Fish Brothers Group has expanded its use of artificial intelligence (AI) across its sales and aftersales operations after reporting a 492% return on investment (ROI) from the technology during Q1 this year.
The dealer group, which operates 14 dealerships, rolled out ELLA’s optimAIze AI platform across its business following a pilot programme in 2025 and a subsequent longer-term agreement.
According to figures released by ELLA, 83% of customers who went on to purchase a vehicle during Q1 had communicated with one of the platform’s AI agents.
More than 36,000 personalised messages were sent during the period, supporting activities including lead follow-up, lost lead reactivation, vehicle acquisition and sales event campaigns.
Fish Brothers said the technology generated more than 500 qualified sales leads and returned the equivalent of 252 business days to its sales teams.
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AI expands across sales and aftersales
The dealer group has also deployed the technology within its aftersales operations, using it to automate service reminders, lapsed customer re-engagement and service plan upselling activity.
More than 8,500 AI-led service messages generated almost 300 qualified service leads during Q1.
Fish Brothers said the platform returned more than 60 business days to service teams through automation of customer communications.
Jon Fish, managing director of Fish Brothers Group, said: “ELLA’s AI Agents have become an integral part of how we engage with customers across both Sales and Service.
“The ability to scale meaningful, personalised communication while freeing our teams to focus on high-value interactions has delivered real commercial impact.”
Growing dealer interest in AI
The announcement comes as more dealer groups explore AI applications to improve lead management, customer communications and operational efficiency.
Many retailers are testing AI tools in areas such as lead qualification, customer service, marketing automation and aftersales retention as they seek productivity gains amid ongoing cost pressures.
Andy Freeman, chief product officer at ELLA, said: “Fish Brothers demonstrates what’s possible when AI is deployed with purpose.
“These results reflect not just efficiency gains, but smarter, more consistent customer engagement that supports teams and drives measurable outcomes.”
Further AI deployment planned
Fish Brothers plans to extend its use of the technology into additional areas including service-to-sales conversion activity, vehicle health check follow-ups and support for the launch of the group’s new Xpeng franchise.
The dealer group will also introduce AI-powered webchat functionality that uses the same customer data and knowledge base as its existing AI tools.
ELLA said Fish Brothers is also exploring the use of AI-powered voice technology as part of a wider multi-channel customer engagement strategy.
Founded in 1948, Fish Brothers represents multiple automotive brands through a network of 14 dealerships across the UK.