When I was hired as Director of Store Marketing for Lithia Motors in 2009, the auto industry was at the nadir of the “downturn;” SAAR was 10.4 M vehicles and Lithia stock traded around $6 a share. From the view inside the marketing department, to hands-on experience with salespeople and customers; it was a once in a lifetime learning experience. Ultimately, it encouragedmeto found Say-So Video and transition from employee to vendor. Here’s what I learned about retail automotive marketing from some of the best people and stores in the industry.
The marketing department was designated LAD (Lithia Advertising Department).While working in the department, I observed consumers’ skill and empowerment to avoid advertising. At the same time, shoppers had gained the ability to access content to better inform them in making purchase decisions.
My biggest takeaway from Lithia was the opportunity to shift more effort into making content available to help consumers make buying decisions and then use advertising to raise awareness of that content. Not because consumers are averse to advertising. They actually aren’t. We simply avoid what holds low value in exchange for our time. Consumers seek help. And that’s the penultimate value of content. When it’s helpful, it fosters the sales process; a large part of which is providing answers shoppers need to progress through their buying process.
The epiphany came when I realized salespeople have the most influence over the purchase because they provide the most help. I learned this through recording hundreds of videos of individual customers and salespeople. Happy customers genuinely appreciate the help they received and they’re still happy they bought their particular vehicle, weeks and months later. What amazed me was learning salespeople often have no clue how much these customers appreciated their help. I’ve seen salespeople tear up watching their customer testimonials for the first time.
What prompted me to leave Lithia was the realization that the most helpful content would be content created by salespeople and their customers. People don’t accept help without trust, so testimonial content created by their customers would invite shoppers’ trust. The salespeople promise to help you and the customers offer proof they do. Presented to shoppers in the right way, it’s a video selling process that could answer questions and offer reasons to visit their store.
It sounds almost obvious now but it took me years and a number of insights to put it together:
1. If they don't visit yourstore, it's game over.
While your people are out out standing on the lot, shoppers are online looking for an outstanding choice.They're reluctant to go to stores until they’re well informed. You should want to standout so clearly that you’re first on their list of store visits because according to several sources; as many as 25% of shoppers now buy at the first store. You need to engage them online to offer them more reasons than price-- like, reasons to consider your models and trust you to help them buy.
2. Authentic videos make you a standout.
While consumers avoid commercials, shoppers hunt for video online. That’s why they rank highly in natural (free) search results. Google says video advances brand discovery and consideration, most watch more than 30 minutes of videos and video drives store visits. Online video is personal; shopperswatch close-up on PCs, tablets or mobile devices. It’s the second best way to demo vehicles for shoppers and the second best selling process (answering questions, adding value; helping them decide). Video can be shared to get feedback from friends and family. Video is also the best medium for customer reviews and testimonials because shoppers are truth detectors and video reviews can’t be faked. There’s an entire industry built around overseas providers of reviews for hire. Watch: https://youtu.be/jgGAeJuv4ak
3. Stores shouldn’t save the best for last.
Consumers say that salespeople are the greatest influence in deciding what and where to buy so why wait to bring them together until the final act? Wouldn’t it make sense to use their natural talents to connect and influence, Online, on video, to connect with shoppers to begin the sales process before they choose which store(s) to visit?
4. It's tough to engage television viewers.
Hard to hear I know, but it all goes to a value vs. time equation for the viewer. I conducted focus groups of recent car buyers who insisted they avoid car dealer TV spots and they had no influence because they either didn’t believe the offers (credibility) or they didn’t believe they would be true for them, due to the narrow scope of the offer. They proved to be very savvy about finance and incentives. I also tracked Lithia stores’ daily unique web site visitors against TV and radio campaigns and found no discernable lift in unique visitors. Most disturbing, one store ran a test on TV spots that proved almost no one was watching the screen during the commercial break.The campaign was on 4 local affiliates for 3 weeks and 150 spots. If you're interested, contact me.
