Fitzgerald Cares 🐶 Auto Trader & AI 🤖 How to Sell Anything 💵

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📽️ Classic Movie Day 📽️

Light, Camera, Action 🎥 Yes, that was very cliche, but our list of Editor’s Choice films below sure aren’t. Let us know which one is your favorite and celebrate today by watching it tonight. Don’t forget the 🍿

The mysterious letters - A I. Once just a theme for sci-fi movies, this technology now helps run dealerships and streamline consumer interactions and sales. Not to be used exclusively, correctly integrating AI into your current processes with quality data can lead to a transformation of your business and its efficiency.

Watch this interview with Catherine Faiers, COO of Auto Trader, as she dives into ways AI has helped their organization and what it can do for you.

What do you think? Is AI here to stay? Is it just a fad? Is it the future of retail? …will it take over the world?

Up until earlier this week, the Dali vessel remained trapped under debris from the Key Bridge collapse, dramatically slowing all efforts to clean up the wreckage. Late Monday small explosives were placed in precision cuts in the bridge with the intent to break up the trusses enough to move the Dali. 22 crew members had to remain on the vessel during the detonations.

After the explosives went off, some pieces of the bridge laded on the bow and now have to be removed manually. The plan, according to sources, is to bring the Dali to port within the next few days and remove the rest of the wreckage there. Check out the article below and watch the simulation to get a better visual understanding of the current situation.

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The Four-Letter Code to Selling Anything

Throw on your headphones and take a minute to listen to a very thought provoking TED Talk this morning. Derek Thompson understands well the theory developed by Raymond Loewy on the process of creating and selling successful products. He uses a simple acronym: MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). This idea relies on the fact that consumers want something that is new and exciting, yet familiar and comfortable. People both crave and fear
“New”.

So, how can this be translated to the automotive dealer space? Well, since consumers crave the new and exciting, yet need familiarity, choosing a new car can be quite a conundrum. You must pair the consumer with the product that piques their interest and wonder just enough that they are excited, but not too far out of their comfort zone that it is overly foreign and confusing, or even “scary”. Put this theory to the test next time you are working with a customer or client. Find that sweet spot between exciting and familiar, and make that sale.

It seems almost every day we come across another car jacking on dealership property in the headlines. This is a serious problem that is affecting DC and Maryland, and it’s spreading like wildfire. It is more important now more than ever to secure your inventory to the highest degree, and prevent yourself form becoming the next victim. Below are two recent thefts (one with surveillance footage) from MD dealerships.

It is important to familiarize yourself with theft trends, and analyze where your points of weakness are. Take the stolen Lexus below for example. Thieves target the detailing garage, as seen in the video, because it offers easier access and the car keys are in the same building as the vehicle. Learn from these mistakes, and protect your business.