General Motors: How a Personal Touch Can Build Brand Loyalty

Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, has revealed that she makes time to respond to every letter she receives – a practice that shows how personal engagement can positively impact brand perception and customer relationships.

Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Mary says that she regularly receives correspondence from both employees and customers. "I also get letters from consumers who are unhappy about something, and I respond to every single letter I receive," she explains. "To me, this is such a special business."

According to Mary, the letters range from customer updates "when their odometer turns over to 200, 300, 400" to correspondence from children.

In 2019, Mary sent a letter to children local to the company's Lordstown plant following announcements that the facility was being closed.

She wrote "Thank you for sharing your thoughts and pictures with me. I see how much you care about your family, friends and community, and I understand why you are sad and worried. I want you to know that I care about them, and about you."

"Like you, I am proud of them and grateful for the years they've been part of our GM family. We're working hard to continue finding ways to support them and your community."

Personal responses drive customer connection

This approach to communication is not new for Mary.

In 2015, Carolyn Rodz, founder of the Circular Board – a virtual start-up accelerator for women – wrote in Entrepreneur that she sent Mary a cold email about an initiative for female entrepreneurs.

While Carolyn said that Mary "respectfully declined" the offer, she noted that the response she received felt genuine and authentic.

She wrote: "She not only acknowledged my request and respectfully declined, but she took the time to encourage my pursuit and commended me on my efforts. She validated my vision and affirmed my commitment."

According to Carolyn, this interaction helped the firm to build long-term brand loyalty.

"Truth be told, she built such loyalty in just a couple of paragraphs that I'm considering buying a GM car next time I'm in the market," she says.

Authentic engagement shapes brand perception

According to leadership development researcher Zach Mercurio, genuine, thoughtful interactions such as these can not only improve brand loyalty but also create better leaders.

In an interview with CNBC, he shared that, having studied employees across industries for over five years, he's found that employees say they feel they matter most when they have meaningful conversations with their boss.

He said: "They've all talked about small interactions in which someone truly sees them, hears them, is there for them and reminds them that they're needed."

Having a robust leadership strategy in place is important for General Motors as the company looks to shift its electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing strategy amid widespread upheaval.

At a fireside chat, Mary said "Our destination is to get to the all-EV future we've been talking about," which she says has become increasingly complex due to the introduction of new tariffs and shifting EV regulations.

Mary said the company is introducing a "pragmatic" approach to its EV strategy by introducing hybrids to bridge the gap as charging infrastructure improves.

General Motors reported a one-time earnings hit of $7.1bn (£5.5bn) in its January quarterly financial results, which it attributes to unpredicted strategic changes.