Some dealers miss opportunities to gain acceptance of service recommendations or upsells simply because consumers do not know why they are needed or important. Many advisors share the “canned” description. However, if the customer is not right in front of you it can be hard for them to understand what you are going on about and so they decline the recommendations.

Well, there is an easy solution to better communicate with your customers so they can see why the recommendations are necessary. That solution is video.

Since COVID-19 arrived on the scene video communications have dramatically increased as a way to engage with customers. Think about how norms have changed. A majority of employees are still working at home using video platforms to communicate with colleagues, such as Zoom. And, in those states where the only way to sell a car is remotely, video is a great tool to help build that relationship and sell the car. Video has become a necessary item in any dealership’s arsenal for both sales and service.

When it comes to service recommendations, using either recorded or live video, you can easily show the customer the issue and clearly describe it to them. The customer can then see what the problem is and better understand why it needs to be repaired. Also, they will feel more confident about accepting those repairs and approve the recommendations. Recommended service acceptance rates can increase by as much as three times from an average of 20% to 40% and sometimes even as high as 60%. Recorded or live video recommendations can also help prevent your customers from shopping the competition and ending up at an independent shop.

Use video technology to communicate with customers – whether that be now during the pandemic or afterward once it passes. You will see an uptick in service recommendations as well as increased customer loyalty and improved CSI scores.

Nobody knows how long we, as a nation, will be home-bound. Some people say it will be months, some are saying years.

No matter how long it is, the results of video are timeless and well-proven. Communicating with your customers via video can help you weather this storm and help boost profitability.

Auto dealers turn to video to stay in touch with customers & stay competitive in downturn

Urbandale, IA—May 27, 2020— When social distancing guidelines went into effect, demand for video marketing and video communications solutions skyrocketed. In the two and a half months since businesses across the country were shuttered due to COVID-19, Flick Fusion has added 18 new customers to their network of value-added resellers (VARs), which has collectively added more than 1,000 new automotive dealerships as customers who are now utilizing Flick Fusion’s video marketing platform.

“The last couple of months have been extremely difficult on the automotive industry,” said Tim James, COO of Flick Fusion. “Dealerships are having to do a better job at merchandising their inventory and find a whole new way to communicate with consumers. Many dealers are incorporating virtual test drives and personalized video communications into their marketing strategies.”

Video marketing for auto dealerships has evolved far beyond posting inventory videos on Vehicle Details Pages (VDPs). A comprehensive video marketing strategy uses video to communicate with customers at every stage of the car-buying process.

Many dealerships are experimenting with video strategies that help them stand out in a slow market, such as picture-in-picture videos and custom voiceover on virtual walkaround videos. Additionally, dealers are using integrated video calling apps to conduct live-streaming video conversations with customers.

Flick Fusion’s video marketing platform offers dealerships many unique and customizable features, such as easy-to-use mobile apps and multiple layers of CRM integration. Dealers can also receive real-time notifications whenever a consumer watches one of their videos, no matter which touchpoint that video is being viewed on; whether Autotrader, Cars.com, KBB, or Facebook, etc.

Real-time notifications provide dealerships with instant feedback on personal video messages and video campaign performance and in some cases can even be matched to a customer profile in the CRM, allowing salespeople to instantly identify and reach out to their lead, the person they send the video message to, while that person is still actively watching inventory videos on their website and/or third-party marketplaces. 

To learn more, contact sales@flickfusion.com or call 515-333-4337.

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion offers a full-solution video hosting, marketing and distribution platform to automotive and other inventory-based industries. The platform delivers automated, integrated and rule/behavior-based, including geo-targeted, video content in real-time, across multiple touchpoints and throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Flick Fusion makes it easy for dealers to create desktop and mobile-friendly vehicle inventory videos, video email and customer engagement videos such as testimonials, service department overviews and more. Videos are proven to capture more buyers' attention, advance organic SEO rankings, generate leads and increase conversion rates. The Flick Fusion system builds emotional value and customer loyalty for more than 7,000 automotive dealerships and preferred partners.

