When someone submits a lead through your website or a third-party website, how does your sales team respond? The first attempt is usually a phone call, but if the prospect doesn’t answer, what next? Depending on the contact information provided, most salespeople text or send an email. Video is rarely included in lead responses. This is surprising, especially when you look at the data behind the effectiveness of video. Video is guaranteed to get attention, inspire more emotion, and is a great way to stand out from the competition.
Additionally, videos are a great way to merchandise inventory to distant buyers, so they can see the car up close before making the drive or purchasing sight unseen.
Here are a few tips on how to create the perfect lead response video.
Live Walkaround Inventory Video
When a car shopper asks about a specific vehicle, make sure to send an inventory video for that specific VIN. If it’s a new car you might be tempted to send a stock video. Don’t. Car shoppers want to see a video of the car they are interested in. Videos of an actual car, on your actual lot, build more trust and get a customer emotionally attached to that car.
Set up a process to video every single vehicle on your lot, and make that library of videos accessible through your CRM. Your salespeople don’t have time to shoot a video for every single lead, so sending pre-recorded inventory videos ensures that your sales team can send a video response within minutes.
Personalized Narration
While sending a pre-recorded inventory video to a prospect is acceptable, the narration over that video should be personalized. This can be accomplished in a couple of different ways. Your salespeople can either choose to record their own audio track onto the live walkaround inventory video, or they can send a picture-in-picture video.
A picture-in-picture video displays a smaller box with a video recording of the salesperson within a larger inventory video. This allows the car shopper to see and hear the salesperson’s comments throughout the video, which starts the process of building trust.
At the beginning of the video, the salesperson should introduce themselves and refer to the lead by name, if possible.
Answer Questions
Most car shoppers include questions with their lead. Is the car still available? What is the price? How many miles does it have? Does it have a sunroof?
Before turning the camera on, jot down every question and be sure to answer all of the customer’s questions in your video narration. If you can’t give an exact price, quote a ballpark figure and include a disclaimer that say the quoted price will vary based on several factors.
Don’t make prospects set an appointment to get the information they need to make their buying decision easier. If you don’t provide the information, a car shopper might search for it elsewhere – and that research could take them to a competitor.
Use Landing Pages
If one video is powerful, imagine the impact of four videos! Rather than sending a single video to a lead, send a link to a landing page that features several other videos in addition to your introduction and inventory video.
A landing page increases the likelihood that the car shopper will watch other videos about your dealership, keeping them emotionally engaged. Include an inventory video of a vehicle similar to the lead’s vehicle of interest, a customer testimonial video and a dealership value proposition video.
Include Call to Action
In every lead response video, remember to include a verbal and visual call to action at the end of the video. Do you want the prospect to call or email you, or set an appointment? Be specific and always display a positive attitude.
If you are looking for a way to stand out from the competition, send videos to every lead. Videos take just one or two minutes to make, but the impact they have on your lead response metrics is substantial.
