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Most dealers think they’re losing on price—but the real reason customers walk away is far more human (and far more fixable).

Tom Kondrat, Advanced Analytics Director at Urban Science, joins Auto Collabs to unpack one of the most misunderstood problems in retail automotive: customer defection. Drawing on real-time sales data and post-purchase surveys, Tom reveals a surprising truth—price isn’t the main reason customers leave. Instead, the breakdown happens in something much harder to measure… and much easier to fix: communication.

The conversation dives into how AI has evolved from predictive analytics to hyper-personalized insights, and how dealers can now use sentiment analysis to understand customer behavior at scale. But here’s the twist: the biggest opportunity isn’t in better tech—it’s in better human connection. From the power of simply being remembered by name to the overlooked value of following up after a lost sale, this episode makes one thing clear: data doesn’t replace relationships—it sharpens them.

Timestamped Takeaways

0:00 Price Isn’t the Real Reason Customers Leave

0:28 Communication Breakdowns Are Driving Defection

1:15 AI Shifted From Scale to Personalization

2:09 Too Much Data Can Hurt Better Decisions

3:26 Predictive AI Was Built to Anticipate Behavior

6:25 Modern AI Needs to Focus on Human Moments

8:42 Dealers Default to Price but Miss the Truth

9:38 Slow or Irrelevant Responses Push Customers Away

11:34 Great Communication Is Timely and Precise

17:35 Fast Feedback Loops Improve Sales Performance

21:26 AI Can Turn Customer Feedback Into Action

22:44 Being Remembered by Name Drives Positive Experiences

Connect with Tom Kondrat at https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaskondrat/

Learn more about Urban Science at https://www.urbanscience.com

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