Marchex, a provider of artificial intelligence and conversational intelligence software, has expanded its partnership with FordDirect.

The joint venture between Ford Motor Company and its franchise dealers has added Marchex Engage for Sales and Service to its offerings for nearly 3,000 Ford and Lincoln dealers nationwide, joining Marchex Spotlight among the available products and services.

FordDirect CEO Dean Stoneley said the extended collaboration “gives our dealers and retailers unmatched insights into customer interactions, helping us improve performance, spot trends and drive customer and dealer satisfaction.”

In a news release, Marchex said Engage for Sales and Service uses AI to give dealers insights on their customer interactions to help them maximize their sales and service opportunities. It’s designed to automatically categorize customer calls based on consumer intent and provide real-time alerts about missed sales and service opportunities.

The company said the Engage for Service product provides insights from every service call to help increase repair order appointments, deliver better service experiences and increase service revenue.

Engage’s features include lead outcome analysis to track whether customer conversations result in a lead, appointment or sale, and measure conversion rates; alerts on missed high-value opportunities, allowing dealers to re-engage potential customers and recover revenue; customer topics to identify emerging customer needs and concerns; and customer satisfaction scoring with insights into customer sentiment.

Marchex said insights from customer conversations enable dealers to address customer needs in real time, optimize staffing levels and business operations for fluctuating traffic periods, identify performance issues and coach team members to enhance revenue and improve the customer experience.

“By enabling Ford dealerships and Lincoln retailers with Marchex Engage for Sales and Service,” Marchex chief revenue officer Troy Hartless said, “they will be better equipped to understand their customers’ needs, capture more car sales, increase service bay traffic and revenue, and enhance lifetime customer value.”