This week's C It Now video mailer comes from the Infiniti dealership in Reading.
One of the greatest opportunities for any dealer who has C It Now is in the service department. Delivering great car dealer video in sales might be where we started but there is a lot of money on the table in aftersales. This also fits in incredibly well with dealers who are already using a vehicle (visual) health check system.
A good example of the potential money involved comes from Ken Potter at VW in Crewe who was happy for me to share this. In April 2010, the amount of red work quoted was £80,000; invoiced value was £24,000, about a third of the total.
Using C It Now in conjunction with VHC now enables VW Crewe to illustrate why the work needs to be undertaken. The technician can create a personal video presentation, a link for which can be sent to the customer with the VHC report.
A 5% shift in invoiced work, for one month in the example above, would pay for C It Now for a year. The other great benefit is the opportunity to offer a level of service which is not available in the independent sector who have been stealing aftersales business from the franchised dealer.
I received the following e-mail from Ken Potter, Brand Manager at VW Crewe who has been using C It Now for 2 weeks.
I’m getting bored of telling you how good the system is working for us. We put an Eos on the web yesterday afternoon with no pictures and received an enquiry this morning. Ash showed the car to the customer who was 200 miles away and took a deposit!
Ken is a great advocate. No excuses, no lazy sales people, no lack of stock, in fact no negatives at all, just positives.
But Ken's smart. He'd already worked out that pre-recorded video was working for his business. Being able to offer a live video presentation was simply the next step to providing an extra level of service and engagement. If a customer is on your dealer web site and keen enough to call you, what a great opportunity to show the car, live, now, and then take a deposit.
There are a couple of interesting points about Ken's C It Now sale. Firstly, it happened mid week. This is a great time to make additional sales when you won't find 'walk-ins' for love nor money.
Secondly, he sold it without a photograph.
I'm not denying that photographs help, they do. But they don't provide a detailed condition report. A live video presentation where the customer can direct the sales person to what they want to see is far more effective and helps the customer make a decision.
What do you think? Is Ken right to embrace a live video tour?
I'll be talking to Ken in person again soon when I hope to share his views on the subject.