As a service manager or fixed operations director, this information is for you.

There has been much to do about email interactions and direct marketing recently. It’s hard to separate basic principles from ideas that may or may not work for your customer base. This is one piece of the pie that you can’t go without in today’s marketing world.

You absolutely have to create a personal connection in direct response campaigns. No question about it. It’s not up for debate. There’s one way to do it, and it’s unbelievably effective when you do it.

Speak to your customer one-on-one.

The Proof Is In Your Inbox

Open your email inbox and look through the past week’s emails, and don’t forget the trash. Which ones did you open and which ones were discarded immediately? Because you’re an intelligent person, you quickly deciphered the emails addressed personally (and correctly) to you. The email blasts that were clearly sent from some MailChimp list went straight to the trash.

At home, your mailbox is jammed with junk mail too. Any glossy papers are tossed. Personalized envelopes are set aside as a prized possession and opened.

And that’s how your customers treat emails and snail mail too.

Shape Campaigns to the Individual

Looking to get your emails opened? Want to convert better on your direct mailers? Whether you’re letting your customers know about a service promotion from the manufacturer or you’re drumming up work to sprint into the next quarter, you’re looking to have the best response rate possible.

Gimmicks used to work. They’re not nearly as effective anymore. Shiny coupons come from every dealer within five miles, touting $10 off a synthetic oil change. But customers see that you’re advertising a loss leader so you can upsell them. They’re smart. A flashy, colorful email immediately looks like you’re selling something, and they put a guard up.

But carefully craft a campaign that looks sincere and valuable, and you’ll see the difference in responses. Whether delivered by email or with a stamp on it, people will respond better when it looks like you’ve sent something specifically to them, or even to a select few customers.

Narrow It Down to the Reader

Look at the opening line of this post: “As a service manager or fixed operations director, this information is for you.“ It’s directed specifically at a small segment. If you send a campaign to someone and they make a personal connection, they will continue reading it.

Quickly Get to the Point

Don’t fluff the reader up. Don’t waste their time. Give them the reason for your email or letter fast. This post did that too, didn’t it?

Be Clear About the Offer

This post isn’t to sell you anything or it would’ve been in those first six to eight lines. For your service customers, you’ll need to identify WHY they’re getting the offer, and HOW they should respond.

“Because you’ve been a loyal customer since [YEAR], I’d like to offer you a complimentary full vehicle detailing when [DEALER.NAME] changes your timing belt. Because your visit will take a full day, email me or call me directly to book your appointment. I’ll even set aside a complimentary courtesy car for the day.”

Make It Worthwhile

Everyone gets the $10 off coupons. Your campaigns, especially direct mail, cost a pretty penny. Make it worthwhile, like the sample above. I can tell you this: my wife would jump on that offer immediately if she knew her timing belt was due for replacement! It respects her time with a courtesy car, and she gets to drive a clean car when it’s all done.

Address your service campaigns to the individual. No need to make it flashy, just clearly beneficial to the customer. Your response rates will spike if the recipients feel like you’re talking directly to them.

In the previous several weeks, we’ve had plenty of discussion about the customer experience. There’s a realization that customers are no longer content to come back to the dealership for service simply because they bought the car there. You have to treat them right.

Plenty of theories have been brought up, as well as a few action points. Aim for the best service possible, not just enough for a 5-star CSI score. Target the base issue first, and that’s to fix their car right. And definitely acknowledge that their time is valuable.

Those are all great to do and need to be the focus. But once you have those basics down, how can you put a personal touch on the service experience (as in the service department) at your dealership?

The Complaint

Customers often feel like they are just a number; like cattle herded through the stockyard. The tag isn’t in their ear but waving in their hand. It’s like standing in the return line at Walmart, waiting for the cashier to say, “Next!” They aren’t an individual – just another repair order number.

It makes the customer feel devalued when everything revolves around that RO number. It’s on every corner of the hard copy, the top and bottom of their invoice, the keytag when they pick their car up, and on their ‘claim-check’ tag too.

Use their Name

It’s an easy fix. Use the customer’s name. It’s that simple, but it’s extremely hard to do. Here are a few ways you can give your customer their name back when they’re in for service.

Start Interactions with an Introduction

It’s the basic greeting in the service drive: “Good morning! My name’s Jason, I’ll be helping you today. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting? Janine Baker? Is it alright if I call you Janine?”

