A Profile on The Kia Store

The Challenge

As Fixed Opes Director for the Montgomery Auto Group, Scott Fraze  oversees eight franchise dealerships in Kentucky – four of which are located  within a 10-mile radius of Louisville. His biggest challenge is to keep the customer experience at all stores consistent, with the same service menus, processes and pricing. He also changes the service menu every two years to stay current with the market and keep pricing competitive.

For many years, Fraze has used Kia’s KORE owner retention program (ORP) for service marketing. In 2017, Fraze tried transitioning to an all-digital approach, but that channel alone was missing the mark. When business dropped, he quickly realized he needed to reinstate his direct mail strategy. However, he wanted to move beyond generic oil change and maintenance coupons and postcards.

Our Solution

Later that year, Fraze approached Affinitiv to discuss a new marketing strategy. He decided to upgrade from Kia’s KORE ORP to KORE Accelerator to include more communication channels, then also added a highly-customized direct mail program. He piloted the program at The Kia Store in Louisville.

While he wanted the marketing strategy centered on direct mail, Fraze saw the value in complementing the program with digital marketing. He continues to use Facebook, PPC, email, phone and textng as part of his omni-channel approach.

Affinitiv developed a highly-customized direct mail program that sends out VIN-specific, personalized auto-cued mailers with service menu offers and corresponding coupons based on customer data, vehicle history and mileage. Examples of mailers include:

• Service Reminders 2-3 weeks prior to scheduled maintenance
• Overdue Maintenance Reminders 2-3 weeks after scheduled maintenance
• Declined Services Reminders 2-3 weeks after scheduled maintenance
• Event-Specific Messages such as new owner welcome, happy anniversary, service thank-you, service team introductions
• Seasonal Offers

Proven Results

From June 2018 to June 2019, The Kia Store has seen the following results:

$300 New Average Customer Pay RO After a nearly 50% Increase

30% YOY Increase in Customer Pay RO Volume

15% YOY Increase in Warranty RO Volume

65%-70% Closing Ratio of Direct Mail Offers

Additionally, Fraze credits the personalized and transparent offers with helping him strengthen customer trust and build relationships. “There’s a lot of folklore out there that dealerships are very expensive,” he said. “We are completely transparent with pricing and the customer knows whatever price they see on that postcard, that’s the price they will be charged. That trust helps us retain more customers.”