How Video Test Drives Make Car Buying and Selling Faster, Easier and More Enjoyable
How Video Test Drives Make Car Buying and Selling Faster, Easier and More Enjoyable
Back in the bad old days of car sales, if a motorist planned
to buy a car, the first thing he or she did was… put off the process for three
months to a year! Finally, when the old
beater started costing far more to fix than the monthly payments on a new car,
they’d pick up a copy of the Consumer Reports annual new car issue, grab the Autos section of the Sunday newspaper
and start doing some homework.
Usually, they’d start with the model. “Hmmm, it needs to fit me, the wife and three
kids, so it has to be a full-size sedan, SUV or mini-van.” With that in mind, they’d narrow their search
down to about a ten makes. Then, of
course, they’d procrastinate until old Betsy started acting up again. Finally, over the next five weekends, the
couple (and the kids if they couldn’t find a babysitter) would traipse off to
the various dealerships.
At each dealership they’d wait in line for an hour or two to
finally meet a busy sales associate who would extoll the virtues of their
vehicles, get them to take a test drive and then attempt to make the sale. Of course, the couple would tell the sales
associate that they weren’t ready to buy, needed to do their homework and would
“be back.”
Eventually, they’d return to one or two of the dealers out
of the ten they had visited and spend another afternoon negotiating, selecting
options and ultimately purchasing a new car.
Flash forward to today’s era of TV everywhere. This is an actual example of how car buyers
and every car sales associate in America can add at least eight leisurely
weekend days to their lives:
Recently, Michael L. and his wife were planning to buy a new
mommy mobile to be used primarily to transport their three boys back and forth
to school, hockey practice, camp and friends’ houses. Michael had negotiated the lease for our
offices and production studios here in Acton, Massachusetts, so he knew about
what we do for a living. He and his wife had initially put ten vehicles on
their hit list. Being professionals,
they understood the need to do their homework but also realized that visiting
ten dealerships with three boys would ruin many family weekends and take
forever to accomplish.
So instead, Michael and his wife sat down one night, after
the kids were asleep and watched ten virtual test drive videos. They noted the
various key attributes shown in the videos such as fuel economy, interior
features, safety and performance. Within
an hour they had narrowed down their choices to just two vehicles. They also
became well versed in each vehicle’s best features. The following Saturday, the grandparents
watched the boys while they visited two dealerships. That afternoon they purchased a nice minivan
that met their needs at a fair price.
This is just one example of how one family of five was able
to add eight leisurely days to their lives. That’s forty person days! But, more than time-saving for the car
buyers, virtual test drives ALSO saved tremendous amounts of time for the sales
associates, eliminating hours spent with car shoppers who were not yet ready to
buy.
Virtual test drives educate the buyer, help the buyer do the
homework he or she needs to do, “Two hours of research in just two minutes” and
reduce a purchase process that can go on for months to just days. Using today’s video technology saves time for
everyone involved, freeing time up for leisure activities and for selling more
cars to smart customers who have done their homework and are ready to buy.
Jim Barisano is the CEO of WheelsTV, a video technology
company that creates interactive virtual test drives now in use by leading auto
dealerships across America. He can be
reached at jimbar@wheelsTV.net or by
calling 978-264-4333…You can also take a virtual test drive at
wheelstvNetwork.com.
Labels: Video Test drives virtual test drives car shopping car selling car research video technology
posted by Jim at
3:40 PM
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