Auckland’s Travis Cross will represent New Zealand in the 2017 Kia Service Advisor Skills World Cup being held in the Korean capital of Seoul later this month (May).
Travis, a senior Service Advisor with Botany Kia in Auckland, will compete against the best Kia Service Advisors from around the world.
He came out on top in a one day National Skills Cup final against four other contestants held at the Kia Motors New Zealand training centre. Lani Tulia, from Cockram Kia in Christchurch finished in second place and third was Maree McFarlane, of Dunedin Kia. Travis will now travel to the global finals in Seoul to take on finalists from all over the world.
The Kia Motors Skill Cup competition encourages Service Advisors to refine their skills in conjunction with maintaining Kia’s ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction. To qualify for the National Skill Cup finals competition Service Advisors from Kia dealerships around New Zealand completed a 25-question written test, requiring comprehensive knowledge of the Kia product as well as aftersales policies and processes.
Following the nationwide contest, the top five Service Advisors qualified for the final round.
In the national finals the five contestants faced three separate scenario-based challenges, where they were evaluated on their ability to accurately execute Kia’s customer service processes within a specific time frame – phone booking, vehicle check in and vehicle delivery, along with successfully resolution of any customer queries and concerns. They also had to complete a 50-question examination.
All five contestants said it was a challenging event, especially having to complete tasks against the clock and under the watchful eyes of three judges.
National Service Manager Craig Buckley says: “It is designed to be a true test of the individual knowledge and interpersonal skills of the Kia Service Advisor, as well as challenging them to strive for excellence in all aspects related to Kia processes and customer service experience. All of the finals contestants represented themselves and their respective Kia Dealerships proudly and at the end of the event there was very little between them.”
Travis, who has been working with the Kia brand for three years, was surprised and delighted to have won the national final against four very skilled competitors and is now looking forward to preparing himself for the world cup in Seoul.
“It will be my first visit to Korea and I’m really looking forward to it,” he says.
“I know the competition will be even tougher over there, but if I just concentrate on doing what I do on a daily basis and make sure I follow the right process I hope to do well.”