By nature, humans are social creatures. Need more proof? One of the worst punishments our legal system has come up with is solitary confinement. Not only is this dreaded by inmates, but it can also affect their mental health. Whether an introvert or an extrovert, we all crave personal interaction.

Like many of you, I am currently working from home. And, at the end of one day last week I had an impromptu meeting with one of my customers. The meeting started on the phone but, after 15-20 minutes of the call, we decided to switch to a live-stream one-on-one video call. While we continued talking about the business matter, the conversation quickly changed into a personal chat. Just two people who have been working from home for many days now. While we both interact with people throughout the day, most interaction is via the phone or text. When we switched to the live-streaming video call, emotions changed into joy and excitement that we were having a personal, live, face-to-face interaction with an individual outside of our homes.

Even before this health crisis, people wanted to have live interaction. That's exactly why sales managers are renowned for telling salespeople to “Just get them in.” Of course, at the moment, we have a quandary. Many salespeople are out of work, CRMs are still spitting out the same messages and consumers are still shopping for vehicles… but nobody is answering them.

We’re dealing with a situation unlike anything seen since the measles or polio breakouts decades ago. The entire country is hunkered down, sitting at home with their families. And many are very bored. What do people do when they are bored? They tend to accomplish tasks they’ve been meaning to but have not yet found the time for. And guess what? This could very easily include researching a vehicle purchase. 33 states have either halted or limited vehicle sales forcing salespeople to stay at home. However, in many cases, their CRMs are still receiving leads. OEMs are offering aggressive incentives and interest rates are low. 

Car sales are all about emotions. That’s why the standard has always been to get the customer to test drive, kick tires, breathe in that “new car” smell and take mental ownership. However, before any of that can happen, a salesperson or BDC agent needs to create rapport to get that specific customer to choose their dealership.

Customers currently don’t have the luxury of visiting the dealership. But you can approach that level of face-to-face contact with live video chat. It builds the rapport needed for the customer to decide who to buy from and what to buy. Your dealership can interact with these customers in a personal way while building that emotional relationship with the salesperson, the dealership AND the vehicle. And what do those interactions produce when doing this via live-streaming video calls? The same as it produced for me and my customer -- Joy and excitement. It helps move that customer down the line to the sale.

Many dealerships are experimenting with virtual test drives and video calling to provide that in-store face-to-face experience right now and having amazing success. But like all sales processes, it must be done right to have the most effective impact. Many of the popular video calling platforms out there require both users to install plugins or download the same apps to assure cross-platform and cross-operating system compatibility. These platforms are great for organized meetings, entertainment, or educational purposes. But when you need to engage a customer or a lead from your website, or for email/texting communications, the best video calling technology to utilize is one that allows a “one-click” audio and video communication to work inside web pages through direct peer-to-peer communication. This eliminates the necessity to install plugins or download apps and ensures an instant video connection; no matter what device or platform the customer or lead is utilizing.  This could alter the entire experience completely and make the difference between a GREAT video experience, and no communication or experience at all (another lost lead). 

So, consider using live video chat to have that face-to-face interaction with your customers that is very much desired, especially right now. Combined with good storytelling through strategic vehicle and dealership marketing videos, it could easily slingshot your dealership into a consumer’s first choice. Not just in these times when it is even more crucial to communicate this way, but also when everything goes back to normal. And now is the time to start planning for the future. You don’t want your competition to beat you and take your customers away!  Get that competitive edge and create those loyal customers now!

Technology creates virtual connection between dealership staff and car shoppers

Urbandale, IA—April 20, 2020—For a limited time, Flick Fusion is offering auto dealerships a free, no obligation 60-day trial of StreaMe, its live-streaming video communications application. At a time when car shoppers aren’t visiting dealership showrooms, StreaMe enables dealership personnel to connect with and engage car shoppers and current customers, regardless of which operating platform the callers are on.

