Evan Riley shares how using video can help dealers increase service recommendation acceptance in this video.

Flick Fusion COO Tim James shares why using video in service can increase service revenue and build trust with your customers.

As more dealers turn to fixed ops to grow profits, it's important not to overlook the power of video. Video is a great tool for building customer trust because it allows you to address the perception that dealerships charge too much or try to sell customers unnecessary repairs.

An effective video marketing strategy for your service department includes the following five videos:

1) Value Proposition. This video answers the "why trust us?" question. Many customers are afraid if they bring their vehicle into a dealership service department, the repair will be expensive or they will be taken advantage of.

In this video, address your customers' fears by featuring friendly service personnel, focus on how your technicians are trained, the quality of your repair work and most of all, emphasize your trustworthiness. Be certain to mention any awards you’ve won and your positive BBB Rating.   

2) Service Department Testimonials. Identify several of your most loyal service customers and offer them an extra perk like a free loaner car or free oil change if they agree to make a customer testimonial video.

Before shooting the video, prompt your customer to talk about how long they've been servicing with you, what they like about your service department and to comment on the quality of the repair work.

3) Service Personnel Introduction. Similar in tone to a value proposition video, this video introduces the service manager, service advisors and technicians to customers. People choose to do business with people they like, so create videos that display the likeability of your manager, advisers and technicians. Don't be afraid to brag about their years of experience and awards they’ve won.

4) Service Department “How To." Select a dozen of your most common and profitable services. Create videos that talk about why these services are important for the health of the vehicle and customer safety. Show a quick tutorial of the work involved with the repair. Discuss the costs of parts and the estimated amount of time it takes to complete the service. The purpose of these videos is to educate customers so they feel more confident they are making the right decision to get the repair work done.

5) Recommended Repairs. When customers drop their cars off for a scheduled repair, one of their biggest fears is an unnecessary upsell. Unfortunately this fear can create resistance to any repair recommendations. A short video created by the service adviser can help to alleviate this fear and provide visual proof that a repair is really needed.

Videos are far more effective at doing this than photos because the service adviser can explain how the old part is worn and compare it to the new part, along with an explanation of how important it is to get the repair done now.

Additionally, advisers can mention the potential impact and cost of related problems that could be caused by not completing the service now.

Recommended repair videos don't have to be professional. Just use your smartphone with an app that allows you to text the video to the customer. Another option is to have a live streaming video call where the service advisor can show the worn part and explain the repair while talking to the customer live on their smartphone.

All service department videos (with the exception of recommended repair videos) should be featured on your dealership's website. Additionally, these videos can be used in email campaigns, uploaded to your YouTube channel, featured on your social media profiles and used in digital advertising campaigns.

To get started, find a reputable video marketing host and hire a professional video crew (or find one among your employees). Service department videos are an inexpensive and highly effective way to build customer trust and give your dealerships a competitive edge.

It’s widely known that video walkarounds, email responses and other types of video attract more attention from car buyers and better engage them once they reach out to you. But, one of the biggest mistake I see most dealerships make is to neglect the service department in their video marketing efforts.

Most importantly, utilizing video in your service department is a key part of a complete Video Marketing Strategy, and an easy way to capture your service customer’s viewer profile (data) to match with your CRM records.  In other words, you can know if your service customer is also watching your inventory videos on touch-points such as AutoTrader or Cars.com, in addition to your own website, Facebook pages, Email Campaigns, Blogs, etc.  You can then leverage this knowledge by sending targeted messages to that service customer that include videos with offers specific to their vehicles of interest, while passing that data to your CRM to queue the customer up for Sales Follow Up. Essentially, the targeted messaging occurs via your existing videos in “real-time,” based off the data gathered from your video views. It’s re-marketing just as you would have through a Google Ad Campaign, except you are using your own videos and your own data.

Video can dramatically increase the service department’s footprint on your website and serve as a useful resource for your customers. It is also an excellent way to educate customers and increase service recommendation acceptance.

When customers drop their cars off for a scheduled repair, one of their biggest fears is an unnecessary upsell. Unfortunately this fear can create resistance to any repair recommendations. A short video created by the service adviser can help to alleviate this fear and provide "visual proof" that a repair is really needed.

Videos are far more effective than photos because the service adviser can explain how the old part is worn and compare it visually to the new part, along with an explanation of how important it is to get the repair done now. Additionally, advisers can mention the potential impact and costs of related problems that could be caused by not completing the service now.

