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Automation For Car Dealers - What Exactly Could You Automate By Yourself?
Discover how car dealership automation tools can boost your efficiency and drive sales. Find actionable ways to automate and grow your business in no time.
Have you heard of Mercedes rolling out robots to replace human workers in some parts of its assembly line?
Well, you don’t have to be a Mercedes-sized company to also reap the benefits of automation. You won’t have to replace your staff, either, as automation in car dealerships is here to complement their work and make it more efficient.
So, let’s see where and how you can implement automation software into your operations to handle repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and actively increase your profits.
Areas of your dealership you could streamline with automation
As you may have noticed, there are automotive automation solutions for many aspects of running a dealership. Here’s an overview of where these tools can make a big difference.
- Customer relationship management (CRM): You can automate customer follow-ups, reminders, and interactions to keep communication with leads and buyers smooth.
- Inventory management: Real-time tracking of vehicles or parts with inventory management software helps you avoid overstocking or understocking.
- The sales process: Speed up invoicing, contract generation, and payment processing to save time for you and your team.
- Marketing: Use reliable marketing software to create automotive content and reach more clients.
- Finance and administration: Simplify bookkeeping and expense tracking.
- Customer support: You can improve customer satisfaction in your dealership by having automated response systems to handle simple queries quickly.
- Data analysis and forecasting: Automation tools can track trends and help you make data-driven decisions about inventory or marketing strategies.
Now, let’s see which car dealership automation tools can help you simplify the most crucial tasks.
Popular and recommended tools for dealership automation
Some tools from this list are niche to the automotive industry, while others are versatile and widely used. Still, each of them can find a place in your dealership to help you improve efficiency.
HubSpot CRM
HubSpot’s tool for customer relationship management helps you analyze sales activities, track leads, schedule emails, and much more.
Image source: HubSpot
You can apply this single tool to support your sales staff, marketers, and customer service teams. So, the tool is incredibly versatile.
It’s user-friendly and works well for both individual and B2B sales.
Fastback
Fastback is a dealership software built with car traders in mind, especially those dealing with used vehicles. It helps streamline processes like trade-ins, sales, and stock management for cars, vans, trucks, and motorbikes.
Image source: Fastback
Fastback offers specialized features tailored for used car dealerships. These include:
- Automated car pricing
- Data management
- Advertising
- Document generation
- Performance analytics
So, if you’d like to automate tasks like pricing, inventory, or marketing, Fastback might be a good fit.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a popular social media management tool that helps businesses streamline their online presence.
Image source: Hootsuite
The tool is an excellent option for car dealerships because it allows you to manage multiple social media accounts and schedule posts in advance, saving time and keeping you consistent across different marketing channels.
It can automate tasks like posting ads for new arrivals, responding to basic customer inquiries, and tracking engagement metrics across platforms. With Hootsuite, you can focus on selling while the tool maintains an active online presence.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a customer support platform that makes communication with customers easier. Car dealerships can use it to handle inquiries from channels like email, chat, phone, and social media into one easy-to-manage system.
Image source: Freshdesk
With this tool, you can automate ticket creation, follow-ups, and sending responses to common questions—all of which ensures quicker resolution times.
Where to implement automation in your dealership
Automation solutions and artificial intelligence certainly have a lot to offer to car dealerships. However, terms like AI and automotive sales process automation may sound a bit vague.
That’s why we’ll go over some practical applications and show you specific scenarios where automation can make a difference.
Real-time stock monitoring
Imagine a Tesla Model Y that’s been sitting in your lot for months, or one of the best-selling used cars like Peugeot 3008 that customers are asking for but you haven’t stocked enough of.
Automation tools can track your inventory in real time, helping you avoid overstocking or running out of high-demand vehicles or parts.
Demand forecasting
There’s no reason why you should guess which vehicles will sell next.
Instead, you can use automated systems to analyze previous sales data and market trends, and predict future demand. That way, you can stock the right vehicles and adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.
Vehicle valuation
Use automation to generate accurate resale prices based on the current market data, ensuring competitive offers for your customers.
In other words, automated vehicle valuation can help you keep prices fair while still maintaining healthy profit margins for your dealership.
Lead prioritization
Did you know that only 10–15% of leads turn into sales? Automation tools can help by analyzing and scoring leads, so you can focus on the most promising opportunities and close deals faster.
Service scheduling
Automating scheduling service appointments can help you improve your workshop’s efficiency and let customers get timely updates about their bookings.
Document management
Drafting each contract or invoice manually isn’t the best use of your time, so it’s better to automate the creation and storage of contracts, invoices, and other paperwork—it’s fast, easy, and hassle-free.
KPI tracking and reporting
Lastly, the sales and performance data you’re collecting is only valuable if you’re using it to make informed decisions.
Key performance indicators (KPIs), like stock turnover or profit margins, tell you how your dealership is really doing. Automated tools can take all that data and turn it into clear, actionable insights, helping you adjust operations and hit your goals more easily.
Drive your dealership forward with automation
Automation isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It’s a game-changer for dealerships looking to work smarter, not harder.
By automating operations like inventory management, lead prioritization, and customer support, you can free up time to focus on growing your business.
With the right tools, you can handle the repetitive tasks more efficiently. And if you’re looking for a reliable way to stock your dealership with high-quality vehicles, head on over to eCarsTrade, our online used car auction platform.
The combination of quality cars and smart automation can transform your dealership into a more efficient, profitable business.
eCarsTrade n'est pas une simple plateforme de vente aux enchères en ligne – nous sommes également une ressource précieuse pour les concessionnaires et les négociants automobiles. Notre blog offre des conseils d'experts sur divers sujets, notamment :