Whatever your write-up process, greet the customer by name. If you happen to know ‘Janine’s’ name when they arrive, welcome them back.

Change the Conversation

When customers follow up on their vehicles, don’t make it about their last name. All too often, service advisors, cashiers, and call center personnel say, “Can I get your last name?” While it may be helpful, why not try something more personal? How about this: “Can I get your name? Thanks Janine, and to make sure I have the right person, what’s your last name? Alright, Janine Baker, let me take a look.”

Document It Differently

If your store is writing or typing out estimates or emails, or even for writing notes on the hardcopy or invoice, give it a name before a number. It’s a simple shift but it’s big in the customer’s eyes. When they see their name, it adds personalization and value. You might need to reprint forms that are handwritten such as multi-point inspection sheets and estimate sheets to predominantly display the name. And there’s still a place for the RO number on it. Just don’t put it ahead of the customer’s name…and use the full name, not just the last name.

It might not seem like an important detail – one that you’ll have to take pains to make a routine among your staff. And it shouldn’t be put in priority over excellent customer service and fixed first visit. But to make customers feel more valued, it’s worth it.

Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is not dead. It isn’t even dying. For the service industry, it’s still one of the best ways to elicit a positive response from recipients. But that’s only if it’s done right…

And unless you’re using one of the good digital marketing providers in the automotive industry, you’re probably leaving a bunch of responses on the table. They could be your next great customer but if you aren’t getting your message across well, you can forget about adding them to the fold.

Whether it’s a campaign to fill out slow months or an attempt to prevent customers from defecting, these are some tips for your email campaigns that are crucial so you don’t miss the target.

Check the Name Formatting

When you use customer lists for your email campaigns, one of the most impersonal things you can do is formatting the name different than the rest of your text. What I mean is this:

“Dear JORGE,

At ABC Motors, we have a service offer that’s just for you.”

Or…

“Dear Jorge,

At ABC Motors, we have a service offer that’s just for you.”

In the first one, ALL CAPS is a dead giveaway that it’s not a personal email – it’s a form letter. If you could measure how quickly the trash button gets clicked on the first example compared with the second, you’d see why the name formatting is so important.

Speak One-on-One

When you create campaigns, the tendency is to use plural language. But each customer that reads it is an individual. Consequently, the language you use needs to be like a one-on-one conversation. Have the campaign written like you’re speaking to just one person.

“This offer is exclusively for you.”

“Because you are a loyal service client…”

Clearly State Where the Offer Applies

A tendency for dealership emails to all look alike, especially for service campaigns. If you’re doing something unique, you NEED to make sure customers know it’s only for your store. It doesn’t apply to other dealerships. Just yours.

This is so important if you aren’t adding to the manufacturer’s promotions where the customer truly can go to any other franchised store.

Say Why You’re Special

You know this – customers can go anywhere to service their vehicles. Every time you communicate with them, you should reinforce why your store is special. Tell them why to choose your dealership’s brand. While the offer is the primary reason for your campaign, the reason customers follow through is because of you, the dealership.

Email marketing is a thing of beauty when it’s done right, and a disgusting mess if it’s sloppy. Use a professional service to create and distribute your email marketing campaigns for service promotions. Otherwise, you could be hurting your customer relationships more than drawing them in closer.

DealerRater recently polled over 16,000 new car buyers on behalf of Fixed Ops Journal. The question was straightforward:

"The last time you bought a car or truck at a dealership, did the salesperson introduce you to the service department when the vehicle was delivered?”

And because dealerships across the United States know the value in the sales-to-service introduction, the responses were almost unanimously “YES”… right?

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In fact, the survey respondents revealed a continuous pain point for dealers, and one that is inexcusable in the industry today.

The Breakdown

A Quarter of Respondents Said No

Outright, one in four new car sales customers said they weren’t introduced to the service team when they received delivery of their new car. Their salesperson or the delivery coordinator likely sat with them in their new vehicle, set up their Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay, helped them set the seat memory and mirrors, and sent them out the door with the plea, “Don’t forget to give me five stars on the sales survey!”

No introduction to the service department. It suggests the dealership tour was neglected as well.

42 Percent Replied Yes

The silver lining is that more than four in ten new car buyers were introduced to the team that will service their vehicle after the sale. When the shine wears off the sale and it becomes a routine mode of transportation, two in five customers will they’ll know where they can turn for their maintenance, warranty repairs, and after-sales accessory purchases.

