Lokam is customer follow-up software for the service drive: the day after a repair order closes, your store calls the customer using Lokam's AI assistant. The assistant speaks for your dealership, says it is a virtual assistant and asks how the visit went. When a customer is unhappy, the people on your store's escalation list get the customer, a short summary and the main issue.
This page walks through what happens after the RO closes, step by step: what the customer hears, what your store sees, and what you decide.
Do you know which service customers left unhappy?
In many stores, the honest answer is "some of them, too late." The text survey goes out and often goes unanswered. The customer whose loaner wasn't ready, or whose check-engine light came back on the drive home, often says nothing to the advisor. You hear about it in a bad online review, or you don't hear about it at all, and the customer stops booking.
Frustration is common. 45% of dealership service customers reported a frustration during their visit (2025 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study). And loyalty is slipping even among new owners: only 54% of owners of cars under two years old went back to the selling dealer for service, down from 72% (Cox Automotive).
A frustrated customer you hear about can still be helped. If retention is the worry, the car dealership service retention guide covers the wider picture, and why service surveys go unanswered covers the survey side.
Takeaway
Check last month's against who heard from the store after the visit. That shows you who slipped through.
What happens after the RO closes
Your service manager should be able to explain the product to the from this table.
How to read it: each row is a step after the closes. Read across from what the customer hears to what your store sees and what you decide.
| Step | What the customer hears or sees | What your store sees | What you control |
|---|---|---|---|
| RO closes in the | Nothing yet | The customer is lined up for a follow-up call the next day | Approving the data access at setup |
| The call | Your store's call comes from a local number set up for your dealership, with your dealership's name on caller ID where the carrier supports it. On the call, Lokam's AI assistant says it is a virtual assistant and that the line is recorded | The call shows on the dashboard | When the calls go out, within your store's calling hours |
| No answer | Up to three call attempts in all, including the first: by default the next morning, that evening and the following morning. Customers who can't be reached get one short text asking how the visit went | The calls on the dashboard | Spacing the attempts further apart |
| The conversation | On the call, Lokam's AI assistant asks how the visit went, in the customer's own words, and for a score from 0 to 10. It already knows the visit details, including the advisor who handled it | Nothing yet, unless the customer is unhappy | — |
| Customer asks for a person | Lokam's AI assistant passes the request to your team, who call back | The callback request | Who is on the escalation list |
| Customer asks about price or stock | On the call, Lokam's AI assistant doesn't quote prices or answer stock questions; it passes them to your team | The question to answer | — |
| Customer says stop | The customer can tell Lokam's AI assistant to stop at any point on the call | The number goes on your store's do-not-call list in Lokam and isn't called again for your store | — |
| Customer is unhappy | — | The customer is flagged from what they said; your escalation list gets the customer, a short summary and the main issue | Who is on the escalation list |
| Nobody acts | — | If the issue stays open, the escalation list gets a reminder | — |
| The dashboard | — | Calls and open issues; each issue has an owner, notes and a status. Feedback and open issues show by advisor, so each one goes back to the right person | Who owns each issue |
What it tells you: the right-hand column is the short list of decisions your store makes.
Takeaway
Fill in the right-hand column, and your store's decisions are made before calls start.
What the service manager gets
The main issue in each escalation tells you who to call and what went wrong. Say the summary reads "brake job last week, says the grinding noise is back": you know both before you pick up the phone.
If an issue stays open, the escalation list gets a reminder. That covers the busy Saturday when an escalation is waiting and the service manager is out on the drive. Each month, a summary of the main issues and positive mentions goes to the managers you choose.
What happens next is your team's work. A good callback owns the problem and offers something specific, like a re-check or a ride. The service recovery playbook covers what to say on that callback.
Takeaway
Name who takes each callback, Saturdays included, so the customer hears from someone who can fix it.
Getting through to customers
84% of Americans say they reject or ignore calls from unknown numbers (Hiya State of the Call 2026).
What your store can set up with Lokam:
- Caller ID: your store's calls come from a local number set up for your dealership. Where the carrier supports it, caller ID shows your dealership's name.
- Spam labels: each number is registered to your dealership and warmed up through carrier spam filters before it calls.
- Attempts: up to three call attempts per customer. A customer who has been reached isn't called again for 60 days.