“The StreaMe app makes it easy for salespeople to do real-time, virtual vehicle walkarounds. For car shoppers, StreaMe mimics the experience of standing right there with the salesperson on the lot, looking at the car,” said Tim James, COO of Flick Fusion. “The usage of live-streaming video communications has soared since the COVID-19 stay at home recommendations, which means that more consumers are becoming comfortable with live-streaming video as a form of every-day communications.”

With StreaMe, dealers can embed a click-to-call button anywhere on their website, including Vehicle Details Pages (VDPs).  The call can be answered by any member of a dealership’s team that is logged into the StreaMe app via a round robin connection. The customer is then instantly connected to the team member in a one-way, live-streaming video call, allowing the dealership employee to be seen and heard, while the customer can be heard but not seen. This allows the caller to remain anonymous, if desired, although they do have the option to engage in a two-way video call as well.  StreaMe can also be integrated into VidMail, Flick Fusion’s video email and video texting platform. When video emails or video texts are sent to customers, all the customer has to do is click on the StreaMe button to initiate a live video call that is only directed to the sales person who sent the video email and/or text.

Additionally, VidMail is a great tool for the service department. VidMail makes it easy for service advisors to video a multi-point inspection (MPI) and send it to the customer with recommended repairs. If the customer is still hesitant, you can request them to initiate the integrated StreaMe live video call to talk to the mechanic and see the needed repairs first-hand. There is no better way to increase recommended services acceptance rates while building a higher level of customer trust than ever before. 

StreaMe is a multi-platform application that can be used on both mobile and desktop devices. Most commercially available video chat applications require that both parties download an app or use designated access codes and log-in credentials. StreaMe enables cross-platform “one-click” video calls with no customer facing apps or log-in requirements. All your shopper, lead, or customer has to do is click the Video Call button to utilize StreaMe, regardless of the device they are using.

Additionally, all StreaMe communications can be captured and stored, eliminating any "he said, she said" scenarios, and providing sales and training managers with access to every video call exchange.

To see a short demo of StreaMe, click here.

To learn more, contact sales@flickfusion.com or call 515-333-4337.

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion offers a full-solution video hosting, marketing and distribution platform to automotive and other inventory-based industries. The platform delivers automated, integrated and rule/behavior-based, including geo-targeted, video content in real-time, across multiple touchpoints and throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Flick Fusion makes it easy for dealers to create desktop and mobile-friendly vehicle inventory videos, video email and customer engagement videos such as testimonials, service department overviews and more. Videos are proven to capture more buyers' attention, advance organic SEO rankings, generate leads and increase conversion rates. The Flick Fusion system builds emotional value and customer loyalty for more than 3,500 brands and preferred partners.

Video solution helps dealers stay connected at a social distance

URBANDALE, IOWA and MISSION, KANSAS, April 8, 2020 — To help dealers win the battle with social distancing, VinSolutions has selected Flick Fusion’s Smart Flicks platform to deliver integrated video communications to auto dealership customers via VinSolutions Connect CRM and the Connect CRM mobile app. The collaboration makes it easier for dealership staff to capture and share videos from within their existing CRM system – a capability that is more important than ever in today’s unprecedented climate. In turn, this enhanced ability to engage and inform car shoppers helps propel the buying process while expanding opportunities to make customer connections both in and outside the showroom.

“Video communication has a powerful impact on the automotive shopper and is proven to increase appointments, shows, and sales. Though there are a large number of stand-alone video communication options, the fact is that most owners and General Managers would prefer that all of their communications—including video—originate from their CRM,” said Tim James, COO at Flick Fusion. “Full integration of our video communication products with VinSolutions Connect CRM provides dealerships with a platform to easily create, store, and deliver a powerful video experience that is more informative and engaging than any other form of communication.”

“When customers contact a dealership, they’re looking for comprehensive information and videos are the most effective way to meet this need,” said Chase Abbott, vice president of sales at VinSolutions. “Flick Fusion’s video platform allows dealership staff to deliver a highly personalized and immersive customer experience, which ultimately drives more engagement, lead conversions and sales.”

