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Four Videos That Build Customer Trust

At a dealership, it’s important to establish customer trust on two different levels; trust in your dealership brand and trust in your individual employees, because they are the front-line representation of your brand.

Videos are an ideal medium for building that trust. Videos bring your dealership brand and your employees to life, making it easy to convey your values, expertise, and professionalism.

To build customer trust, create four types of videos and post them on your website, social media platforms, and use them in your email marketing.

Inventory and Walkaround Videos

Credibility builds trust, and the key to being credible as a salesperson is product knowledge.

Most Vehicle Display Pages (VDPs) I see on dealer websites are pretty standard. They include photos and a basic description. They’re great for displaying your products, but they do little to display your product knowledge.

Take your inventory videos up a notch by creating walkaround videos with personalized voiceovers. Use these voiceovers as an opportunity to display your product knowledge.

Most salespeople have a good sense of what car shoppers like about a particular make or model. Don’t just explain what features a vehicle has; explain why those features are so important.

Value Proposition Video

Value proposition videos help to build trust because they share your dealership’s story without trying to sell the customer. I recommend creating several value proposition videos, including:

  • Sales: how you treat your customers, the experience they can expect
  • Service: expertise matters, the importance of vehicle care
  • Your dealership’s story and history
  • Highlight your community involvement
  • Dealership mission statement and core values

The reason why you should make more than one is because each video should be approximately one to three minutes in length and you want a chance to go in-depth with each one.

Staff Introduction Videos

Think about the managers and sales team in your dealership. You hired them for a reason. Most dealership employees I meet are likeable, professional, and well spoken. Videos can make all these qualities shine, much more so that a static photo and description.

Take the time to create staff introduction videos for your sales and service teams, including managers. Have your employees follow this format:

  • Introduce themselves with their name and position
  • Give a 30-second summary of their career experience
  • List credentials or certifications (especially service techs), and any awards they have won
  • Explain why they’re passionate about what they do and/or working at your dealership
  • Share a personal anecdote; this could be a favorite sports team or hobby or a statement about how important their family is to them

These videos don’t have to be perfect; in fact, imperfection can be endearing. However, your employees must appear professional and energetic, so schedule the video shoots accordingly. The ideal time may be in the morning right after a cup of coffee.

Customer Testimonials

Nothing builds credibility like having someone else sing your praises. You can never have too many customer testimonials, so build “the ask” into your sales and service processes.

Whenever you make a sale or complete a service appointment, ask your customers if they’re willing to give a quick testimonial—assuming they had a positive experience, of course. Have your camera equipment set up and ready to go.

To make it as easy as possible for your customers, ask specific questions such as “Would you recommend us to your friends and why?” and “What did you like most about your experience today?”

Not everyone will want to go on camera, but you’d be surprised how many customers will do it if they are asked.

Building customer trust is essential to creating loyal customers and repeat customers, so it’s worth a little extra effort. Try using these four types of videos to build instant trust and credibility with your sales and service prospects.

The Importance of Inventory Walk Around Videos

The popularity of inventory walkaround videos has grown, and I love seeing it. What I don’t understand is this—why aren’t those same videos on your website, AutoTrader, Cars.com—all the other touchpoints that you are paying money to market your inventory, and where “in-market” shoppers are looking?

The reason you are taking the time to walk out to the car, complete your walkaround, and upload your video to Facebook is that you know people on Facebook will love the video and want to come down to your store and see the car for themselves. Isn’t that your goal with your website and ALL your online marketing touchpoints? That is called Merchandising. But your Merchandising strategy should be to have the BEST, most emotional presentation for your inventory…on every touchpoint where you show it.

Many dealerships are attempting to evolve their business model to compete with online disruptors such as Carvana. Did you know that Carvana attributes much of its success to how it merchandises its cars?

A great quote that resonates with me and covers this subject well is from Ernie Garcia… the CEO of Carvana. He stated, “The number one reason always given why cars couldn’t be sold online was that people needed a test drive. We said is there a way to use technology to let a customer take themselves through the whole experience? Is there a way we can merchandize the car where they can experience it online and get as good a feel for what the car is about as if they would have got it in person?”

Right from the beginning, Carvana knew that if they were going to get a shopper to purchase a vehicle without test driving it, they had to merchandise at a strong enough level that the shopper would get emotionally attached to the vehicle online…and want to buy it…without test driving. Shouldn’t that be your goal as well, not just on Facebook, but on your website and all of your online touchpoints?

The good news is that today’s technology will let you shoot one walkaround video, post that video to your website and numerous online marketing partners, create an interactive 360 spin, and post the video to Facebook…all with one video and one-click to upload.