One Third Don’t Recall

How unremarkable does the delivery process have to be for a customer to not recall whether they were introduced to the service department? Did they forget the massive overhead doors, the hearty, grin-accompanied handshake from one of the service advisors, and the bustle of the service drive? Yet, an astounding one in three new car buyers can’t recall if the sales-to-service handoff was part of their delivery process.

It’s Still As Important As Ever

It seems that there’s a huge opportunity for improvement in the sales-to-service handoff process, as well as its enforcement. As a reminder, these are a few of its benefits.

Loyalty

Relationships are what drive customer loyalty. The service department is a customer’s connection to your store after the sale. Without that point of connection every few months, or at least annually, there’s an extremely high possibility they’ll defect to another dealership for their next vehicle purchase.

After-Sales Revenue

In the meantime, the revenue generated by the service department between vehicle purchases is typically much higher than the sales revenue (unless you hit a homerun on the deal). And besides the actual dollars and cents that keep the doors open and the lights on, the service revenue helps keep service advisors, technicians, lot attendants, cashiers, managers, and parts people employed. There’s an unspoken responsibility that front-end staff have to the rest of their colleagues that centers around the sales-to-service handoff.

Referrals

The customer takes delivery (absent the handoff) and drives away. At their first service or repair, they’re unsure how to deal with the appointment and where to go when they arrive. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at delivery, but it opens the door for a negative visit the next time.

But if the customer is confident when it’s time for the first service and knows what to do and who to see, it reinforces their bond with the dealership and their salesperson.

We all know the result of a strong customer-salesperson bond: referrals. Even if the referrals aren’t volunteered, it opens the door for the salesperson to ask for referrals. That same opportunity doesn’t exist if the customer has a less-than-stellar experience.

Sales and service managers, if it’s been a while since your team has reviewed the expectations at delivery, do it soon. Role play the sales-to-service handoff to make sure everyone knows how to do it well.

A couple of years ago, there was no such thing as the abbreviation (CX) or the buzzword it represents: Customer eXperience. And now, you can’t scroll down a blog without seeing CX in at least a couple titles. Eventually, it will lose its impact when it achieves the same status as ‘uber’-everything. But while the industry currently thinks the customer experience is most important, there are problems with it.

Don’t get me wrong – CX is a determining factor and one that certainly needs to be kept in check. But for the service department – fixed operations in general – it’s not the be-all end-all.

CX is About Achieving the Minimum Standard

An anecdote: I have a client with whom I’ve worked for more than three years. Every month, I have a project that needs to be completed, and sometimes two. Glowing review after heartfelt praise comes in from this client…along with a 4.8-star rating. Their reasoning: “Of course, you do great work. But I believe there’s always something that can be improved.”

The same theory applies to the customer experience. It leaves your service staff with the unspoken impression that they need to do enough to achieve excellent customer service by your store’s standards, and that’s enough. If you measure your service advisors’ success with their CSI scores, for example, and 4.6 out of a 5-point scale is enough for their top bonus level, that’s where they’ll stop. There’s no need to aim for a perfect 5 or to exceed measurable CX. The minimum standard for an ‘excellent’ score is enough.

Real CX is Hard to Measure Accurately

A bad day for one customer could reflect on a phone call, an interaction at the service desk, or the dreaded CSI survey. It could’ve been no fault at all by anyone in your store, but the customer’s feedback is unduly harsh or the score is lower than deserved.

But what you don’t see is what could’ve been the case before the customer’s interaction with the service staff. Maybe the valet holding the door and smiling took the edge off, or the warm handshake from the service advisor shifted a 2-star score into 3-star territory. Since CX is based on subjective emotional response, it often isn’t accurately measured. And that’s not fair to your staff if their benchmark is solely on the customer experience.

Give the Customer What They Want the Most

We all have hoops to jump through, particularly where the OEM is involved. CSI scores aren’t going away and it’s a major part to achieve the standard set before the fixed ops departments, particularly where survey responses are concerned.

However, there’s something more important to a customer than the warm greeting, complimentary waiting room snacks, fresh coffee, and loaner cars. The primary goal for every customer is – and always will be – reliable vehicle repairs. If your store struggled with Fixed First Visit or comeback repairs, that’s something that needs attention before you can ever expect a perfect score for CX.