Connect CRM customers will be able to upload or create new personalized video content and access a library of pre-populated new model vehicle videos to send out to their customers from within their CRM. A dealership’s inventory videos can also be pre-populated into the library and, with the Connect Mobile app, salespeople can capture live walkaround vehicle inventory videos to send in response to lead inquiries.

“With the constant change we’re seeing, communicating to our customers quickly and easily is a must. Our partnership with Flick Fusion and VinSolutions gives every member of our team the ability to use videos to answer questions, do deep dive vehicle walk arounds, or communicate important messages so our customers get the individualized attention they expect from the comfort of their own home,” said Erich Black, general manager at Gulf Auto Direct.  “The availability of communication records for every shopper profile and real-time reporting is really important from an accountability standpoint and enables us to identify which messages really make a difference.” 

For additional resources on how to adjust processes and to take advantage of a variety of tools on offer to help dealerships thrive in these uncertain times, visit

vinsolutions.com/here-for-you. To learn more about Flick Fusion, contact sales@flickfusion.com or call 515-333-4337.

About VinSolutions

As the provider of Connect CRM, a leading dealership customer relationship management system, VinSolutions helps more than 5,000 dealers make every connection count. VinSolutions products integrate dealership systems, processes and tools to deliver a single view of the customer across the business – so dealers can focus on building relationships throughout the sales cycle. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mission, Kansas, VinSolutions fosters dealership success by providing a fully customizable suite of solutions, including equity mining, market pricing and desking tools, combined with the continuous, personal support of a designated Performance Manager. VinSolutions is OEM certified by every major manufacturer and is Autosoft, CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds and Dealertrack DMS certified.

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion offers a full-solution video hosting, marketing and distribution platform to automotive and other inventory-based industries. The platform delivers automated, integrated and rule/behavior-based, including geo-targeted, video content in real-time, across multiple touchpoints and throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Flick Fusion makes it easy for dealers to create desktop and mobile-friendly vehicle inventory videos, video email and customer engagement videos such as testimonials, service department overviews and more. Videos are proven to capture more buyers' attention, advance organic SEO rankings, generate leads and increase conversion rates. The Flick Fusion system builds emotional value and customer loyalty for more than 3,500 brands and preferred partners.

Video has historically played a major role in car dealerships; from training with VHS tapes, to video messaging, text and Live Video Calling. As 2019 draws to a close and we approach 2020, it is clear that when it comes to consumer engagement and digital marketing, video is center stage.

There are many video marketing statistics and trends floating around currently. It is easy to get lost and it can seem a daunting task to stay head of the trends. In this short blog I have put together 3 practical ways to successfully incorporate video into your 2020 marketing strategy.

Communication

Why struggle wondering if your emails are opened and read? According to multiple reports an engaged audience will drop what they are doing to watch a video. In fact, email open rates increase by 7% if you include the word “Video” in the title.

Focus on quality! I always hear people saying, “keep your video short”. The fact is you should put your stopwatch away and focus on delivering high-quality information in an upbeat and emotional presentation. Too often people try to rush their presentation and simply don’t provide an educational or emotional presentation. 

Nothing will lead to someone closing your video sooner than if you sound like you are just trying to rush through it, versus truly trying to assist them. If you are providing a great experience in your video message, what’s the worst thing that could happen?  Yep…someone stops watching.  But what about all of those who are truly interested in your message? If you are providing good (relevant) information, and delivering it in an emotional manner, the numbers show that a significantly high percentage of your email (and text) recipients will watch 100% of your video message.

Another good statistic to know is that adding video to your emails can increase click rates by 300%.

Vehicle shoppers appreciate the informational and emotional value of video. Live video calls and video chat are effective at increasing engagement and convert more website traffic to lot traffic as shoppers can now talk to one of your professionals “live,” from wherever they may be.

This does wonders for customer experience by offering a truly unique perspective of transparency. Consumers don’t need to wonder about availability if they can see the vehicle in a video behind you in real-time.

