For the last few quarters, strong demand and limited inventory have been the norm in the automobile industry. While no one can predict the market, and sales can sometimes appear to be a game of chance, adopting a data-driven and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled approach can help your dealership thrive regardless of inventory levels.
Look for a proactive and progressive approach to stay in touch with your customers by focusing on four critical tactical areas: Revenue from Service, Sales & Acquisition, Retention, and Pre-Orders/Reserved Sales.
With an aging fleet and historically high sales price driving more maintenance visits, proactive dealers are looking to the service drive as a reliable source of both acquisitions and revenue.
When developing your plan to acquire more vehicles, you should focus on:
Aside from acquisition and service-to-sales opportunities, marketing the service drive allows dealers to do the following:
Look for new ways to market your service drives, such as offering maintenance plans, service and accessory specials, and free inspections.
Despite these uncertainties, forward-thinking dealers using technology and data-driven approaches to selling, acquiring, and marketing are well-positioned to stay ahead of the curve and secure future success.
Buy-backs, trades, and lease returns provide the ideal opportunity for dealers with low or no inventory to engage buyers while acquiring in-demand pre-owned inventory. CRM platforms are a great place to mine for the data and to find the best options. Get more out of your processes by implementing AI-based solutions to simplify complex decisions and reduce the need for human involvement.
Cognitgo’s RObot captures all the critical data points from the Repair Order(RO) and derives an accurate, fair value of all the cars that enter your service drive. Save hours of human-intensive effort with a bot working 24/7, processing every Repair Order (RO) from your Service-Drive.
RObot scans through several data systems to build out an accurate and true vehicle value, by performing various functions, which include:
These important details give your sales team the confidence to make informed decisions about the vehicles in the service drive.
Pre-owned car sales have steadily increased over the past few years, and auto dealerships have taken notice. Many dealerships are now using RObot’s AI-powered solution to build their inventory from the service drive. Integrating AI into their repair order process allows dealerships to quickly and easily identify potential trade-ins. They can also verify the vehicle’s history to ensure its quality before making an offer to the customer. This approach allows dealerships to build their inventory while providing excellent customer service efficiently. As a result, AI is becoming an essential tool for auto dealerships that want to stay competitive in today’s market.
Inventory shortages, intense competition, and more online retail alternatives are causing even the most loyal customers to look for other options. To actively protect its customer base, every dealer will have to:
Car dealerships can increase customer loyalty from the service drive by using the customer history in their database and reaching out and reminding customers of the services needed. AI can be used to schedule appointments and increase buy-back and trade opportunities. By providing a convenient and efficient experience, dealerships can build customer loyalty and keep customers coming back for future service needs and trade-in opportunities.
Remember that you have a significant advantage over the competitors. You are well acquainted with your client.
Using the customer data in your dealership’s CRM, DMS, and sales platform, you can identify the sign that customers are preparing to reenter the market. You see their car is paid off, so make them an offer to buy it back before someone else does.
Pre-orders/ reserved sales provide dealerships experiencing inventory shortages a natural opportunity to engage and retain buyers. By capitalizing on future demand, you are building out your sales pipeline for when the inventory hits your lot. When communicating with potential customers interested in pre-orders or reserved sales:
Introduce your customer base to the concept of pre-selling or reserving inbound vehicles as a new, standard way to shop for what they want if you haven’t already. Consistently engaging with your customers and offering them a highly personal, meaningful customer experience is key to improving pre-orders.
Cognitgo’s RObot is an AI-powered intelligent bot exclusively designed for dealerships to generate buy-back leads from your service drive. It promises peak efficiency and is able to quickly search numerous databases (OEM data, Carfax, Book Value, CRM, and more) and message out a true vehicle value to your customer!