You can even extract your still images from that video and re-use that video over and over to send personalized walkarounds to your leads, all from the comfort of your office, so you don’t have to worry about it raining, snowing, being crazy hot, etc. 

So, what are you waiting for?. It’s time to jump on the inventory video bandwagon and offer your customer a better experience on your website and all of your other online marketing touchpoints too (not just Facebook). Do this before the disruptors and other forward-thinking dealers eat your customers for lunch!

I’m presenting at Digital Dealer Tampa 2022 and hope that you’ll join me for my session, “Increase Service Revenue by Bringing Video to Your Service Department.” This session will give you best practices and actionable insights to utilize a video strategy in your service department to create a transparent customer experience and increase sales.

How to Sell the Invisible Car

Right now, inventory is difficult to come by. Used cars are scarce and dealers are paying thousands over market value simply to have vehicles on their lots to sell. When it comes to new vehicle inventory the situation is even more dire. Many dealers’ lots have low new inventory because of chip shortages or transportation times. A recent article by Forbes is an interesting read on the subject.

Some dealers are doing their best to fight the odds and push through this situation by pre-selling vehicles that have not yet arrived on their lot.

However, there are unique challenges when trying to sell a “phantom vehicle.” That intangible and invisible new car that a consumer cannot see, feel, or touch. In addition, many consumers don’t necessarily want to wait 2-3+ months for that invisible car. And that’s where video comes in.

When a customer submits a lead, calls, or comes into your showroom inquiring about a new vehicle that you don’t have — put your salesperson hat on. It’s typically quite simple to see what vehicles are on the way (and how they are equipped), and your allocated vehicles not yet built out; as well as what is already on your lot. Rather than turn a customer away because you don’t have a vehicle for them, why not use the inventory you do have to sell them on the fact they can build their “dream car?” Show them an existing vehicle to help sell them on all the options and features they could have with the assurance that they can order the vehicle exactly how they want it.

And, if that customer is not in the showroom, through the power of video you can easily create a video of a used (or new) model vehicle that you DO have in your current inventory. Take a personalized walkaround video of the vehicle on your lot and explain that, while you don’t have a new one for them to buy, you can offer them the unique opportunity to order one that is incoming exactly how they want it. In other words, they can build their dream car! The customer will still qualify for all of the incentives, rebates, and subvented interest rates from the factory when the vehicle does arrive, so you can also use that within your sales toolbox when shooting your video. While you are at it you can also go over the many features of the existing vehicle and its great value. You never know, they might even like the one that you just did a walk around on and want to buy it.

Right now, it pays to be creative and use methods and sales techniques that engage customers and help you sell what you do have. Video is one of the best tools you have to do just that. You can transfer more information and inspire more emotion via video than any other media. Use video to tell a story about how a customer can own their dream car and you could very easily find that, when new vehicles do arrive, they are already sold. Or, through the power of video, you could end up selling the vehicle from the walkaround! And that’s a good thing.

The bottom line is, it is more important than ever to incorporate the use of video throughout your entire sales and marketing strategy. Try it, it works.

Who You Gonna Video Call?

By Tim James

According to Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, the “working-from-home” economy is likely to exist far beyond the pandemic. Employers are enjoying decreased expense in office space and increased employee productivity, while employees have more freedom with the luxury of no longer having to commute. A whopping 42 percent of U.S. employees are now working from home.

How are they able to do that? Via Video, of course.

Statistics increasingly show video as the preferred choice for consumers when it comes to media due to its viability and multiple benefits across all platforms and channels. And, during the pandemic, video has become the most used method of communication on all fronts.

Almost every company outside of essential workers is utilizing video services to efficiently continue their operations and stay in business. Video conference calls have become the norm, rather than the exception and video conferences or person-to-person video calls have exploded out of necessity.

According to Forbes, this digital pivot may become permanent – in all walks of life. Many students are having to do in-home learning and the only way some employees can continue professional development is via video. Trade shows and conferences are opting to hold virtual events First, because it is safer during a pandemic, second because it is much less expensive than in-person events, and third because viewers can choose to watch an event live, or later at a more convenient time.

Video is not going away and is certainly not losing any ground. Its popularity has exploded faster than was expected! When this pandemic eventually goes away, consumers and businesses alike will be fundamentally transformed.

As a marketing and sales tool, video will allow your team to inspire more emotion from a consumer than a text, email, or chat could ever get close to accomplishing. Think about this — when are your sales associates at their best? When they are face-to-face with a consumer, of course. An effective video marketing strategy embraces that understanding and puts your sales associates face-to-face with the consumer, even when the consumer is still at home.

