Kia Revamps Service Reminder Strategy
Kia Motors America has expanded its automated service reminder program beyond direct mail and email to include text and voice messages.
Previously, KIa used mostly mail and email.
John Crowe, Kia vice president of service & quality for Kia, says the company is hoping new program will give it more unified voice in its customer communications. In the past, Kia used as many as seven different agencies to talk with customers, resulting in a fractured brand message, disparate databases, higher prices and inconsistent service levels.
The system reminds customers to make service and maintenance appointments at their local dealerships. The Irvine, CA auto maker hopes the Kia Owner Retention Experience (KORE) will help cut costs and streamline communications with its customer database and dealers.
In a break from the past, where Kia funded the reminder program itself, local dealers are now partially funding the effort, says Crowe.
This system, developed with OneCommand, lets customers choose how they want to hear from Kia, he says. So far, about 352 of Kia’s 730 dealerships are participating.
New Kia owners now receive welcome messages from dealerships during the first 90 days they own their cars, and get their first maintenance reminders after 150 days. If they continue to bring their vehicle to the dealership for service, they will be considered loyal and will continue to receive service reminders every 150 days, Crowe says. Customers who don’t make an appointment will be considered lapsed or lost and will only get receive quarterly reactivation mailers.
Under the old plan, Kia owners would get two or three e-mails per year with three parts and service coupon offers that Kia pre-determined at the corporate level, he says. (http://directmag.com/casehistories/marketing_kia_gets_response/index.html.
Now, dealers will help determine which parts and service coupons they send to their customers.
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