Website Conversion

Users spend 88% more time browsing a website if it has video. Video content humanizes your dealership, builds trust, and inspires higher funnel shoppers to actually pick up the phone and call you with their questions. Video on your landing page or VDP will increase conversion by 80%.

Inventory videos transfer more information. In addition, they help your VDP pages create more emotion from potential car buyers, much more than pictures and text alone. Website videos increase organic search traffic by 157%. You are then far more likely to appear on Google’s page one, driving more online shoppers to your website and into your sales funnel.

Social

For all social platforms , video has 12 times more shares than text and image alone and engagement is 13.9% higher if your posts include video.  How long should your videos be on social media? 30 to 90 seconds is the ideal length for social video marketing. But again, remember that this is because the viewers aren’t there just for your video.  They are socializing and have a short attention span (oh look, a squirrel). But you still don’t want to sacrifice quality for time.  The quality of your content always comes first. 

What about the future? 360 degree interactive presentations and Augmented Reality are predicted to be areas with the most growth as marketers enjoy the ease of creating this type of content and it is becoming less expensive.

If your dealership isn’t using video in its vehicle merchandising or customer interactions, you could be missing out on opportunities. Let the consumer experience your inventory they way they want to experience it.  If you limit their options, you will also be limiting your leads.  It’s all about selling more cars and increasing service revenue. Video can help any dealership accomplish both with very little time, effort and cost.

If you don’t believe me, give it a try. I promise you will see the results and will continue to use video marketing at every possible customer interaction opportunity.

Groundbreaking technology transforms the online vehicle shopping experience

Urbandale, IA—February 11, 2020—Flick Fusion has launched AutoSpin 360, a ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence and Image Recognition technology designed to transform consumers’ online vehicle shopping experience. AutoSpin 360 makes it easy for dealerships to create 360° Exterior & Interior interactive presentations of their vehicle inventory, increasing customer engagement and conversion rates from vehicle detail pages (VDPs) and from text and email video communications.

Flick Fusion’s AutoSpin 360 displays automated clickable “hotspots.” When a car shopper clicks on a hotspot, a window pops up and displays information about that feature. For example, if a viewer wants to know more about the infotainment system in a vehicle, they simply click on the hotspot in the interactive display and a window pops up with information about that system.

“There’s simply no better way to get shoppers interacting with your inventory online than to let them experience it the way that they (each individual shopper) wants to experience it. And adding a 360° Interactive Presentation to your online merchandising (photos, inventory videos, and vehicle descriptions) can make certain that you are providing each individual shopper with the very best shopping experience possible, while simultaneously getting the shopper more emotionally attached to a vehicle,” said Tim James, COO of Flick Fusion. “The best part about AutoSpin 360° is that the entire interactive production process can be automated. Dealers don’t need any special equipment or special apps, and they don’t need to change their current merchandising process in any way. AutoSpin 360° can utilize the dealership’s existing merchandising assets (photos, videos, data feeds) to automatically create the interactive presentation. It doesn’t matter what order the photos were taken or delivered to us in. Our Artificial Intelligence and Image Recognition will look at each photo and determine if it belongs in a 360° Interactive Presentation and if so, where in the presentation it should reside. It then instantly builds the 360° presentation, associates any additional images that should be attached to the presentation, and then automatically associates any hotspots that it recognizes from the images and/or data feed.” 

As an additional feature, dealerships and their lot service or photography vendors can use smartphones or cameras to capture 360° presentations, then instantly upload them with Flick Fusion’s mobile application.

The completed AutoSpin 360 interactive presentations are displayed on dealerships’ VDPs in blazing fast, customizable multimedia players that can simultaneously feature the dealership’s photos, inventory videos, value proposition & testimonial videos, along with the Exterior 360° and Interior 360° interactive presentations.

Flick Fusion’s AutoSpin 360 interactive presentations provide dealers with greater insight into their customers’ online shopping behaviors with complete reporting on consumer engagement with the interactive presentations, no matter where the presentations are posted, including third-party sites and social media platforms. Views, clicks and other viewer interactions are trackable, and this data can be pushed into the dealership’s CRM for real-time account updates and activity notifications.