Your dealership would be wise to have a video-first marketing strategy to place you in a position of dominance over your competition who may only use video as a stopgap out of necessity.

Be sure to embrace video now more than ever to take advantage of this extreme acceleration in video adoption by consumers. This will put your dealership ahead of the game and build a sound foundation from which your dealership will benefit for decades to come.

Become a Social Media Influencer

Did you know 92% of consumers trust recommendations from a social media influencer more than they trust advertisements? Lehel Reeves, Flick Fusion’s Director of Partnerships and Business Development, explains why dealerships and salespeople should start using social media accounts to become social media influencers.

Three Tips for Great Live Video Conversations with Customers

By: Tim James

During these times, consumers are becoming more comfortable with online transactions and are much savvier about how they chose to communicate with businesses. As a result, dealers are having to utilize technologies they may not have previously embraced

Video, in and of itself, has proven to be a necessity for successful marketing for dealers. In today’s world, live video is even more important. But not everybody does it as well as they could!

A great article on Business2Community lays out some simple best practices dealerships can use while performing a live video for a prospective car buyer. These tips are great for salespeople or BDC agents who communicate with your customers.

Here are three of the top tips:

Pause! –  When you are having a conversation with someone and they do all the talking – that quickly gets old, right? A one-sided conversation is not something many people enjoy which leads to the first tip in the article, Pause!

You have the customer’s attention. You have them on a live stream and, just like selling a car in person, you need to listen to their needs and wants. You have to listen to tailor that walkaround and your conversation to supply the information they requested. Listening is also how you find out what is important to them so that you can tailor your conversation to that specific customer.

It is much more effective to listen to your customers, answer their questions, and proceed to the sale than to dominate the conversation. Take a breath. Don’t worry about the uncomfortable pause. As long as the customer is still with you, you don’t need to fill the gap with conversation. They may be digesting what you have already told them and considering their next questions. If they don’t ask any questions, you can easily prompt them by saying something along the lines of, “Should I proceed with the other features I was going to show you or did you have specific things you would like to see?” — just like you would if they were physically on your lot.

Engage – The customer didn’t agree to a live video engagement because they weren’t interested in the vehicle. The very reason that they are on a live video call with you is that they are VERY low funnel and in the market RIGHT NOW! Think about all the Internet leads your dealership gets and how hard it is to contact the majority of these opportunities. Here you not only have a customer that engaged with you but one that agreed (or requested) to do a live video call about a specific vehicle.

Perhaps something about the vehicle which they inquired about doesn’t suit their needs. Since you have them live, you can easily ask them if you could show them similar vehicles you have in stock and, essentially, show them multiple vehicles.

What’s the other option? The customer doesn’t like the one you showed them and disengages simply to move on to the next dealership. Don’t waste the opportunity to show them more inventory. You only need to ask them — just like you would if they were physically on your lot.

Eye Contact – While you may not be able to see the customer, the customer can see you. If you aren’t looking into the camera while engaging, you lose the opportunity to build rapport. Most of our communication is physical. We typically read expressions and interpret answers by how someone is looking and/or physically gesturing. In a live video, the customer can see you. By making eye contact with them, it is much more personal.

How do you do that? By looking into the camera, itself. Not just at the phone. You can practice with another salesperson beforehand to get the hang of it. When you are talking to the customer, look directly into the camera. To them, it will seem as if you are talking to them rather than seeing your eyes focused elsewhere.  — just like you would if they were physically on your lot.

Bonus Tip:

Smile – There’s magic in your smile and smiling while engaging in a video call can be one of the most important strategies for success. Smiling while on the video call will not only help you relax and improve your mood and energy, it will also help the consumer relax.  Remember, it’s not only “what you say,” but “how you say it” that matters. The video call is your opportunity to build a personal relationship with the consumer and get them to truly like you. We all know that people buy from people they like, and a simple smile while engaging the consumer is scientifically proven to improve your chances of being liked — just like you would if they were physically on your lot.  

Live video has never been more important in the sales world. Buying a car is a big decision for most customers, typically the second-largest purchase any consumer makes. Regardless of whether you are open for business completely, or only online, consumers are getting more comfortable with online shopping. If you are a veteran in the automotive industry, think about how different your communication strategy was in 2010 versus 2020.  Now imagine how different it will be in 2030. Trust me, the next ten years are going to fly by, so make sure you stay ahead of the competition and are prepared for the acceleration and adoption of this technology by consumers. Great conversations certainly lead to more sales. And live video is a highly effective way to have great conversations with your customers.