AI for Dealerships

AI in a car dealership

I was recently asked how AI can help improve customer service and reduce costs in car dealerships. In the first of two articles, I will explore how AI can generally be applied. In the second, I will examine how this can improve customer service.

In my opinion, AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is a catch-all phrase about how computers (or software “robots”) can copy or mimic human processes.

These can be simple things like admin tasks but can (and are) becoming increasingly sophisticated as computers are asked to look for more and more patterns and algorithms. This is sometimes called machine learning.

Other more sophisticated developments are “Deep Learning,” “Neural Networks,” and “Natural Language Processing (NLP),” like ChatGPT.

How/where can AI be applied?

Here are some examples of how AI can be used in a dealership.

Admin

Automate admin tasks like finance applications, vehicle registration, etc where a “robot” can log in to multiple systems to carry out repetitive duties.

Marketing

AI can personalise marketing, in theory, making it more engaging and increasing response by referencing previous purchase and servicing activity. It can also sync up activity on the website with the database. Using this customer data and machine learning, AI can suggest vehicles to customers based on their past purchases.

Lead Management

Again, it can sync leads with web activity and provide intelligent-sounding, instant automated responses to enquiries.

Stock Management

AI can look at the current market, sales enquiries, current stock, and historic sales to predict volumes and stock requirements.

Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

AI-powered chatbots can provide instant customer support, answer FAQs, schedule test drives and service bookings - 24/7.

Service Reminders and Booking

AI systems can send personalized service reminders to customers for vehicle maintenance or servicing and allow customers to book their service appointments online.

Team Rota Management

AI can help optimize staff rotas, ensuring the dealership is adequately staffed during peak times and saving on staff and energy costs during slower periods. This is already becoming common in hospitality.

Summary

AI has great potential to transform the automotive retail industry, making operations more efficient (reducing costs) and enhancing the customer experience. It's important, however, to bear in mind the human cost of changes and privacy (like GDPR) regulations.

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