CELL PHONE COUPONS LURE YOUNG SERVICE CUSTOMERS

Amy Wilson Automotive News July 13, 2009

DETROIT -- Ford dealer Chris Rasmussen used to schedule all his service appointments the old-fashioned way: by phone.

But now he is assisted increasingly by the Internet.

For example, students at Buena Vista University in Rasmussen's small town of Storm Lake, Iowa, schedule service appointments using e-mail and cell phones.

Many of them are new customers who found Rasmussen by surfing the Internet for deals. Service coupons on the dealership's Web site got their attention, and the site let them send coupons to their cell phones so they didn't need to make a printout.

"Now I get a lot of the college kids," says Rasmussen, co-owner and general manager of Rasmussen Ford. "They are so used to the Internet; they go and look for that stuff. Those students e-mail me nonstop."

Rasmussen has been offering the cell phone service coupons since February, soon after he rebuilt his Web site with the help of Seritas, a Kansas City, Mo., supplier of dealership Web sites. Seritas has teamed up with Gold Mobile, which provides the technology that enables dealerships to connect with customers on their phones.

Dealerships can customize the coupons. For instance, a store can offer a $500 discount on a vehicle sticker or $10 off a brake job. When a customer signs up online for the coupon, Rasmussen gets e-mail and text message alerts.

Rasmussen declined to share details on the number of service coupons that have been redeemed and their impact on service department revenue. But he says the technology is making a difference.

Rasmussen features about a half-dozen service coupons on his site, and he can change them immediately if some prove more effective than others. Customers who are less comfortable with mobile technology can print out the coupons and bring them to the dealership.

Depending on the level of use, Seritas and Gold Mobile charge $200 to $400 a month for the service coupons. "How many newspaper ads can you run for $400 -- and I can change these daily if I want," Rasmussen says.

Scott Greger, CEO of Seritas, says about 30 dealerships use the mobile marketing applications, including two that are offering the mobile service coupons.

In late June, Seritas and Gold Mobile began offering a text chat service that allows a dealership representative to communicate with a customer by cell phone on a sales or service inquiry.