AIS will keep spending to retain its customers

Despite the declining economy, cellular operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) plans no major cuts to its customer relations management (CRM) budget, because it wants to maintain customer loyalty.

AIS executive vice president for customer service Wilasinee Pudthikarant said yesterday the total budget for all CRM activities this year is Bt400 million.

She said AIS is unlikely to cut this CRM budget but declined details, pending the board's consideration of the total investment budget.

As part of the programme, AIS has teamed up with the State Railway of Thailand for a discount of Bt60 per ticket to AIS customers paying fares of Bt200 or more. The campaign will run from next month to April - but only on weekends and public holidays.

SRT governor Yuthana Thupcharoen said the campaign would help increase train passenger numbers by 5 to 10 per cent this year, boosting annual ticket sales to Bt400 million.

AIS has 26.7 million subscribers and expects 10,000 to use this scheme.

Wilasinee said Thailand was unlikely to be hardest hit by the impact of the global economic turmoil, but nevertheless consumers would be more reluctant than usual to spend.

Total Access Communication (DTAC) has also continued to focus on CRM activities to maintain customer loyalty.

One popular campaign is its Good Reward, offering Bt50 worth of free calls to post-paid customers for every Bt500 worth of phone bills. The maximum monthly free bonus is Bt200. Since its launch seven months ago the programme has paid Bt50 million in free bonuses.

DTAC currently has over 18 million subscribers.