5. Try getting personal; faces draw attention.
People are attracted to faces. It’s human nature. Anthropologists could tell you why we’re compelled to look at faces, something about survival, to judge whether they’re a threat, or a suitable mate-- you get the idea. I can tell you, close-ups of people’s faces are more engaging to viewers than shots of your lot or showroom. I wrote TV spots for stores based on this with the thought that connecting viewers with salespeople would make them feel like they knew someone at a dealership. There were no car shots and no shots of the lot; just the GM and salespeople making “promises” to treat customers well. These assertions invited trust. Stores using these campaigns felt the increased viewer engagement bybeing recognized at the grocery store, the bank, schools; one salesperson said his doctor, upon entering the examining room performed his line from the commercial. Staff involvement also has the potential to spark culture change as they recognize their accountability for what they’ve said, so publicly.
6. Shoppers have “truth detectors.”
It’s a proven human ability we share to read faces, and voices. If you’re going to put your people or your customers in commercials or video, you’re losing impact if they’re too far away from the camera. In close-ups, viewers can read their facial expressions and discern; we all make judgments about whether we believe them or we don’t. Also, if what they’re saying is scripted, you’re risking it will sound scripted and may lack credibility. When your on-camera people are read as credible and sincere, it’s very powerful because you’re connecting with viewers on a personal, human level. Choose simple content and message over production; the rough-cut of thespot above was made from video the store shot. This supportsauthenticity because they're local customers, and local scenes.
7. What makes your happiest customers so happy.
My experience at Lithia showed higher grosses on happy customers and lower on unhappy ones. Happy customers received more value. Every store has happy customers. Some more than others but any store can increase their number of happy customers using video. On a customer experience scale of 1 to 10, ask your salespeople to invite the 9s and 10s to be interviewed on video about their customer experience. You will find a pattern in their comments about their buying experience. These are things you’re doing right. Making these videos available attracts more shoppers who want that kind of experience. If they arrive expecting a good experience that’s more likely what they’ll find. When your staff hears these customer experiences, they learn what to do more of.
8.What your best salespeople do well.
Alarge market store had scheduled tencustomers for interviews. As I talked with each, I was surprised to learn that all 10 were customers of the same salesperson. The other salespeople did not have confidence their customers would respond so they didn’t invite them. This old gentleman was easily their top performer. He wanted to know if I’d like ten more customers. Why was he so confident? He said, “I just call them and say, hey, I need you to do me a favor…” Imagine, he’s been so helpful, he can confidently call customersto ask for a favor! They articulated such wonderful things about him. When you put testimonials like that on your web site to attract more customers, the rest of your salespeople will notice. They’ll recognize those videos mean money for the salesperson they’re lauding and they’ll startto doing what they need to do to have customers say those things about them. Salespeople are competitive and proud so they’d have never asked the old pro for tips or advice. But they can’t help but pay attention to those videos.
9. How you can give more potentdemonstrations.
When you’re interviewing customers about their buying experience, also ask them to show you their vehicleand askwhat they liked about it. When they show you and describe the features, there are two interesting aspects. 1) They’ll show you the features and benefits they personally love and enjoy (therefore, they express it with passion and sincerity). 2) Their description is a paraphrase of whatthey heard from their salesperson, essentially, they parrot their salesperson’s pitch. Their salesperson will recognize their “voice”, be gratified by that feedback and learn what features and benefits resonate with buyers (what works). Knowing this helps salespeople hone their demos to focus on what’s important to buyers.
10. Doesyour Web site help shoppers decide?
Manufacturer required sites are so dense with business information about a retail dealership, there’s precious little of the kind of information that shoppers seek to inform their decision-making. Dealer web sites are more like the reference section at the public library when customers are eagerly looking for the magazine section at Barnes & Noble. Prominently featuring video showrooms on your homepage gives your site the kind of eye candy that invites engagement and content that helps shoppers consider, decide and even foster trust. Shoppers will find video, created by your salespeople and your customers, more relate-able and helpful than any third party site.
What I learned from Lithia's terrific employees and customers inspiredme to found Say-So Video, a Do-It-Yourself Video Selling Process for Auto Dealers. Please get in touch if you found any of these insights interesting, stimulating or just dead wrong. I love problem solvingwith managers, salespeople, customersand marketers.
--Chuck
