Leverage AI for increased productivity in Canadian dealerships
As the automotive industry evolves, dealerships face mounting operational demands, from inventory management to customer engagement, while dealing with daily emails, reports, and schedules.
In this high-stakes environment, artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a powerful ally, promising efficiency, better insights, and, perhaps most attractively, a more balanced workday for dealership teams.
When used effectively, AI can empower teams to manage their workload faster and more accurately — paving the way for leaders to leave the office on time.
In a recent presentation at the MVRO’s ACE conference in Niagara Falls, I enjoyed sharing actionable insights on how AI tools can address dealers’ most time-consuming tasks and highlighted tools that offer immediate relief.
Here’s a closer look at some of the most promising AI uses to help Canadian dealership executives and industry professionals get home in time for dinner.
Optimizing time-sucking tasks with AI tools
AI is about more than futuristic tech.
AI is already embedded in tools many dealerships are using today. From automated note-taking with Fireflies.ai to grammatical assistance through Grammarly, AI is quietly handling time-intensive administrative work.
When used effectively, AI can empower teams to manage their workload faster and more accurately — paving the way for leaders to leave the office on time.
These tools relieve team members from mundane but necessary tasks, freeing up bandwidth to focus on strategic activities that require their expertise.
For instance, Fireflies.ai can automatically record and transcribe meetings, summarizing key points and actionable items neatly.
General Managers, Sales Managers, and all dealership executives who frequently meet with team members and vendors can review critical takeaways at a glance rather than taking extensive notes during each session.
This tool alone can drastically reduce meeting fatigue, making time management smoother and follow-ups more efficient.
Efficient communication and content generation
Communication is at the core of dealership operations, whether drafting customer emails, crafting detailed proposals, or generating social media content.
The popular ChatGPT, a large language AI model from OpenAI, enables teams to draft and refine their communications quickly. Using these tools will not only accelerate response times but also ensures that messaging is consistent and polished.
AI-based communication tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly can analyze drafts for tone, grammar, and spelling, delivering professional communication to customers with less hands-on editing required.
Dealerships can also leverage tools like Gamma, an AI-powered presentation builder, to generate visually appealing presentations from content drafts, adding another layer of professionalism without consuming extra hours.
Tip: it’s always important to remember that any content produced by GPT can have errors and sound impersonal. So be sure to edit and personalize your work.
Inventory management and data analysis
Inventory management can be one of the most complex aspects of a dealership’s daily operations, especially when deciding on optimal stock levels or adjusting pricing.
Here, AI shows its strength in data analysis, sorting through extensive data sets and identifying patterns that may go unnoticed by human analysts.
Using GPT models, managers can analyze structured and unstructured inventory and sales performance data. AI tools can answer complex inventory questions, such as “What’s the average time-to-sale for mid-range vehicles this month?” or “Which models have shown the greatest price resilience over the past quarter?”
By simplifying data interpretation, AI allows dealership leaders to make smarter, faster decisions with a more precise understanding of their inventory trends.
Tip: As you begin to test the use of AI analysis of your data, be sure to use paid versions of the available software and work with a professional to help keep your data safe.
Recruiting, hiring, and training
Dealerships often contend with high employee turnover, making recruiting and training time-consuming yet essential activities. AI can support these efforts in several ways, from creating job descriptions and screening resumes to designing personalized training modules.
AI’s natural language processing abilities can analyze job applications and rank candidates based on specific criteria. Tools like ChatGPT can even facilitate role-play simulations for sales training, allowing new hires to practice customer interactions in a virtual setting.
For instance, GPTs available today will allow you to practice responding to AI-simulated customer objections, helping the trainee work through real-world objections with guidance from AI feedback.
This approach accelerates onboarding, helping new team members become effective faster while extending your available time.
Tip: Have each team member install GPT on their phones and encourage them to practice objection handling and customer management scenarios with a Dealership Sales or Service Trainer GPT.
In part 2 of our special series in our March issue, we’ll look at how AI tools are being used in areas such as: scheduling and task management, AI in data-driven decisions and embracing AI for work-life balance.
