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It’s amazing how quickly things have moved with my AI-assisted used car dealership – and I’m quickly beginning to work out exactly what the technology can and can’t help me with.
As you know, I had never run a used car business before, so creating the Clever Car Collection was something of a baptism of fire.
But since I’m so rainy behind my ears, I have the merit of seeing things differently and looking for AI to help me as much as possible.
He tried (and failed) to advise me which bank account to buy. I turned down seven banks before a bright spark (Jon) told me to check out my own private bank and, voila, the problem was solved.
AI has already answered the company’s call, so I asked ChatGPT to design the company’s logo as well. In short, it was a moderate success.
While the concept was pretty solid – a brain above an image of a car – it failed to spell ‘Clever’ correctly, which sort of defeated the object of the brand.
ChatGPT admitted it wasn’t very good at spelling (I know the feeling) so suggested I enlisted the help of a professional, which I did.
In our most recent video episode, which you can watch at the top of this article, see that we’ve discovered another AI-powered website, Suno. ai, that can create “songs. “He asked her to write a jingle for the Clever Car Collection.
The result sounded a bit like a synthesized Busted, but the jingle was pretty catchy. So much so that now, every time I answer the phone for New Paintings, it rings in my head. In fact, now that I think about it, I might just make a clever ringtone. . .
AI even helped me write content for my new online page. The award-winning designers at 67 Degrees are helping me produce my first online page and I asked AI to produce the words for the To page about us and others. It’s a bit excessive in places, but with a few tweaks we were soon in a position to fill the site.
We still have a few tweaks to make before we launch it, but everything will be ready soon.
Although AI helped me sell my first car, it wasn’t something I realized when I took the plunge.
I bought a Smart Brabus Fortwo Cabriolet from our friends at EV Experts. I was introduced to the coin switch and at first I wasn’t sure if it was for me.
At the time, I was with Jamie Caple from Car Quay, the subject of our last video, who showed me the strength of Auto Trader’s retail rating, which indicated the car scored 89 out of 100. A look at this and the prices, and he told me to buy it.
I’m glad you did. I advertised the car on Auto Trader on Christmas Eve and sold it 14 days later to the second woman who asked. I worked on the photographs and advertising, following what I had learned from Caple and the best practical advice from Auto Trader and it worked. .
The AI helped me write quick replies to messages along the way, but its assistance was gentle to say the least.
Although AI may have written the original ad for me, I first tried to describe a taste. After all, I’m a writer, and I felt that entrusting AI with the task of writing first was at odds with my 25 years of work. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t possibly use it in the future. . .
The first sale was a joy. A lovely lady came across one Sunday in early January and took it for a spin. There wasn’t any ‘selling’ involved. I just told her about the car, answered any questions and helped her get used to driving an automatic for the first time.
We shook hands at the end and she went off to think. We closed the deal later that night via WhatsApp and I delivered it to his space two weeks later, after he went through my local workshop for service and a new MOT.
Although the AI didn’t do much, it made me realize that it could have dealt with a giant part of the transaction. It is possible that the initial research phase, providing the relevant data and locating what you had to exchange, was carried out. through a well-trained AI assistant.
That’s what I really need. An Ironman-style Jarvis assistant that I can train and in all likelihood accept as faithful to speak to clients on my behalf. I need to be able to comment during or after the conversations he has with buyers and tell him what I liked and what I didn’t like.
I eventually want AI to be able to value part exchanges too – or at the very least gather all the information together by asking the right questions so I can.
They will also be able to take care of all the paperwork for the car. I signed up to use the brilliant DealerKit DMS, which is built through car dealerships (and it shows), and I’m sure a lot of the final deal and the emails you send can simply be automated through AI and presented with some prompts.
Another domain where I need AI is car buying. Since I’m so new to this business, I have to let knowledge advise me because I don’t have any instincts to depend on. Lately I’ve been buying cars that Auto Trader Knowledge says would be the most productive action in my domain, after asking their experts to tell me how to buy more cars like the Smart.
I signed up for a package with the market and use their numbers to help me select stocks. After a day of education in the main workplace (something they’ll do for any customer, just ask), we used Retail Check. their market fitness metrics and their “expected days of sale” to identify the right cars in my shopping profile on sites, such as The Road and Carwow.
So far it’s been a manual process, but I’m sure it can be automated. The dream is that the AI will eventually take information from the auction house, compare it to retail value and score knowledge, as well as my personal shopping tastes, to give me a list of the daily effects I’m running into a plan. Stop that.
I’m quickly realising how stressful buying and selling used cars can be. Anyone who says it’s easy is lying – it’s not.
It’s hard to judge prep prices from a few images at an online auction and a few poorly described cars have already led to complicated conversations with sellers.
In the not-too-distant future I’m going to take the lessons I learned from Caple at the physical auctions and put it into practice myself in the halls.
Currently, I have two cars in inventory, a Skoda Citigo and a Nissan Qashqai, which I bought because I followed the measurements I defined earlier. The Nissan sold out yesterday, five days after I announced it, which is a positive sign.
Next week we’ll go buy more cars and I’ll see if AI can help me in the process. Meanwhile, my colleague Jon will take on the same task, armed only with a computer and a spreadsheet. We’ll see who gets there first and if we’re going to go with the same cars.
For now enjoy the last episode and in advance for the singing. . .
James is the founder and editor-in-chief of Car Dealer Magazine and CEO of parent company Baize Group. James has been an automotive journalist for over 20 years and writes about automobiles and the automotive industry.
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