The latest news out of the auto industry is that Amazon, everyone’s favorite online retailer, is investing $700 million into the electric truck and SUV startup Rivian. That much money is no joke, and it’s going to be a huge boost for a company with so much positive stuff going for it.

Even GM’s Mary Barra has praised Rivian for their EV development that aligns with GM’s own zero-emissions vision for the future. But what does it have to do with the service department?

It’s a Display of Relevance

The deal between Amazon and Rivian, and even the General Motors CEO’s admiration from the outside looking in, displays that Rivian is relevant. Their company hits key points for the industry and or a particular customer base that immediately gives them credibility and desirability.

For Rivian, their relevance arises from two unique places:

• First, the company is committed to being a zero emissions carmaker with a clearly demonstrated platform of electric vehicles. EVs are still widely regarded as the next big step in the industry; on the cusp of mainstream.
• Second, Rivian builds the vehicles that are most sought after in North America – pickup trucks and SUVs for the middle class. It’s an area that’s still blowing up in sales with no signs of slowing. And if gas prices climb again, what’s more insulated from the pain than an EV?

I can’t find an industry example that shows relevance more than Rivian.

How the Service Industry Can Relate

Rivian’s sweet new truck won’t be the savior for your service department, but the company’s ideology could spark your next phase. In automotive service, we’ve long expected the customer to conform to OUR way of doing things. Whether it be blindly accepting our service and repair recommendations to booking appointments on OUR terms or choosing to either wait in the customer lounge or take a ride home in a shuttle van, it’s been OUR way or the highway.

That doesn’t fly in today’s culture and economy. Service means something altogether different because what was relevant years ago isn’t today. Service departments need to discover how to be relevant, and that’s an individual thing in different cities, demographical areas, and among different cultures.

Here are a couple examples:

• Portland, OR is one of the most cycling-friendly cities in the world but many people obviously still own cars. In keeping with cultural relevance, dealerships can have a fleet of bicycles on hand for ‘loaner vehicles’. Now, that’s not something you’d provide without alternatives – a shuttle service and loaner cars, for example. But in Portland, it’s a differentiating factor that could very well resound with locals.
• In Mountain View, CA, where the tech boom is still going strong, calling customers with estimates from the service desk doesn’t fit the culture. But a Snapchat or FaceTime video showing which repairs are necessary and why offers heightened transparency and connects with customers on a more familiar, relevant level.

Rivian still builds vehicles – just with a different focus to be relevant. Your service department still centers around vehicle repairs and maintenance, but it differentiate itself and do better by being more relevant.

From the sun-soaked east side of Hawaii’s Big Island, I have the pleasure of writing about the preferred customer experience. And what doesn’t seem to be a congruent thought has actually given me clarity on what the customer experience should be like in the service department. Either that, or it’s sunstroke…

It struck me while driving our rental vehicle down Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway toward the beautiful sands of Mauna Kea beach. I had no idea when the year-old Hyundai Santa Fe had last received its oil change. I had signed the contract and taken the keys without a second thought. Off we went, racking up hundreds of miles, trusting that our rental would be reliable and our travels uninhibited by a service reminder for the two weeks we were in the rental.

First Experience a Customer Wants: Trustworthiness

Just like our rental car, customers want to know their service provider is trustworthy. In our case, it’s Enterprise Car Rental, but for your customers, it’s YOU. There is zero room for negative experiences or comeback repairs, nor phones or emails unanswered in a timely fashion. Your customer should be able to have the extremely high standard of service that we all demand from other industries, and any failure to deliver as such damages their ability to fully trust your service department.

That means confirming the details of the work order every time, always road testing after repairs, and performing consistent quality checks. At every stage, strive to build trust through accuracy and transparency.

Second Experience a Customer Wants: Convenience

Honestly, if a customer could own a vehicle and never notice that had been serviced, it would be ideal. Since that’s not possible, the goal should be to minimize the impact servicing their vehicle has on their life. Convenient hours are a good start, but there’s much more that can be done.

Offering pickup and drop-off services might be the most popular trend for the service industry, especially paired with a loaner vehicle. It tells customers exactly how much you understand the value of their time. That’s a far cry from the not-so-distant past where we in the service industry believed customers should be happy to come to see us in the service drive, then wait around or find their own ride.

