Township Chevrolet YouTube series educates vehicle owners
Earl Gallant never set out to be a star, but repairing vehicles and documenting it for Township Chevrolet’s YouTube channel occasionally gets him stopped in the grocery store.
“Everyone seems to learn something,” says Gallant, Shop Foreman. “Sometimes what they learn surprises me because I’ll think it’s something everybody would know, but everyone takes something away from the videos. It’s great.”
It’s been barely a year since Township Chevrolet Buick GMC Ltd. introduced an educational YouTube series called “Mechanic Mondays,” where Gallant takes viewers on a journey through vehicle repair, inspection or maintenance.
“It helps to ease people’s minds,” says Gallant. “When a person’s car goes behind the wall, it’s understandable that they’d be a little nervous and wondering what’s happening. After all, they’re spending money on the work.”
Since customers don’t always have the time to hang out in the bays and watch the work in person, Gallant says the YouTube videos allow them to see exactly what’s happening to their vehicle — and why each part is important.
“It’s one thing to see a line on a repair order but with many services, you don’t actually notice a difference when you drive your car home afterwards,” says Gallant. “We always want to show customers the value of preventative maintenance — that by spending a little now, they’ll save a lot down the road — so they feel comfortable with that purchase.”
Although customers’ vehicle knowledge ranges so drastically — from people who could confidently change their own tires to people who struggle with the “doohickey” that holds the hood up — Gallant says the videos have gone a long way in showing customers that Township is built on honesty and transparency.
“We don’t just want to say ‘We did your brakes today.’ We want people to know WHY we did their brakes,” says Gallant. “When they bring their vehicle in for service, we want to make sure they’re aware of exactly what we’re doing, why something needs to be done and how we’re doing it. There’s comfort in that.”
Gallant says the Township team is “constantly thinking outside the box” as they work to set themselves apart from the competition, “setting the bar instead of trying to meet it.”
While customer education is an important tool, he says the greater priority is making sure customers have a great experience and drive away in a safe, reliable vehicle.
“When you drive your car off our lot, we don’t know if you’re heading to the grocery store or if you’re leaving on a cross-country road trip,” says Gallant. “That’s why we want everyone to have a safe and reliable vehicle. That’s always the main goal.”