This week and next I'd like to share some examples of the type of video demos being done by C It Now dealers around the country. It's clear that no two salespeople or dealers are the same, each adopting their own particular style and approach.
1. CarShop Northampton - Robbie Warner
This is the way we originally envisaged C It Now being used. A live presentation to the customer which lasts 13 minutes and is a thorough inspection of the car, carefully identifying the flaws wherever he finds them. It's clear by the end of the session that Robbie has built up the customer's trust as they continue on the phone to discuss further.
2. Mercedes Benz Hertford - John Thompson
John has created a generic video presentation here for their web site. John's pretty handy with the camera. He also has an able assistant on this occasion to open doors which keeps the video running along smoothly. Unlike a live demo which can easily take 10 minutes or more, John aims to have his pre-records sorted in 3 minutes or less.
As a rule, the live video presentations with a customer are easier to do, primarily because you have interaction and feedback. At the end of a C It Now session, most customers are very pleased with the experience as they now have a pretty good idea about the condition and history of the car. All of which has been achieved without wasting time driving to the dealer unnecessarily.
A pre-record video, as John did is actually more difficult. It's effectively a monologue which needs to be concise, informative, helpful and definitely entertaining. That takes time and practice.
So what do you think of these C It Now videos? Can anything be done to make them more engaging for the customer - what would you do?
Welcome to the first of our C It Now video mailers, which comes from CarShop in Swindon this week.
The aim is to provide you with a weekly video update, sharing information and best practice; hopefully, helpful information that you can put into practise at your own car dealership
This week is all about the new video archive feature and the way that Stafford Audi have gone about making the most of this functionality.
I wanted to share a video that was shot in the normal C It Now way, but is now stored on our server as well. This is the latest version of C It Now. As well as dealers continuing with live video presentations of cars to customers, the session is automatically stored for further use.
In the exit questionnaire, the customer can leave their e-mail address and a link to the video will be sent to them. Links can also be used on the dealer's web site. This means sales people can now run their own sessions, video a car and instantly attach a video to an existing stock item on the web site (with the help of their web company).
The new version will start to ship next week so we'll be upgrading all our dealers shortly.
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.
Here at C It Now we're always delighted by a consumer's reaction to a live video presentation of a used car. The fact that they can view the car live from the comfort of their home or office with the help of the dealer salesperson is a great benefit. No wasted journeys, no hidden surprises, lots of detail inside and out; far more useful than the photographs we're all used to. It's no surprise that the C It Now service is yet to score less than 9 out of 10 on any exit questionnaire.
But it's not all been plain sailing. One of our dealers, Rybrook Jaguar in Warrington has been very smart solving some customer reaction. It appears that not everyone is always comfortable with the idea of a live video presentation service. So much so that the sales guys no longer use words like 'live', 'video' and 'presentation'; instead they focus on 'more information'. It seems that some buyers feel that accepting a presentation is a sign of increased commitment and is not the right signal to be giving off at that point.
By only making an offer of 'more information', the buyer feels more comfortable that this is still part of the fact finding mission and not a sign that they are ready to purchase.
The sales guys like it because it enables 5 minute conversations to develop into longer video based conversations; valuable time to build up some rapport with the buyer.
It also appears to be working as Rybrook's sales figures for September show a 42% conversion to sale.
Part of what we do is record what C It Now customers think of our service. It's an absolute privilege to meet and talk with real customers who have as a result of C It Now, purchased a car.
Thanks to Steve Holleran at Holdcroft Honda, who again was responsible for creating this extraordinary experience for our buyer, Robert on this occasion.
Much as we'd like to brag on about how great our live video presentation technology is, it's only as good the salesperson who believes in it, and as a result offers it to potential customers like Robert.
We're looking forward to interviewing more customers who have experienced the power of C It
Now as part of the decision making process, but before we do that, we're going to talk to Steve to get his
side of the story.
I recently caught up with James Newbold who had purchased a Honda
CR-V from Holdcroft Honda. I was interested to talk as James had
purchased the car using C It Now. Steve (Holdcroft) offered James the
video presentation over the internet as the dealership is in Stoke and
James lives in Kent.
C It Now is a live one to one video
presentation tool that car dealers are using to present cars to their
customers from the comfort of their home or office.
From the
interview, it's clear that James was delighted with the whole
experience, so much so that he's since recounted it to his friends and
now one of them has also purchased a Honda from Holdcroft.
I
really enjoyed meeting James and it was great to hear a 'real' customer
talk so encouragingly about C It Now. We know that a live video
presentation can create a great customer experience but it's really
rewarding to have that confirmed.
This is half term week in the UK. A pre-booked skiing holiday, (long before the collapse of sterling) finds us staying in a flat in Chamonix. The 'residence' was booked from an okay web site with one, maybe two pictures and a reasonable write up.
How often is the reality a long way from what you're expecting from the write up?
In this case the picture does make some sense and the write up kind of fits but it's still a million miles away. The four flights of stairs and no lift seemed to have been omitted, and the number of bedrooms would have been better described as 'sleeping areas' in an open plan attic conversion.
So why not use live video presentation?
I bet the company marketing the property must have a whole host of competitors. Providing a live video tour would be a great differentiator and customers would love it.
An online video presentation tool that enabled the holidaymaker to see the property properly, directing the ski company as to where to point the camera would be a real benefit.
The duff properties would be found out well in advance, and the ski company would really earn its commission from the owner of the property, spending time marketing the property in a unique but thoroughly useful way.
Despite the four flights of stairs and the Euro, the snow and sun are over delivering on the real reality this week.