CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026: Rules, Prizes & Winning Entry Tips

What Is the CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026?

The CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026 is a free dealership video contest for dealership reps, running August 1 through August 31, 2026, and it rewards the exact skill set that separates top closers from order-takers: personal, authentic, customer-facing video communication on camera.

Here’s the deal. Every single rep on your floor or in your BDC is already shooting videos, texts, and follow-ups every day. This contest just puts a spotlight on the ones who do it right. Entry is free and open to every dealership representative, and according to the official CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026 page from Proactive Training Solutions, you can sign up before August or jump in once the month starts. No budget required. No special gear needed. Just your phone, your floor presence, and the willingness to put your name on a video that proves you know how to talk to a buyer.

One rule to lock in right now: one entry per representative. That means you get one shot to put your best foot forward, which is exactly the kind of pressure that should sound familiar if you’ve ever worked a be-back or a hot lead with a tight close window.

The Prizes: More Than $2,250 on the Line

The Back to Basics Challenge 2026 puts more than $2,250 in cash on the table across five prize categories, plus two Management by Fire (MBF) conference tickets, according to the official contest page published by Proactive Training Solutions.

This isn’t a participation-trophy contest. Each category rewards a different piece of the dealership communication puzzle, which means there are five separate ways to win, not just one. Study the breakdown below before you pick up your phone.

Do the math with your team. Five categories means five realistic lanes to win in, and a GM who rallies even three or four reps to enter is putting multiple shots on goal for the dealership’s name to show up in the winners list come September.

What to Submit (and What Judges Are Really Looking For)

Entrants submit one personal, customer-facing video that demonstrates authentic communication, builds buyer trust, and moves the shopper toward a clear next step, such as responding to an inquiry, confirming an appointment, or following up after a visit, per the official contest rules from Proactive Training Solutions.

Read that requirement again, because it tells you exactly what to film. This isn’t a general “talk about cars” contest. It’s a dealership video contest built around the three moves every great automotive communicator makes on repeat: show up as a real person, earn trust fast, and give the customer a reason to take action right now. If you’ve ever recorded a video confirming a test drive, walking a customer through financing next steps, or checking in after a no-show, you already have the raw footage instinct. You just need to aim it at the camera instead of a single customer’s inbox.

For context on what strong dealership video entries tend to look like, Car Dealership Guy published results from a separate, Covideo-supported “Dealer Video Excellence Challenge” showing judged entries across five distinct use cases: sales and BDC feature highlights, vehicle walk-arounds, visit follow-ups, service multipoint inspections, and aftersale specialist videos. That spread tells you something important: strong entries weren’t concentrated in one department. Sales, BDC, and Fixed Operations reps all produced finalist-caliber videos by sticking to one clear customer scenario instead of trying to cover everything at once. That contest used a judged finalist round, not public voting alone. It’s a different event from the Back to Basics Challenge, but it’s a useful signal: judges in this space reward specificity and real customer scenarios over generic sales pitches.

How to Enter in 3 Steps

Submit your video through the official challenge landing page or by posting it with the hashtag #CovideoChallenge before the August 31, 2026 deadline. Entry is free, limited to one submission per representative, and entrants agree to the official challenge rules at the time of submission.

Step one: film your one video. Pick a real, recent, or recreated customer-facing moment, keep your energy authentic, and build toward one clear ask.

Step two: choose your submission channel. You can submit directly on the challenge landing page, or post your video publicly with the hashtag #CovideoChallenge so it’s tagged and trackable for the contest.

Step three: confirm the fine print before you hit submit. Full rules, including anything about consent, usage rights, and eligibility details, are provided during registration on the official CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026 page.

The Winning Formula: 6 Moves to Build a Standout Entry

A standout entry in a dealership video contest typically combines a specific customer moment, a personal opening, fast value delivery, customer-centered language, and one clear call to action, rather than a generic sales pitch covering multiple topics at once.

You’ve run these plays on real customers a hundred times. Now you’re just running them with a camera watching. Here’s the six-move sequence worth building your entry around.

Notice what’s missing from that list: production value. Nobody’s judging your lighting rig. They’re judging whether a real customer would trust you after watching thirty seconds of you on their screen.

Why This Challenge Plays to Your Strengths

The Back to Basics Challenge rewards personalization, trust-building, and clear next-step CTAs, the same core video communication skills dealership reps use every day on calls, texts, and video follow-ups to move shoppers from inquiry to appointment to sale.

This is the part that should light a fire under your team. You’re not being asked to learn a new skill for this contest. You’re being asked to put your existing skill on display. Every rep who’s ever turned an internet lead into a confirmed appointment by sounding like a human instead of a script already has a winning move in their pocket. The contest just asks you to film it.

And the stakes are real beyond the prize money. Covideo, the video messaging platform behind the contest, describes its dealership tool as a way to share videos via email, text, CRM, and social media to engage buyers and drive showroom traffic. That’s not a side benefit of entering, that’s the skill the whole industry is leaning on right now. A January 2026 LinkedIn post from Hannah Farmer announcing the separate Car Dealership Guy x Covideo Dealer Video Challenge invited professionals across five departments, Sales, BDC, Fixed Operations, F&I, and Customer Experience, to show off the same kind of customer-facing video skill. That cross-departmental reach is the real headline: automotive video communication isn’t a sales-floor-only play anymore. It’s becoming table stakes across the whole dealership, from the service drive to F&I.

Before You Hit Submit: Know the Fine Print

Entrants agree to the official challenge rules at the point of submission, and the full rules, covering eligibility, consent, video specifications, and prize fulfillment, are provided during registration on the official CoVideo Back to Basics Challenge 2026 page. Confirm every detail there before you submit.

Don’t assume anything about geographic eligibility, whether certain employee roles are restricted, exact video length requirements, or how prize fulfillment works. Those specifics live in the official registration flow, not in any recap article, including this one. The smart move is simple: read the full rules once, confirm you’re clear on consent and usage rights for your footage, and then submit with confidence instead of guessing.

Your Next Move

You know the three things this contest judges: personalization, trust, and a clear call to action. That’s also exactly what Proactive Training Solutions coaches dealership teams on every single day, not for a contest, but for show rates, close rates, and unit volume that show up on your sales reports every month.

If you want tactical coaching on nailing your opening hook, tightening your CTA delivery, or sounding authentic instead of scripted before you film your entry, that’s a conversation worth having now, not after the deadline passes.