Creating an upsell video simply involves two parts: the “why you need it” and the tutorial. The “why you need it” portion of the video plants the seed in the customer’s head that they had better get this taken care of soon or they are likely to end up with a more expensive repair, stranded on the side of the road, or possibly even in an accident.  The tutorial section shows how much work it really is to fix this issue, the cost of the parts, and the time involved with the fix; thus, justifying the cost of the repair. 

Once the upsell video is created, the adviser can text it directly to the customer so they can see the video on their mobile device and make a quick decision. You can remove additional fear and the “oh they’re just trying to up-sell me” mentality from the customer by delivering each video on a landing page that contains your Value Proposition Video, Service Manager Introduction Video, and a couple of Testimonial Videos so that the customer can quickly see that you have their best interest at heart and can be trusted.  

If the customer refuses the additional service, send them a "how to" (on the same landing page) so that they can appreciate how serious you believe this service is, and that it needs to be completed ASAP (even if they prefer to do it themselves).  The more you can help the customer understand that this about “their safety” and that you aren’t just trying to sell repairs that aren’t necessary, the more likely the customer will trust you and approve the additional repairs. 

These type of videos also create content on your website and increase the odds that your dealership will show up in service related searches (VSEO). You never know when someone searching for an answer will stumble across your service video and make the decision to choose your dealership for their service repair.

It’s widely known that video walkarounds, email responses and other types of video attract more attention from car buyers and better engage them once they reach out to you. But, one of the biggest mistake I see most dealerships make is to neglect the service department in their video marketing efforts.

Most importantly, utilizing video in your service department is a key part of a complete Video Marketing Strategy, and an easy way to capture your service customer’s viewer profile (data) to match with your CRM records.  In other words, you can know if your service customer is also watching your inventory videos on touch-points such as AutoTrader or Cars.com, in addition to your own website, Facebook pages, Email Campaigns, Blogs, etc.  You can then leverage this knowledge by sending targeted messages to that service customer that include videos with offers specific to their vehicles of interest, while passing that data to your CRM to queue the customer up for Sales Follow Up. Essentially, the targeted messaging occurs via your existing videos in “real-time,” based off the data gathered from your video views. It’s re-marketing just as you would have through a Google Ad Campaign, except you are using your own videos and your own data.

Video can dramatically increase the service department’s footprint on your website and serve as a useful resource for your customers. It is also an excellent way to educate customers and increase service recommendation acceptance.

When customers drop their cars off for a scheduled repair, one of their biggest fears is an unnecessary upsell. Unfortunately this fear can create resistance to any repair recommendations. A short video created by the service adviser can help to alleviate this fear and provide "visual proof" that a repair is really needed.

Videos are far more effective than photos because the service adviser can explain how the old part is worn and compare it visually to the new part, along with an explanation of how important it is to get the repair done now. Additionally, advisers can mention the potential impact and costs of related problems that could be caused by not completing the service now.

Creating an upsell video simply involves two parts: the “why you need it” and the tutorial. The “why you need it” portion of the video plants the seed in the customer’s head that they had better get this taken care of soon or they are likely to end up with a more expensive repair, stranded on the side of the road, or possibly even in an accident.  The tutorial section shows how much work it really is to fix this issue, the cost of the parts, and the time involved with the fix; thus, justifying the cost of the repair. 

Once the upsell video is created, the adviser can text it directly to the customer so they can see the video on their mobile device and make a quick decision. You can remove additional fear and the “oh they’re just trying to up-sell me” mentality from the customer by delivering each video on a landing page that contains your Value Proposition Video, Service Manager Introduction Video, and a couple of Testimonial Videos so that the customer can quickly see that you have their best interest at heart and can be trusted.  

If the customer refuses the additional service, send them a "how to" (on the same landing page) so that they can appreciate how serious you believe this service is, and that it needs to be completed ASAP (even if they prefer to do it themselves).  The more you can help the customer understand that this about “their safety” and that you aren’t just trying to sell repairs that aren’t necessary, the more likely the customer will trust you and approve the additional repairs. 

These type of videos also create content on your website and increase the odds that your dealership will show up in service related searches (VSEO). You never know when someone searching for an answer will stumble across your service video and make the decision to choose your dealership for their service repair.