Ward’s Auto presented a great article about artificial intelligence (Ai). With nearly three-quarters of dealers expressing interest in adopting Ai at some point, it’s clear most have accepted its forthcoming promise to change business as we know it. As consumers themselves, most dealers are familiar with Ai’s customer-facing benefits, such as Netflix’s show recommendations or even Gmail’s spam filters. However, the benefits for some businesses, especially one as specialized as a car dealership, can seem less clear.[1]
Fortunately, Ai is not just for the benefit of the car customers. Those who pursue their interest in adopting Ai at their dealership can expect business and bottom line to change (for the betterment of auto dealers) in five key points.
- Improved Customer Retention and Loyalty
Ai is instrumental in predicting and providing customer information which allow for the fast, efficient and personalized experience customers expect. By improving their car buying experience and in turn, the dealership’s relationship with them, the probability of return business increases exponentially. Sales customers will be more likely to turn into service customers, and they are more likely to recommend the dealership to their friends, creating even more loyal customers. A steady customer base can be the difference between a good and a great sales profits or keep the dealership stable during an economic downturn.
- Create Additional Revenue and Increase Sales
Ai helps identify sales opportunities that would likely go unnoticed with a more traditional approach. Ai can use online and offline behavior and lifestyle data to flag automotive customers whose activity indicates that they are ready to buy and inform the salesperson about what inventory customers are in search of. A good Ai tool will also better explain the sales engagement strength of an active customer lead by totaling interactions logged in the Customer Relationship Management, or CRM. This level of data allow sales teams to better identify new customers, pursue the most viable leads, and successfully close an auto sales.
- Lower Marketing and Sales Costs
In a climate where personalization is standard, the days of blanketed mass marketing tactics have vanished. Ai can help dealers customize emails, banner ADs, texts and other marketing efforts to target the right customers, at the right time, with specific inventory, which offer a sales force specific details that Ai data provides for a positive sales opportunity. This focused sales approach is not only cost effective, faster and easier; it is a more effective way to generate sales leads and make car deals than is a mailer or cold calling efforts.
- Getting Time Back
In sales, time is money and failing to address operational inefficiencies is a way to lose both. By using Ai, sales teams can be smarter about how they spend their time. For instance, knowing where customers are in the buying cycle or the level of their engagement can save valuable days chasing bad leads. Ai can even generate customer sentiment, giving sales reps real-time feedback about how a deal is going and giving managers the information needed to coach staffers to improve sales in the future. Overall, Ai speed up the buying process and creates higher sales efficiency. Recent surveys indicate that 72% of car dealers agree automation and Ai allow their staff to focus time on other areas of their dealership business.
- Gain a Competitive Advantage
The auto industry researchers predict that 79% of businesses plans will use Ai by 2021, which means customer expectations will heighten with time. While it can be tempting to ignore the signs with an “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it” attitude, dealers who fail to adopt Ai technology will risk being left behind. Those who do use it (and is urged, soon) will have a distinct advantage. The auto sales industry is already a very tight market, so many are urging that the time is ripe to adopt Ai solutions.
Now the Cautionary Downside of Ai. Without proper cyber protections, associated virtual auto sales avenues through Ai, black hat hackers could jump on the opportunities to attack a dealerships network. This to pass along malware, bent on financially motivated fraud prospects. There have been ransomware attacks targeting numerous dealerships in the past few years and seen in various countries. Some of these attacks were made public; others remain out of the media spotlight. But if Ai and the escalated use of the Internet continues in the auto sales forces, more cyber-attacks will occur. Red Sky Alliance and its tool: RedXray, can help dealerships protect their networks by scouring the surface, deep and dark web for malicious activity that target auto dealers. Employing network firewalls is essential to proper network protection but getting proactive cyber intelligence to augment these static cyber protections will defiantly help with added protection. Red Sky Alliance is additionally offering cyber insurance through Cysurance (Chubb Ins.).
Red Sky Alliance is in New Boston, NH USA and is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the office directly at 888-RED-XRAY or (888)-733-9729, or email feedback@wapacklabs.com
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[1] https://www.wardsauto.com/dealers/what-Ai-really-means-car-dealerships
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