Auto technicians at the Sacramento, CA-based Niello Co. dealership group can make extra money beyond what they’re paid for working on cars.
They can win prize money from their employer for shooting best-judged videos that provide a visual walkaround of vehicles in for service (see link to video below).
The videos are digitally sent to customers so they can see rather than just hear what’s wrong (and right) with their vehicles.
“We believe having a technician-shot video for every car is a necessity,” Tully Williams (pictured below, left), the nine-store dealership group’s fixed operation director, tells Wards. “Good videos double the selling of service recommendations.”
Here’s how the contest works:
Store managers weekly pick what they deem as their dealership’s best video. The winner gets $100. That’s four winners per month per store for the Niello group that leans towards premium brands such as Porsche, Acura, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo.
At the end of the month, a panel of managers picks the top 10 videos. The monthly first-place winner gets $2,000; second place $1,500; third place $1,000; fourth $750; and the rest $500 each.
A well-done video builds customer trust, Williams says.
How did he come up with the idea?
“I love contests,” he says. “They drive behavior. They drive the results we’re looking for.’
Commending Niello’s initiative is Skyler Chadwick, Cox Automotive’s director-product consulting.
Service videos sent to customers “are the future of fixed ops,” he tells Wards. “They will continue to evolve and sell more service labor hours.”
Cox Automotive’s Xtime software includes a platform called Enhanced Multi-Media that auto technicians and advisers can use to text customers photos and videos of vehicle service issues.
“This kind of transparency helps customers understand needed repairs, increases service revenue and improves the overall customer experience,” Chadwick says.
He calls videos “the next big thing” in auto retailing. “OEMs are getting behind them. As that happens, they become more valuable for dealerships.”
What makes for a great service department?
Chadwick (pictured below, left) recommends following this process: “Thank that customer for choosing your dealership, tell them the good things about their vehicle and how well they are taking care of it by getting it serviced. Then focus on vehicle needs.”
Niello’s contest goal is consistently produced quality videos, Williams says. “Sometimes, technicians can be on the dry side, so we encourage them to open up.”
On the other hand, hamming it up is discouraged, he adds. “And these aren’t Steven Spielberg productions. They should be about a minute long. After that, a viewer can lose interest.”
Here’s one of Niello’s winning videos.
Dealerships such as the Niello group are “trying to get their technicians out of their comfort zone and understand the power of video,” Chadwick says.
Yet some Young-Turk mechanics don’t need much coaxing, he adds. “We’re seeing a younger generation of technicians who are used to being on social media platforms featuring videos.”
It’s not only the extroverts who win at Niello.
One of its Porsche technicians, whom Williams describes as “a very reserved guy,” recently won the top prize.
