If you run an auto repair service, having a video along side your advertisements can attract new customers, but if done poorly it can also scare customers away. What things attract auto repair customers and what things cause them to shy away? We asked 115 people to share their opinion.
In the auto repair industry, there is a general fear among consumers that they will not receive honest service. 43% of the people we surveyed would not use the internet to choose an auto repair shop. 36% would try asking friends and family first before resorting to the internet. Leaving 20% saying they would use the internet as their first method for finding an auto repair service (Note that 4% of people do not use auto repair shops. Some "no's" commented that they have a friend or family member that is a mechanic.). Of that same group of people, 50% said they would not watch a video before choosing an auto repair service. They gave several reasons for this. Most popular was that they expect the video will fail to provide an honest and authentic explanation and representation of the business. This is followed by complaints that videos are usually too slow, time-consuming or long-winded. The remaining comments were that they did not have time, prefer the text version, they wouldn't know what they were talking about anyway, they must really need business, they are probably expensive if they can afford a video, and that it won't quell their fears of being ripped off.
On the flip side, 50% of consumers say they would watch a video if unfamiliar and in need (almost all of the 57% that would use the internet). The reasons these customers would watch a video was most popularly that they wanted to see what they are offering. Second most popular was that a video is helpful. And some of the remaining reasons were that they want to see the inside and how it operates and other key information and that they look established for having a video.
When it comes to video length, people are less likely to click on an auto repair service video that is too long for their preference. Longer time lengths signal that the video may not be concise. When we asked "What length of time should an auto repair service video be limited to?", here are the results:
- 30 seconds: 29%
- 1 minute: 28%
- 2 minutes: 16%
- 15 seconds: 9%
- 90 seconds: 6%
- No limit: 4%
- Other (3 minutes, 5 minutes): 3%
In my own observation, customers in browsing mode, seem to lose interest around 40 seconds. Once out of browsing mode, and into a more serious purchase mode for large ticket purchases, customers are open to longer watch times.
When asked "What things in a video would help you feel more confident choosing the auto service shop?", the first 1 to 3 things that came to their mind are listed below. Note that when we ask in a different way, "Should the video include pricing?", for example, 78% answered yes. But when asked to answer off the top of his or her head, price was mentioned 14% of the time. This open ended approach captures all the reasons you don't think of.
- Shop is clean and organized 25%
- Good pricing 16%
- Appear knowledgeable/high quality (good work ethic, years in business) 15%
- Mechanics/staff appear professional, uniformed, prideful 14%
- Appear honest, trustworthy, straightforward 12%
- Welcoming, friendly, smiling customers and employees, comfortable waiting room 7%
- Reviews, testimonials (real, credible) 7%
- Shop appears busy with customers 6%
- Owner comes across well, family-oriented, intelligent 4%
- Professional atmosphere 4%
- Good location/Nice neighborhood 4%
- Concise/Clear/Video gets to the point/quick 4%
- Providing full tour and information not hiding aspects of the business 4%
- Efficiently-operating 3%
- Authentic footage of business and real people not actors 3%
- Certifications 3%
- Great customer service 3%
- Wait times/Time to repair info provided 3%
- Guarantee/Warrantee 3%
- Nice Building 3%
- Safe environment 2%
- Extra services/Variety of services (oil changes) 2%
- Owner is local (and available, been around a while) 2%
- Employee pay scales mentioned 1%
- Good reputation 1%
- Positive customer comments under video 1%
- They have no video 1%
- They have a video 1%
- Shows repair process to justify honest pricing 1%
- List of actual repair work completed 1%
When asked "What things in a video would cause you to shy away from choosing the auto service shop?", the first 1 to 3 things that came to their mind were:
- Unclean or disorganized 30%
- Too pushy, over-selling, exaggeration, lack of candor, gimmicks, lack of honesty 18%
- Employees appear unprofessional, sloppy, standing around, smoking 17%
- Shabby building 13%
- Bad neighborhood 10%
- Overpriced 8%
- Owner/Manager narrator looks messy or unprofessional 6%
- Lacking authentic footage (cheesy, staged, overproduced, generic) 6%
- Lack of experience/knowledge 5%
- Poor video production quality 5%
- Lack of pricing 3%
- Presence of video itself 3%
- Unsafe work environment 2%
- No references/No BBB/No reviews 2%
- Poor customer service 2%
- Arrogance 2%
- Lack of information 2%
- Lack of shots of the business 1%
- Lack of good work ethic 1%
- Long wait times 1%
- Cold impersonal environment 1%
- Loud music in facility 1%
- No personal approach 1%
- Lack of presence of owner 1%
- Long closeups of the narrator 1%
- Too much information at once 1%
- Lack of customers 1%
- Video length too long 1%
- Video is boring (lacks entertainment and background music) 1%
- Facility is too big 1%
- Signs the employees are underpaid 1%
We asked consumers if an auto service shop video should include these 7 features:
- 74% want pricing/deals (21% indifferent, 5% do not want)
- 64% want the owner explaining their service in the background (29% indifferent, 7% do not want)
- 57% want the mechanics working (33% indifferent, 10% do not want)
- 56% want the back work area (36% indifferent, 7% do not want)
- 51% want the building and surroundings (38% indifferent, 11% do not want)
- 51% want the owner telling their story (40% indifferent; 15% do not want)
- 50% want the waiting area (40% indifferent; 11% do not want)
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