Page 3 - CIADA-Summer2020

3 Ways to Connect with

Customers Using Video

By Rohan Armstrong, Vice President Business Development, Flick Fusion

Due to COVID-19, dealers have seen a
sharp drop-off in their showroom traf-
fic. Nobody is out buying cars, but that
doesn’t mean the demand has dried up.
Although consumers are stuck at home,
they’re still looking at cars, doing re-
search, reading reviews and dreaming
about their next road trip.

As a dealership, what are you doing to
stay on their radar? Hoping that someone
comes in to buy a car is not an option right
now. You have to engage consumers from
where they sit, at home on the couch. You
have to stay top of mind, because when
business gets back to normal, there will be
a lot of pent-up demand and you want your
dealership to be the first place they think of. awareness, educate, entertain, communi- particular vehicle and has questions about it.
cate and build trust. Let your customers The salesperson can suggest initiating a live
know that you care about them. If your video call and do a live vehicle walkaround
Down times are never fun, but they are a
great time to be proactive. Now is the time dealership is making donations to local using their smartphone or other mobile de-
to try new technologies that help your sales food banks or otherwise involved in the vice. This allows the salesperson to answer
and service staff connect with your con- community, share these stories with your all customer questions real-time, zoom in on
sumers in a personal, direct way. I’m talking customers. Share stories about your em- certain features and do a complete product
about video, of course. ployees. Video has the unique ability to presentation, without ever having to interact
create an instant, emotional connection so with the customer in person!
You’re probably familiar with inventory capitalize on that with videos designed to
videos, and may even have them posted appeal to emotions. In the service department, advisors or techs
on your website’s Vehicle Display Pages can use live streaming video calls to show
(VDPs). But unless someone happens LEAD RESPONSE VIDEOS customers worn-down parts that need to
across your website, looking for inventory, If you’re still getting leads through your be replaced or repaired, while answering
those inventory videos might not get seen. website, upgrade your responses with lead customer questions real-time in order to
response videos. Using newly developed get the approvals they need. Dealers should
technology, it’s simple to embed a salesper- know that all these video communication
To engage car shoppers and attract more
website visitors, use the latest video com- son’s face right into an inventory video that technologies can be integrated with your
munications technologies to proactively features a car, then send that video to the dealership’s CRM, so you can keep track of
reach out to customers. Here are a few rec- lead via email or text. communications going back and forth be-
ommendations. tween employees and customers.
A best practice is for the salesperson to
VIDEO EMAIL introduce themselves, and answer all the Communicating with friends and family
Video email is a great way to let your cus- prospect’s questions. It only takes a few via video is the new normal. If you’re not
tomers know about sales and service spe- minutes to create a personalized, lead re- yet using video to communicate with your
cials, including any OEM incentives that sponse video and the response rates are off customers, now is the time to be proactive
may currently be running. Whatever mar- the charts compared to written email lead and make the necessary changes to your
keting messages you would normally send responses. sales and service processes. It’s never been
out, make them more personal with video. more important to personally connect with
LIVE STREAMING your customers, and video is hands down
Have you tried a live-streaming video call? the best medium for making these connec-
But don’t just try to sell, especially during
hard times. Instead, use video to raise This is ideal if the customer wants to see a tions last. n

FRONT LINE | CIADA.ORG SUMMER 2020 | 2