Everyone has that one friend constantly taking photos or shooting videos with their cell phone. Apple's new iPhone 14 has more sophisticated cameras than ever. The camera in my iPhone 13 Max Pro is better than my Nikon and so much easier to use.
Shops now are using more and more videos to perform tasks all the way from providing quick updates for their employees, partners and customers, to training sessions, informational meetings and more. The best part is they don’t need to be Oscar-worthy or highly complex to be effective.
Angel Iraola from Net Computer Business Solutions in Walnut Creek, CA, has been leveraging videos for his clients all over the country for more than a decade. Many of them are less than five minutes in length, and very affordable for even his smallest clients.
In most cases, a technician, painter or front office person can shoot and edit the videos with their cell phones. Then, Iraola posts them everywhere online and uses his strategies to share them with the right markets and the right time. He has also encouraged many of his clients to use videos for customer service and internal communications.
Iraola’s body shop customers love videos and have seen positive results almost every time, he said.
“Many technicians are now using their cell phones to document an entire repair, which is outstanding,” he said. “They are able to engage the customer and keep them in the loop from start to finish. Rarely do they ever question anything because they can see each stage along the way. There are no more surprises on a Friday afternoon when they get their car back.
"Paperwork and even regular photos are not as effective and videos are so easy to produce---it ends up being an essential and valuable part of the repair process.”
The video explosion is ongoing, with YouTube firmly at its center. YouTube had 2.6 billion users worldwide as of 2021, according to Statista. The only social network with more monthly active users is Facebook, with 2.9 billion.
“Today, almost every industry in existence is using video increasingly as a tool to sell products and services,” Iraola said. “It enables them to provide full transparency for itself and its customers and building trust. In an age of instant information, customers will believe it only when they see it, and there is nothing more instant and real than video.”
In the collision repair industry, shops are embracing video, and many insist all their techs and advisors use it on several levels. The scenario differs, but in many cases, a technician will find something additional that requires attention now and wants to communicate it to the customer or insurance company. Rather than using a lengthy text, email or phone call to explain the issue, a video tells the whole story fully and succinctly.
If you want to monitor the explosive evolution of video worldwide, take a look at the never-ending growth of YouTube and be assured every industry on the planet is currently looking for new and exciting ways to use it.
Ed Attanasio