The second wave of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions have forced car dealerships to adapt once again, with sales-facing operations having to close their physical sites for the second time. The good news for dealerships however, is that workshops can remain open and continue playing their vital role in keeping Britain moving.
The government has given workshops an exemption from some of the rules that have been imposed on other businesses, meaning they can continue to serve customers throughout. And importantly, unlike the first lockdown in the spring, the waiver on MOTs – which allowed customers to wait until after expiry to get their vehicles tested – has not been renewed, meaning workshop demand remains steady.
Nonetheless, the pandemic is still around us and so workshops still retain a responsibility in keeping people safe through social distancing and other appropriate measures. This can make it challenging to communicate effectively with customers and ensure that the all important customer-trust is built. Communicating through video offers a practical, safe option for workshop professionals to ‘talk’ to their customers. Here are three ways how:
Demonstrating hygiene measures
As much as customers may want to ensure their car is fixed, properly serviced or MOTd, many of them will still harbour concerns about COVID-19. They will want to know that, if they visit your premises with their car, the risk of infection to them and to staff will be as low as it possibly can be. It’s in this area where an informative video can really help set their minds at ease.
A short information video can showcase all the steps you’ve taken around social distancing, PPE, sterilising surfaces, or making changes to drop-off and collection procedures. These videos can either sit on your website or social media platforms in their own right, or can be added to the start or end of individual customer videos as an extra piece of information. This blog highlights an excellent example of these videos, created by one of our customers.
Maintaining contactless communication
Customers always want to know as much as possible about the work that’s being carried out on their car, whether that’s for their own peace of mind, or for the sake of transparency of the work that is required. Video provides a ‘window to the workshop’ and allows the technician to give a clear, visual demonstration of the vehicle while it’s on the ramp, or demonstrate in detail any new parts that have been fitted. At the same time, measurements that have been taken can also be shown by focusing on the equipment used (for example, measuring tread depth on each tyre during an MOT).
Watch the video below – our Workshop winner from the 2019 CitNOW Awards – for a great example of this in action.
Workshop operatives can also use video to explain their vehicle drop-off and pick-up processes, including any new hygiene measures and a reminder to the customer of what they will need to bring to their appointment.
Building trust and transparency
It’s always been important for customers to feel like they can trust car dealerships and workshops: after all, they’re responsible for an essential piece of equipment that they use in their lives every day. But in the current climate, building this trust is more important than ever, and can be harder to do when you only have the phone or email at your disposal.
Video can form a vital part of inspiring this trust by ensuring every customer is as informed as possible through every single touchpoint they have with a workshop. But perhaps most importantly, it’s the fact that video allows people to see the person they’re dealing with that has the biggest impact.
All these elements can work together to help a customer feel like a workshop has their best interests at heart in everything they do.
To help you bring video to life for your workshop, and to see how you can connect with your customer base better than ever before, register for one of our free webinars.
We’ve also got a wealth of tips and advice on our How2CitNOW video series on YouTube.
