#106 Rise of the A.I. employee in car dealerships, Hack to converting 99% of customers, Raising $420M for the future of A.I. | Eric Rea, CEO of Podium

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Eric Rea, CEO of Podium where we discuss: The rise of the A.I. employee in car dealerships, Hack to converting 99% of customers, Raising $420M for the future of A.I. and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: Uber for Business - With Central, you can request a ride on behalf of your customers even if they don’t have the Uber app. If you’re ready to reduce the costs associated with maintaining shuttles and limit the liability of loaner vehicles, it's time to partner with Uber. Visit t.uber.com/CDGauto today  Car Dealership Guy News - The #1 source for concise and unbiased car industry news. Stay informed with the most relevant and interesting stories by visiting https://news.dealershipguy.com/ Podium -Turn every lead from website, email, text or phone into more sales for your dealership. Podium’s AI BDC converses directly with customers to schedule test drives, answer inventory questions and even make sales with context from your website and customer history. And you’ll never miss a lead again, as Podium’s AI BDC is available 24/7, day or night. Get your first month of Podium free until August 2. Text CDG to (385) 293-3461 or visit https://bit.ly/PodiumFree1 to get started. Interested in advertising with Car Dealership Guy? Drop us a line here Interested in being considered as a guest on the podcast? Add your name here Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:00:43) - Eric’s background and career (00:05:34) - What is the state of automotive technology today? (00:11:01) - What are the real applications of AI that dealers are adopting? (00:15:43) - Revenue mining (00:16:37) - Is there any progress in AI on the service side of the industry? (00:19:20) - Are text communications as effective for dealerships? (00:23:49) - What should dealers expect how they will retail cars over the next few years? (00:31:03) - What is the bottom line ROI for this technology? (00:32:42) - What was it like selling to dealers in the early days? (00:34:47) - What other ways are you working with dealerships? (00:36:57) - Closing thoughts & the future of buying cars Check out Podium here. Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff: CDG News - https://news.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Jobs - https://jobs.dealershipguy.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cardealershipguy/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@guydealership X - https://x.com/GuyDealership LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy/ Everything else - dealershipguy.com This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.