The automotive industry is evolving, with retailers trialling new strategies to drive innovation and boost efficiency within their aftersales functions. A method continuously proving itself worthwhile is video, offering customers greater insights into required repair work and empowering workshop technicians with the communication tools they need to enhance the customer experience and improve approval rates.
In this blog, we’ll explore three effective methods to give your workshop efficiency a boost using video – from increasing productivity to reducing technician workload.
Improve repair turnaround
With 300,000 workshop videos produced each year in the UK, customers are becoming increasingly used to receiving a video as part of the aftersales process. According to our research, 41% of customers were more willing to approve repair work if they received a video detailing the work required, and 68% did so within half an hour. This shows that video can make a huge difference in both improving work approvals rates and decreasing turnaround times.
Workshop videos can be used for many different purposes, and aiding customer decision-making is a crucial one. By using video, you can build trust with your customers and show them the problem in detail – wherever they may be viewing from. This makes it more likely for them to approve the work without any complex explanations over the phone or face-to-face: a huge time-saver for both the customer and the workshop.
Building rapport is also a great use of video, and a friendly update in the form of a “green” video offers the customer peace of mind and a great aftersales experience to boot. Automation also plays an integral part of workshop solutions, as when the customer views their video, the service advisor receives a notification, allowing them to make a well-timed follow-up call.
With CitNOW Workshop, technicians can easily produce professional-standard videos, stitched together seamlessly using Multipart, which don’t require any specialist equipment and can be shared with the customer while the vehicle is still on the ramp. We’ve even created a handy list of 8 tips to ramp up your aftersales with video to ensure your technicians are comfortable with shooting and sharing videos.
Streamline processes
Another great tip to ensure a better customer experience is to make sure their journey is stress-free and clear throughout. As CitNOW Workshop is easily integrated with other solutions in the CitNOW Group, you can easily take full control of your end-to-end customer experience while simultaneously improving efficiency with automated follow-ups, analytics, diary management, and much more.
REALtime Communications (RTC): makes aftersales diary management easy by enabling available technicians, and more importantly the right technical skill set, to be assigned to planned work. This saves time by automating workshop diaries, improving both efficiency and success rates.
REALinsights: using a machine learning algorithm, REALinsights analyses commercial models and priorities at all levels from sales and stock through to aftercare, finance and more. This real-time data can then be used to improve efficiency further and help departments to adapt to industry changes faster. You can even use REALinsights in combination with business intelligence software to forecast and gain a holistic view of your business, allowing you to identify opportunities and build out a strategy to achieve them.
Aim for more conversions
CitNOW Workshop is designed to remove trust barriers and give customers more clarity when it comes to understanding their repairs. By giving a comprehensive overview and explanation that the customer can view at their own pace, digest and then react to, CitNOW Workshop can remove some of the uncertainty or perceived pressure customers may feel if their vehicle requires a repair.
39% of drivers worry that their car will break down due to neglect, and 56% also worry about affording repairs. By understanding these concerns and sympathetically addressing them through clear, concise videos, retailers can prevent customers from delaying a decision on an “amber” warning that could then become a “red” warning. This saves both the retailer and the customer valuable time by addressing the problem with their vehicle as early as possible.
Another way that CitNOW Workshop can give customers more options is with Bumper, a fully-integrated finance solution. Customers can review the works required via their Workshop video, which can be embedded into the Bumper platform, then see a range of financing options or instalments to pay for repairs via Bumper.
The benefit here for the retailer is that “amber” and “red” work can be converted quickly and more effectively, with a much clearer path and payment plan for customers facing an unexpected purchase.
In summary
The automotive industry is witnessing the power of video in improving efficiency and enhancing their customer’s aftersales experience.
By incorporating video into aftersales processes, retailers can achieve significant benefits, including faster repair turnaround times as clear, concise videos prevent delays in decision-making. With tools such as CitNOW Workshop, technicians are empowered to deliver exceptional customer-focused results – while also improving efficiency.