Flick Fusion has integrated AutoSpin 360 with a large number of website partners. Additionally, AutoSpin 360 interactive presentations are easily integrated into a dealership’s video email and texting campaigns, as well as live video calling technologies.

Dealers can also choose to generate inventory vehicle videos from AutoSpin 360 presentations, with no additional time or effort beyond their normal merchandising process.

To learn more about AutoSpin 360, visit Flick Fusion’s Booth # 6400N at the NADA Convention & Expo, February 14-17 in Las Vegas, NV. View a sample AutoSpin 360 presentation here, or contact sales@flickfusion.com or call 515-333-4337.

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion offers a full-solution video hosting, marketing and distribution platform to automotive and other inventory-based industries. The platform delivers automated, integrated and rule/behavior-based, including geo-targeted, video content in real-time, across multiple touchpoints and throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Flick Fusion makes it easy for dealers to create desktop and mobile-friendly vehicle inventory videos, video email and customer engagement videos such as testimonials, service department overviews and more. Videos are proven to capture more buyers' attention, advance organic SEO rankings, generate leads and increase conversion rates. The Flick Fusion system builds emotional value and customer loyalty for more than 3,500 brands and preferred partners.

New platform offers cost-effective, fast solution for creating videos that promote auto manufacturers’ incentives

Urbandale, IA—December 2, 2019 – Flick Fusion introduces Dynamic Marketing Videos (DMVs) for auto dealerships, greatly reducing the time and expense associated with creating marketing videos that promote manufacturers’ incentives. The DMV platform allows auto dealerships’ ad agencies and video marketing resellers to quickly create scalable, customized video content for all of their dealership clients at an extremely low cost.

“One of the most-used and desired types of marketing content are videos that promote auto manufacturers’ monthly incentives,” said Tim James, COO of Flick Fusion. “These videos create a sense of urgency for car shoppers and can be used in Facebook campaigns, email campaigns, YouTube pre-rolls ads, regular Google ads, remarketing, retargeting, websites, you name it.”

Auto manufacturers frequently announce new incentives such as 0% interest, cash back or lease specials. With traditional methods of video production, it can take up to a week to create a video that promotes the OEM special, with video production costs ranging from $500 to $5,000 per video. Since the OEM promotions typically last 30-, 60- or 90-days, dealerships can spend a lot of money for a video they use only for a limited time.

Flick Fusion’s Dynamic Marketing Videos platform solves this problem. Ad agencies and video resellers can use their own video content or use Flick Fusion’s existing video content that showcases every make/model. Flick Fusion can also create custom video content upon request.

All that’s required is to create a campaign templates (one time), upload video content to the DMV platform, enter in the incentive variables and click “Save.” Within five minutes a short, dynamic video is automatically produced.

If an ad agency has 100 dealership clients, videos can instantly be customized with each dealership’s logo and contact information. Assuming the dealerships’ logos are already uploaded into Flick Fusion’s SMARTFLICKS platform, all a user has to do is choose an option to create multiple branded videos. Within five minutes, the agency will have 100 videos customized for each dealership brand.

Click here to learn more and view sample DMVs.

For more information, contact sales@flickfusion.com or call 515-333-4337.

About Flick Fusion

 Flick Fusion offers a full-solution video hosting, marketing and distribution platform to automotive and other inventory-based industries. The platform delivers automated, integrated and rule/behavior-based, including geo-targeted, video content in real-time, across multiple touchpoints and throughout the entire purchase cycle.

Flick Fusion makes it easy for dealers to create desktop and mobile-friendly vehicle inventory videos, video email and customer engagement videos such as testimonials, service department overviews and more. Videos are proven to capture more buyers’ attention, advance organic SEO rankings, generate leads and increase conversion rates. The Flick Fusion system builds emotional value and customer loyalty for more than 3,500 brands and preferred partners.