With new vehicle sales growth expected to remain constrained in 2026, automotive dealers are being forced to rethink where growth really comes from. The answer, increasingly, lies not just on the lot—but in the conversations happening every day across sales, service, and BDC operations.

That’s the context behind Marchex’s appearance at the 2026 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show, where the company will exhibit at booth #7337N. Marchex plans to spotlight how its AI-powered conversation intelligence platform turns customer calls and interactions into measurable business outcomes at a time when every missed opportunity carries more weight.

As consumers hold onto vehicles longer and lean more heavily on service departments, dealers face rising call volumes, higher operational complexity, and increased pressure to convert conversations into revenue. Marchex is positioning its platform as a way to bring clarity—and accountability—to those interactions.

Why Conversations Matter More in 2026

The automotive market has shifted dramatically over the past few years. Inventory volatility, margin pressure, and changing consumer behavior have pushed dealers to rely less on pure vehicle sales volume and more on service, retention, and experience-driven differentiation.

Service departments, in particular, are emerging as growth engines. Longer vehicle ownership cycles mean more maintenance, more repairs, and more high-value RO opportunities—but only if dealerships can capture intent, respond effectively, and avoid breakdowns in communication.

That’s where Marchex believes conversation intelligence can make the biggest impact.

“By analyzing customer conversations, Marchex equips automotive retailers to maximize vehicle sales, generate higher-value repair orders, increase scheduled appointments, improve RO close rates, and improve agent performance across the customer journey,” said Troy Hartless, President and CRO of Marchex.

The emphasis isn’t just on listening—it’s on prescriptive insights that tell dealers exactly what to do next.

From Call Tracking to Operational Intelligence

Marchex has been embedded in the automotive industry for nearly two decades, supporting more than 5,000 U.S. dealerships and maintaining deep relationships with OEMs. Over that time, the role of call analytics has evolved significantly.

Basic call tracking answered one question: Did the call happen?

Conversation intelligence answers much harder ones:

• Was the customer intent identified correctly?

• Did the agent ask the right questions?

• Were service or sales opportunities missed?

• Did the conversation lead to a booked appointment or RO?

• Where did the process break down?

Marchex’s AI platform analyzes unstructured conversation data—calls, transcripts, and outcomes—and transforms it into actionable operational insights across sales, service, and marketing.

For dealerships, that means visibility into the moments that directly affect revenue, customer satisfaction, and long-term loyalty.

Engage for Sales: Finding and Acting on Buyer Intent

At NADA 2026, Marchex will highlight its Engage for Sales solution, designed to help dealerships capture and convert high-intent buyers more consistently.

Rather than treating every inbound lead equally, Engage for Sales uses AI-driven analysis to:

• Identify conversations that signal strong purchase intent

• Flag missed opportunities in real time

• Prioritize follow-up based on likelihood to convert

• Alert teams when leads require immediate attention

In an environment where lead volumes may soften but competition remains fierce, this kind of prioritization becomes critical. Dealers can focus resources where they matter most, rather than relying on gut instinct or incomplete CRM data.

The result is fewer dropped leads, faster response times, and better close rates—without adding headcount.

Engage for Service: Unlocking RO Growth Hiding in Plain Sight

If sales conversations are about intent, service conversations are about need—and those needs often go unmet.

Marchex’s Engage for Service solution is built to surface what customers are actually asking for, even when they don’t use precise terminology. By analyzing calls, the platform can detect:

• Unmet service needs

• Indicators of major repair opportunities

• Gaps between customer requests and agent responses

• Missed chances to upsell or schedule additional work

For service departments under pressure to increase RO values and throughput, these insights provide a roadmap for action. Managers can identify which calls deserve follow-up, which agents need coaching, and where processes are failing customers.

In a service-driven growth model, that intelligence can make the difference between flat performance and sustained profitability.

Previewing the Agent Performance Suite

One of the most forward-looking elements of Marchex’s NADA presence will be a preview of its upcoming Agent Performance Suite, designed to address a growing challenge in dealership operations: how humans and AI work together on the front lines.

As dealerships experiment with AI-powered agents, chatbots, and automated workflows, performance gaps can emerge. Some interactions improve. Others quietly degrade the customer experience.

Marchex’s new suite aims to make those dynamics visible.

The platform provides insights into:

• Where agents succeed or struggle in conversations

• How handoffs between AI and human agents perform

• Which behaviors correlate with bookings, ROs, and sales

• Where automation helps—or hurts—customer engagement

What sets the suite apart is its focus on coaching and improvement, not just reporting. Conversations are translated into personalized, skill-specific action plans, giving each agent clear guidance on how to perform better.

As labor challenges persist and agent effectiveness becomes a defining growth lever, this kind of performance intelligence is likely to gain traction.

Enterprise Visibility for Dealer Groups

For large dealer groups operating across multiple locations and brands, consistency is often as challenging as growth.

Marchex addresses that need with a unified enterprise view of marketing, sales, and service performance. Leadership teams can:

• Identify trends across rooftops

• Attribute campaigns to real outcomes

• Scale best practices across locations

• Maintain consistent standards and customer experience

That enterprise-wide perspective becomes increasingly valuable as groups look to optimize operations without sacrificing local nuance.

A Timely Bet on Conversation Intelligence

Marchex’s message at NADA 2026 aligns with broader trends in automotive retail and martech alike. As margins tighten and acquisition costs rise, maximizing existing customer interactions becomes one of the most efficient paths to growth.

Conversation intelligence sits at the intersection of CX, AI, and revenue operations—turning what was once dark, unstructured data into a strategic asset.

For dealers facing a year of modest sales growth but rising service demand, the implications are clear: the conversations you already have may be your biggest untapped opportunity.

What Dealers Can Expect at NADA 2026

Dealers attending NADA 2026 are invited to visit Marchex at booth #7337N, where they can:

• See live product demonstrations

• Receive real-time account reviews

• Explore how AI-driven insights apply to their operations

• Learn how conversation intelligence can drive growth in 2026 and beyond

As the automotive industry adapts to new realities, Marchex is betting that better conversations—and better insight into them—will separate high-performing dealerships from the rest.