- Missed calls: customers who can't be reached get one short text asking how the visit went. Text only customers who agreed to texts.
If your own store numbers are getting flagged, why dealership calls show up as Spam Likely explains what causes it and what you can do.
Takeaway
Call a staff cell phone from your service line to see what your customers see before they pick up.
What your customers hear
- Who is calling: your store calls using Lokam's AI assistant, which speaks for your dealership, checks in about the recent service, and says it is a virtual assistant.
- Recording: calls are recorded, and the customer hears this at the start of the call: "You are on a recorded line today."
- Asking for a person: Lokam's AI assistant passes the request to your team, who call back.
- Saying stop: a customer can ask Lokam's AI assistant to stop at any point on the call. The number then goes on your store's do-not-call list in Lokam and isn't called again for your store. If they ask not to be contacted, add them to your store's do-not-call list for calls and texts.
If a customer wonders why your dealership is calling at all, what your customers see answers that from their side of the phone.
Takeaway
Send the customer page to your advisors, so they can answer a customer who asks why the store called.
What it isn't
Not a replacement for your survey, not an inbound answering bot, not a , not a replacement for your people.
On your store's calls, Lokam's AI assistant asks how the visit went and passes your managers the customers who need a person.
Takeaway
Your service manager starts the day with a call-back list of the customers who need one.
Works from your DMS
Lokam reads closed repair orders from your , usually through a data integration provider. Tell us your DMS and we'll confirm. The DMS integration page covers what the follow-up needs from your systems and what setup involves.
Takeaway
You'll know before any call goes out whether your DMS can feed the follow-up.
What the store sets up
Lokam's team sets up the data connection and the calling numbers. Your part is a short list of decisions. Settle them before calls start:
- [ ] Data access: your store approves it.
- [ ] Who receives escalations (service manager, assistant service manager, director). Put a backup on the list for days off.
- [ ] One owner: name one person to own the follow-up.
- [ ] Calling times: your store chooses when the calls go out. Call within your store's calling hours.
- [ ] Do-not-call list: check your store's do-not-call list before the calls start.
- [ ] Consent: consent to contact your customers is your dealership's. Lokam doesn't collect or decide it.
Takeaway
With a name next to each checklist line, each setup decision has an owner in your store.
See how it would work in your store
Peace of mind: see each call and which issues are still open.
Bring your types and your escalation list, and the demo walks them through the table above.
FAQ
What is follow-up automation?
CSI follow-up automation means your store makes the post-service follow-up call with an AI assistant, starting the day after the repair order closes. Lokam's assistant flags the unhappy customers from what they say and sends them to your escalation list.
How does Lokam spot an unhappy customer?
On each of your store's follow-up calls, Lokam's AI assistant asks how the visit went and for a score from 0 to 10, and flags unhappy customers from what they say.
Does it replace our or advisors?
No. Your store makes the routine calls with Lokam's AI assistant, which flags unhappy customers and passes them to your escalation list. Your people spend their time on the customers who need a callback.
What is a phone survey or voice survey, and what are the drawbacks?
A phone survey asks customers questions by phone instead of by text or email. A voice survey is the same thing with an automated voice asking the questions. The main drawback is reach: 84% of Americans say they reject or ignore calls from unknown numbers (Hiya State of the Call 2026).
How are car dealerships using AI?
Coordinating customer follow-up is tied for the top use of AI among dealers, at 40% (Cox Automotive AI in Auto Retail Tracker, Q2 2026). Post-service calls are one form of that follow-up.
Are AI calls legal?
On Lokam's side: consent to contact your customers is your dealership's, and Lokam doesn't collect or decide it; on your store's calls, Lokam's AI assistant says it is a virtual assistant. Neither settles the question for your store: which customers your store may call, and how, is a question for your store's own counsel. The TCPA and AI follow-up calls explainer covers what the rules say in plain words.
Why would a car dealership be calling me?
Usually to ask how your recent service visit went. What your customers see explains it from the customer's side.
Before you go
What you can do with this
- Know which unhappy customers slipped through last month.
- Have your setup decisions made before the demo.
- Give every escalation a person who can fix it.
Where Lokam helps
- Cut churn at the source: fix the problems before customers leave.
- Free your team from the follow-up list: they call back the customers who need it.
- Every open issue has an owner, and a reminder when it sits.