From Transactions to Trust: How Collaboration and Customer‑First Strategy Are Redefining Commercial Vehicle Success

Selling chassis, signing contracts, moving metal. Those are words that put a twinkle in the eye of dealers, upfitters, OEMs, finance partners, and everyone else in the commercial vehicle value chain. And those are indeed great outcomes. It’s a good thing to hook up a business customer with a vehicle that helps them make money.

That’s where we are.

But is that simple outlook enough to sustain success in a world of unreliable supply chains, shifting regulatory constraints, rising technology demands, and shrinking profit margins? The short answer is no.

The traditional transactional model is stalling. The entire ecosystem of manufacturing, selling, upfitting, using, and maintaining work trucks and vans has become too complex for simple transactional thinking. Today’s environment demands an ecosystem mindset; dealers, upfitters, OEMs, finance partners, and service teams working together to reduce downtime, maintain safety, and deliver predictable total cost of ownership.

That’s where we’re going.

In a recent Commercial Vehicle Business Summit session, Jim Press, senior advisor at Work Truck Solutions, said that companies thrive when they think of the customer’s needs first. “It’s not just customer‑first sayings on the walls, but a culture driven from the top down to earn the customer’s trust.”

Here’s how the industry gets there.

Segmenting Commercial and Fleet Customers for Real Alignment

One of the unique shifts underway is the recognition that commercial and fleet customers are not interchangeable. For years, many dealerships treated commercial vehicle buyers as a single category, creating mismatched expectations and inconsistent experiences. That era is ending.

Rene St. Hilaire, Director-Fleet / Commercial at Hendrick Automotive Group, described a major strategic pivot: “We’re starting to take a strong look at segmenting fleet from commercial. It’s a totally different strategy, a totally different approach to a customer. Fleet buyers think in terms of lifecycle, warranty, and long‑term reliability. Commercial customers, often end users, prioritize affordability and fast turnaround.”

Segmentation isn’t about adding complexity; it’s about removing friction. Dedicated people, processes, dispatch systems, and communication styles ensure each customer type gets what they value most. And when customers feel understood, loyalty follows.

Fixing Upfit and Service Bottlenecks to Maximize Uptime

If segmentation is the strategic foundation, uptime is the economic engine. For commercial operators, a vehicle waiting on an upfit or repairs can mean missed opportunities and lost revenue.

“Depending on the upfit, it could take 8 to 12 weeks or longer,” says Laura Dunton, CEO of J3 Upfitters. “We tell customers not to wait until the last minute to order. We need to have discovery calls sooner rather than later.”

Delays, from supply chain issues to customer indecision and late‑stage changes, can add weeks, even months, to turnaround time. To address this, Savvy upfitters and distributors are beginning to use integrated databases to track the progress of upfit orders, providing visibility, reducing surprises, preventing rework, and building trust. 

Service operations are undergoing a similar transformation. Dedicated commercial bays, triage‑style workflows, and mobile service units are becoming essential tools for protecting uptime. The message is simple: the dealer who minimizes downtime wins the relationship.

Technology, Telematics, and Lifecycle Strategy as Strategic Tools

Technology is reshaping the commercial vehicle ecosystem, but only when deployed with discipline. AI, telematics, and digital scheduling tools are delivering real value, but leaders warn against treating them as shortcuts.

“Some people think AI is plug‑and‑play,” says Peter Spritzer of DuPratt Ford. “It absolutely is not, and if it’s not used with a well‑thought‑out process, it will fail.” Early missteps taught his team that technology only works when paired with training, governance, and clear expectations. After re‑implementing AI with a structured process, their results changed dramatically. “You have to track the ROI for things like, ‘is it selling more vehicles after hours, or mining customers we wouldn’t normally talk to?’”

Hendrick Automotive Group is seeing similar gains. “We launched AI in 68 stores for sales and 23 for service… We’re up 33% in off‑hours customer engagement.” But St. Hilaire stresses that AI must be trained to the organization’s system, processes, and language.

Telematics is also becoming a core part of lifecycle strategy, as dealers can suggest that the buyer’s insurance provider may offer insurance discounts. 

Technology isn’t about replacing processes; it’s about improving everyone’s bottom line.

Conclusion: Collaboration Wins

The commercial vehicle industry is always evolving, and these industry experts suggest the customer-first path to success will include segmenting customers, helping maximize their uptime, and deploying technology with intention.

Positioning your organization as a collaborator across OEMs, dealers, upfitters, and fleets turns complexity into an advantage as customers seek partners that simplify their lives.