I recently stayed at a hotel that claimed they had a pool. Over breakfast I looked out the window and saw the pool. The hotel can check the box and say they have a pool, but does it really satisfy their customers. Does it meet their definition of what a pool is?

I’m not doing laps in this pool. I’m not going to dive in. In fact I might not get my arms wet while I wade through it. And it’s going to get cozy with more than a few kids splashing around. Merriam-Webster defines a swimming pool as “a pool suitable for swimming”. I’m not sure this passes that test.

So, why do I care so much about the size of my hotel pool? Because I see the same check-the-box mentality when it comes to recording videos on the TruVideo platform. An important metric for our clients is tracking how many videos were recorded. On the surface a short, poor quality video still shows on the report as a video recorded, but when you dig in and watch the video, it does not pass the test of informing the customer and adding value to the process.

I’ve seen 18 second videos. I’ve seen videos of the RO sheet and nothing else. I’ve seen videos with the car on the ground, hood closed and the technician walking around saying “your tires look good, your brakes look good, your fluids and filters look good.” Done, check the box!

In my book, not so done and don’t check that box. If we look at the purpose of the video it is to educate and inform the customer. Because we know if they can’t see and understand the recommendations we have a much lower likelihood of selling them any work.

To that end we offer four elements for addressing the quality of the videos in your shop:

1. Staging – Get yourself ready by preparing the car for the video
2. Walk-around process – A paint-by-numbers flow for the recommended walk-around
3. Word Tracks – What to say on everything from dirty air filters to bald tires
4. Report Card – A regular review of videos with grades and feedback on how to improve

At TruVideo we make it dead-simple to record and send videos. And the end result is a great customer experience and improved revenue. But you don’t get those improvements with a weak attempt at a video. Put yourself in the shoes of your average customer who knows very little about their vehicle. What do you need to see that would inform and educate you to make you more engaged and more empowered to make a decision on the repair and maintenance of your car? A good video is so much more powerful than a bad video, and it doesn’t take that much more effort to pull off.

Don’t just check the box. Own it. Get good at it.