Making the service experience convenient so it doesn’t interrupt their life will undoubtedly increase customer loyalty.  

Third Experience a Customer Wants: Unquestioned Complete Service

There will always be outliers who want to do their own maintenance and repairs, and those who want detailed explanations for every miniscule warranty repair or scheduled service item. The vast majority are fine just knowing their vehicle is up to date.

Here’s where premium manufacturers like BMW, Genesis, Jaguar, and Volvo have it right to some extent. Regular maintenance is covered for two or three years from the date of purchase, and that’s a load off the customer’s shoulders. It’s also an opportunity for other manufacturers – or dealers themselves – to offer premium service to all of their customers.

For either a monthly/annual fee or a cost included with the price of the vehicle, complete vehicle maintenance can be included. We’re talking everything from oil changes and wheel alignments to tire replacement and timing belt changes. Within reason, I’m led to believe that customers would embrace this type of service model to eliminate surprise invoices. It helps with points one and two also: a trustworthy service experience and the best in convenience.

Look, I understand that it’s impossible to change directions on a dime, and for many dealers, these three things are massive undertakings to implement. The spirit of them, however, can be integrated into what you’re doing now. Provide the most convenient service possible for each and every customer and make it as convenient as you can. If they’re anything like me, that’s what they want most.  

Think of a recent experience with retail that you’ve had, or perhaps a few. It doesn’t matter what it is – Walmart, Lowe’s, American Eagle, Costco, Zales, Home Depot, Michael Kors, or CVS are examples. If you recall your visit, there’s an extremely high chance that it went exactly the way you pictured it going.

When you step foot into Walmart, you’re guaranteed to see elderly people in blue vests and decent prices, but you don’t expect much from the customer service at all. At American Eagle, you’ll see high-quality designer clothes and ripped jeans selling for five times as much as you’d see at Walmart. Costco – well, everything is in bulk, obviously. At CVS, you’ll have an arms-length receipt for your pack of gum, and so on.

Successful retailers have done a fantastic job of creating their brand. Whether it’s a single, standalone location or a chain across the world, their branding will be consistent across every store, as will the customer experience.

That’s how it should be with your dealership too, including the service department.

 An Aligned Customer Experience is Extremely Important!

A Gartner report from a couple years ago found that “When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people find customer experience more important than price.” Let’s give that some application to the automotive industry, particularly the service department.

As a dealership, the slogan should broadly tell the customer what to expect inside the doors. That’s an introduction to your brand. You’re making a promise to your customers, and you’d better meet their expectations. If you promise “lowest prices on Chevrolet in San Antonio”, you have to make sure no one else can undercut your deals. If your slogan is “where customers send their friends”, your customer experience better be second to none.

Walmart’s slogan, “Always Low Prices”, gives a clear picture of what you can expect inside. It says nothing of high-quality customer service, which is good, because that isn’t what you’ll receive. For Lowes, their slogan, “Never Stop Improving” clearly has connotations for home improvement and renovation materials, as well as customer service, and it holds fairly true. The CVS slogan has nothing to do with receipts, however, instead opting for “Health Is Everything”. That works too.

As a dealership management team, a goal should be to align your brand to the CX across all departments, including the department customers visit most often: the service department.

Service or Price?

Dealerships whose brand focuses on giving every customer a great deal have a challenge in the service department. Those same customers who saved thousands on a new car are hit with the same high prices as every other shop out there. You can (and should) provide the ultimate customer experience, but their expectation isn’t being met, according to the brand image.

Dealers who focus on the best customer experience in sales without promising the best price have a high standard to uphold. In the service department, customers might not be expecting the lowest door rate or menu items, but they definitely expect high-quality customer service that can’t be beat.

Depending on your demographic, neither approach is inherently wrong. Do what works for the customer base you have. But one thing you have to do is align your customer experience and brand.

Wondering how? Online reviews are an easy way to find out how your customers feel. Read every online review from the past year to find out how you’re doing. Tally them up in three groups: happy customers who think you’ve done well, customers who thought your prices are too high, and customers who were let down on the customer experience. From there, you’ll see which direction you need to take to align your brand and CX.

