward with a purchase because she was scheduled for surgery. Weeks later, TECOBI automatically sent her a message: “I hope you’re feeling better from your surgery.” Josh was floored. The AI remembered, followed up, and did it in a way that felt authentic.
This is the power of AI for car dealerships: personalization at scale. It echoes the findings in CBT News, where Cox Automotive noted that AI-driven personalization and transparency are the keys to higher buyer satisfaction.
5. Transparent Sales = Happier Buyers
Always Auto has leaned into this new model of communication. Nearly 90% of their customers arrive at the dealership already knowing the out-the-door price, payment, and trade-in value. Many are even pre-approved.
That transparency, enabled by text messaging CRM for auto dealers, eliminates the old frustration of walking into a dealership and fearing surprises. It also shortens the sales process dramatically. Buyers show up informed, confident, and ready to sign.
As Josh said, “The only people we’re talking to are people who are engaged—and that’s where the efficiency really comes in.”
Replacing the Old CRM Model
Perhaps the most striking part of Josh’s story is how completely Always Auto replaced its old CRM. VinSolutions now exists only for one purpose: desking deals. Everything else—follow-up, communication, customer engagement, runs through TECOBI.
Josh is clear about where things are heading: “Once desking is live inside TECOBI, that’s the day I cancel VinSolutions. At that point we’ll have zero reason to use anything else.”
This reflects what Business Insider recently reported about GM: AI is not just replacing tools—it’s augmenting human performance across marketing, customer targeting, and beyond.
A New Era for Automotive Dealerships
The story of Always Auto proves that AI Powered Automotive CRM software like TECOBI isn’t just another tool, it’s a game changer. By combining AI automation with human insight, dealerships can finally break free from the inefficiencies of the past and step into a future where every lead is nurtured, every customer feels heard, and every salesperson gets to spend their time on what matters most: selling cars.
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