How Bridgestone Turned Missed Calls into Millions: A CX Playbook for Leaders

Ever wondered how many revenue opportunities slip through your fingers every time a customer calls your store? For Bridgestone, that number was staggering, until it flipped the script. What it did next is a masterclass in customer-centricity and AI-driven growth. 

The challenge: when great service meets lost sales 

Bridgestone retail operations run 2,200 stores across North America and handle 25–30 million calls a year. But here’s the catch: those calls weren’t going to a centralized contact center. They were landing in busy stores where associates were juggling ringing phones, walk-ins and service bays. 
 
What this led to was chaos:  

• 15 minutes per tire sales call on average 
• Associates who excel in-store but not trained for phone sales 
• Customers put on hold, frustrated and often lost to competitors 

For a company obsessed with customer experience (CX), this was a wake-up call.  

The shift: from reactive to proactive 

Bridgestone realized its call management system was reactive. It could track lost sales but couldn’t recover them. Enter the Customer Concierge Model — a proactive approach that captures intent signals in real time and rescues sales before they vanish.  “Faster, smarter, more intelligent” became the mantra. 

The tech behind the magic 

At the heart of this transformation is AI-powered intent identification. Here’s how it works: 

• Every call is analyzed in near real time 
• AI determines if it’s a sales opportunity (with 90% accuracy for tires) 
• If the opportunity is missed, an alert is sent to a tire concierge agent within 3 minutes These agents aren’t just order-takers, they’re specialists with full visibility into inventory, pricing, promotions and scheduling across markets. 

The impact: millions in incremental revenue 

Even during the pilot phase, Bridgestone delivered millions in incremental revenue. Today, the model is scaling fast: 

• 90% accuracy in identifying tire sales opportunities 
• 80% accuracy for service calls (and growing) 
• A staffing model that’s greenlit for expansion because it hits profit targets 

As one of their leaders put it:

“Perfection is the enemy of profit. Start small, iterate and scale fast.” 

Beyond AI: personalization at scale 

Bridgestone isn’t stopping at call recovery. It is connecting Sprinklr’s conversational AI with Adobe’s Journey Optimizer to create personalized experiences across channels. 

Imagine this: 

1. A customer chats about tires → triggers a bespoke email journey 
2. That same profile enriches in-store interactions → associates know lifetime value and service history 

This is precision and personalization at scale, and it’s the future of CX. 

What’s in it for you? 

If you’re a CX leader, here’s why you should look at AI: 

1. Revenue recovery: Every missed call is a missed dollar. AI can fix that. 
2. Customer loyalty: Proactive engagement builds trust and keeps customers from defecting. 
3. Operational efficiency: Free up store associates to focus on what they do best — in-store service. 
4. Scalable growth: Start with pilots, prove ROI then accelerate. 

5 steps to get started with AI

1. Audit your lost opportunities: How many calls are slipping through the cracks? 
2. Invest in intent identification: AI is not a trend anymore. It’s a growth and revenue engine. 
3. Start small, scale fast: Pilot, iterate and expand once you prove value 
4. Think beyond channels: Connect voice, chat, SMS and in-store for a unified experience. 
5. Partner for agility: Choose tech partners who can innovate and scale with you. 

Closing thoughts 

Bridgestone’s story proves that CX is a tightrope walk between customer delight and optimizing costs. When you connect technology, process and people at the moment that matters, you get richer not just with the revenue but with your customers’ trust and loyalty. 

To learn more about how Sprinklr’s AI can help boost your customer service, book a demo today.