We have a lobby set in the studio.  Over the years, we’ve had a number of service menu boards on the wall.  Our first menu boards were those with the strips that you slide into slots.  Once we did a shoot where we went online and designed our own menu board from a template, adding in services and pricing, and the company printed off our custom menu board and shipped it to us.

Last week we did our first shoot with our new digital menu board in the background.   We had a flat screen TV on the wall behind the service counter playing a rotation of service items: sometimes it was a traditional list of services with prices, other times a particular service was highlighted with a related 3D animation illustrating the service.  We were able to show specials and promotions.  For example, when the oil change service was highlighted, the digital menu board displayed options for conventional, synthetic and high mileage.  We even showed some accessories that could be installed “while you wait”.

As a semi-knowledgeable consumer – the menu board serves as a memory jogger for services I might need; but for those not so familiar with the services, a static menu board can be confusing or even intimidating.  With a digital menu board, you can completely turn that around with dynamic content so that time spent looking at the menu board is educational and even motivational.

Think about the restaurants you’ve patronized during the last couple of months.  If you’re like me you’ve stood in your share of lines and ordered off the menu on the wall (the Louisiana Shrimp Po Boy at Chubby’s for lunch today).  You’ve also made selections from a printed menu.  If there are no pictures of the menu items (go ahead and snicker) you’re left to your imagination’s interpretation of the menu description.  Do you ever find yourself looking at other diner’s entrees for something that looks good and then asking the waiter what they’re having?  Visual input is very powerful.

Restaurants of all sorts are embracing the concept of a digital menu board.  It allows them to communicate what they offer in the best way possible.  In an automotive center, a digital menu board allows you to make a great presentation to your customers even when you are helping someone else or working on paperwork.  You’re customers will see your specials, be reminded to replace their worn wiper blades, learn how disk brakes work – all from your digital menu board.

To my way of thinking, a menu board will never turn a Service Advisor into an order taker – “I’ll have a #3, please, with a side of 5W 30”; but a well designed, customizable digital menu board will help a Service Advisor sell more needed services as customers are exposed to your offerings in a visually impactful way. 

AutoNetTVcreates powerful automotive service videos for your website and automotive lobby TV to increase CSI and lift sales.