Everyone says it: “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’”. It’s one of the phrases that draws eye rolls and exasperated sighs, but overall it’s acknowledged as truth in the service industry. For service advisors though, a team-based mentality is difficult to attain for two reasons: most service advisors have type-A personalities, and more importantly, it doesn’t work. It’s like trying to fit the square peg in the round hole.

The service advisor position is much more individualistic than most jobs. And while we want everyone in the department to work together, the position isn’t structured for it. Typically commission-based and with customers returning CSI scores based on an individual’s performance, ‘each man for themselves’ is more fitting.

Seem like it doesn’t fit with the dealership’s team mentality? If you approach it as an entrepreneurial position, it can and does fit.

The Service Advisor as an Entrepreneur

Think of it as every service advisor operating their own mini-business inside the department. The business owner – aka. the service advisor – is responsible for the work they do, the ability to serve their customers, the income they generate, and the feedback they receive.

With an entrepreneurial mentality, the service advisor takes on more responsibility willingly. There’s no one else to blame when things go sideways. For example:

1. They have to take ownership for their mistakes. Has a customer arrived at the end of the day for their vehicle to find it hasn’t been completed? Was there an error on the work order or a line missed? It’s now up to the service advisor to fix the issue. They have to answer to the customer – their client – as well as their contractor – the service manager.
2. They own the successes. When the month has been very profitable, it should reflect back to the service advisor’s paycheck in commissions. When their CSI scores are near perfect, that also should be recognized. That’s not a stretch compared to the typical structure – it already has an entrepreneurial feel.
3. Advisors become responsible for their own clients. Ever notice how some service customers gravitate toward a favorite advisor or book an appointment only when they know the right person is able to serve them? There’s a reason for it, and it’s because of the trusting relationship that’s been established. Conversely, the entrepreneurial service advisor doesn’t have the option to hang a client out to dry when it doesn’t suit them, nor can they simply pass off a customer to another advisor if they’re headed home for the day early.

It’s Not A One-Man Show

Anyone in business knows that building and maintaining parallel business relationships is a big deal. For service advisors, that’s how it is too. While essentially ‘owning’ your own small business within a business, there are people you have to work beside and work with in harmony.

The entrepreneurial approach can strengthen the service ‘team’ when done well. Service advisors who buy into the position have more impact for the whole department. It becomes their responsibility to maintain good communication with the technicians, strong relationships with support staff, and theoretically should require less ‘managing’.

Check out some of the most popular websites in the world. According to Alexa Internet traffic rankings for North American sites, it goes Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Reddit, Yahoo!, Amazon, Twitter, and Instagram. You know about all of those websites and apps. When you browse to them, you know what to expect.

Of the top nine sites, only one is directly sales-related: Amazon. The rest of these trustworthy sites are based in social networking and internet services. That says something.

You’ll find opportunities to spend your money on each of the sites, of course, but their primary purpose, other than Amazon, is about connecting people with information and entertainment. In doing so, they’ve each built a steadfast reputation and earned your trust.

Why Do Dealerships Try a Different Approach?

After looking at online presences that have rocketed through the stratosphere with success, turn to your own dealership’s website. What does it offer your customers? For the vast majority, it’s a thinly-veiled effort to advertise the latest new model, ‘year-end clearances’, or an opportunity to book an appointment. All are important to a dealership’s success, but have you measured the results of these campaigns? Do they draw in new sales at all? Make a note to check on your dealership’s results.

To most customers (but not all), your website desensitizes them to a high-quality call to action when they’re ready to make their sales or service decision. It also gives the impression, correct or not, that the dealership cares more about sales than their customers or community.

Offer Value Through the Service Department

There’s no getting around the need to make sales, both of cars and in the service department. But what’s more important to a customer: finding a flashy deal on the website, or discovering why some services are required and how they’re done and quick access to vehicle listings?

Speaking to the service aspect, there’s nothing as powerful as video. Think about being a customer with only basic automotive knowledge. Someone tells you that the brake fluid needs to be changed - or the transmission fluid, power steering fluid, or coolant – and you’re supposed to give them the go-ahead. Being trained that the automotive industry is crooked and over-priced, customers have obvious reservations. But you can break down those walls by demonstrating on video why each service is important and how it’s done.

Video is a great way to introduce your service team too, giving a face to your dealership online. Share them on a YouTube channel as well. It shares an environment with real people, friendly faces, and connects the customer with your physical location. Video has been embraced by the sales department in some stores with good success, and the same can be true for service.