Have you ever dreamed of driving your vehicle into a studio at your dealership, pushing a button and driving out after 90 seconds with all your interior and exterior pictures instantly published online? This technology exists today.
Producing and publishing pictures of your inventory is a core operational process. The better picture quality achieved and the faster they’re published will significantly increase your bottom line. An automated process can fully eliminate many barriers that exist in the traditional process used by most dealers, consider the following:
1. Studio Quality Pictures
The picture represents your “first impression” to a buyer. Producing consistent, quality pictures reflects the value of your dealership and the vehicle’s value.
Traditional parking lot pictures often include undesired reflections and change based on the weather and time of day taken, while studio pictures create perfect reflections every time.
2. Time and Expertise
We never seem to get enough of these two valuable resources. A studio does not require re-shoots, nor is the quality defined by the weather, time of day or photography experience, all these resources are expanded through studio operations. Detailers, porters or your in-house support team can all operate a push-button system and obtain quality results.
3. Instant Media
A studio automatically publishes five types of media at the end of every session. Results show instantly on your website through an HD viewer and exported to all third parties. Look for one that creates and publishes a multitude of pictures, 360-degree spins, ultra-zoom inspections, interior panorama and YouTube videos.
The above conquers the major challenges in picturing your inventories. One studio can support one or multiple dealerships and installation of a studio at your dealership does not require a capital expense or any start-up cost. The costs are likely similar to what this task costs you today, or less than traditional cost of higher volume dealerships. A single studio can complete over 100 sessions per day.
System Basics
A studio system is a fixed, timed session of 1-minute, 20 seconds with an average drive-in to drive-out time of 4 minutes, 10 seconds. There are fixed cameras within the studio set to take a wide field-of-view picture, so all size vehicles are fully captured in the pictures. The media administration console allows the system to zoom in/out to desired preferences for each account globally. Look for a system which upon selecting your preferences once, it creates a consistent result.
Inventories/Exports
Inventories are updated hourly to the studio and all exports are sent to third parties. Media is created during the session and immediately exported and displayed on your website on an HD viewer that reads the cloud for content, enabling instant display of media as the vehicle exits the studio.
Operations
Operations involve driving a vehicle into the studio and completing two tasks:
1. Place the interior panorama camera on the console of the vehicle and press the start button.
2. Go to control center, enter last four digits of VIN, the vehicle will display, then select “launch” the session.
The system will shut the door, turn carousel 1.5 turns, operate cameras, re-open the door and upload all content at the end of 1-minute, 20-second session. Interior and exterior pictures are automatically created without the operator ever pressing a shutter release button on a camera!
An automated photo studio is a tool that will effectively complement your sales efforts and make your operation more efficient.
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