Mr Elsworth, the former chief operating officer of Hyundai Motors Australia and previously executive director of sales and marketing for GM Holden, said the personalised video business, CitNOW, has “tremendous” implications for Australian dealerships.
He said CitNOW is about personalising videos for individual customers.
“We are dealing with a whole generation of people that have grown up with YouTube and who expect a lot of things from video, whether it is entertainment, training, shopping, education – in fact everything,” he said.
“For a lot of people, pretty much everything revolves around video.
“Applying it to the automotive industry, a service technician will be able to video the problems with a customer’s car and then put that video in the hands of the customer in a matter of seconds when they are in the comfort of their homes or offices.
“For me, it’s just a revolution in servicing. For the consumer, no longer do they have to rely on a telephone call from someone at a repair centre who will tell you that your brakes are worn out.
“Now, with CitNOW, the customer can see a technician demonstrate how – for example – the brakes are worn and show it immediately.
“It makes the whole repair process transparent. Transparency builds trust.
“For a service customer, it is the next best thing to walking into a workshop and seeing your car on a hoist and then walking around under it and have a technician demonstrate all the problems. It is fantastic.
“We have only been actively seeing dealers and OEMs over the past few weeks, though I have been involved in the business since September.
“Despite the idea being fresh, we have seen a high level of interest. Once you demonstrate the product, dealers or OEMs quickly see a need for it.”
Mr Elsworth said CitNOW started in the UK and was now spreading through Europe and the US. It is now in 42 countries and is supported by 32 car brands. This year the company expects to turnover $A19 million.
“It is used by brands like Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Ford, Nissan – all the way through to Audi, BMW, Bentley, Jaguar and Ferrari,” he said.
“The breadth of brands involved is because it doesn’t matter what you drive, you still may have trust issues with your dealer.”
Mr Elsworth acknowledged that many dealers are already using video in their businesses.
“The difference with CitNOW is that it is branded to the vehicle or the dealership,” he said.
“It also has contact information such as location maps and contact details such as direct phone numbers and emails, so it’s not just a video.
“One of the key differences is that it is delivered by text message with a link so there’s no big files hitting the consumer’s mobile phone.”
CitNOW also has uses beyond the service side of a dealership.
“New and used-car sales is another application for CitNOW’s apps,” Mr Elsworth said.
“When a used-car salesman receives an inquiry for a used car, he can get up, walk to the car, demonstrate through video the features of the car and immediately respond to queries by the prospective buyer.
“It also allows the salesman to front the video and that personalises the relationship between him and the buyer.”
Mr Elsworth said that training people to use the video app from CitNOW was not a problem.
“The videos are shot on an iPhone and the CitNOW app works on the Apple technology,” he said.
“Everyone who has an iPhone knows how to operate the video function so for a technician, it’s equally as easy.
“Once they practice, they become very proficient. From the technician’s point of view, we see individual self-esteem go up because they are far more involved in the service process and the delivery of information to the consumer than they have ever been.
“It’s another avenue to assist the customer before they venture into a showroom.”
By Neil Dowling
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