IRVINE, Calif., November 5, 2020 – Kelley Blue Book, with Upper Diamond, today announced its coveted Brandon Hall Group Gold award win for “Best Sales Training Program for Extended Enterprise” and Silver award win for “Best Use of Video for Learning” for its Instant Cash Offer training program delivered by The Learning Academy e-Learning Platform. Since launching the program in early March 2020, enrollment has surpassed 900 dealerships, equating to more than 6,000 dealership employees.  

The Learning Academy e-Learning Platform solves a real need for an easy-to-use, well-priced custom system designed to deliver extended enterprise learning to any network of dealers, affiliates or franchises, who buy the Instant Cash Offer product and require training. It offers quick onboarding, especially for individuals who do not spend much time on computers and prefer the use of mobile devices.  

“The team set out to build a best-in-class training program for our dealership clients, investing in the opportunity to enhance and strengthen the already existing virtual and in-person dealership training efforts and drive overall dealership success,” said David Berry, senior manager of operations for Kelley Blue BookSM Instant Cash Offer. “The Learning Academy e-Learning Platform allows dealerships to access Instant Cash Offer content at any time and on any device to onboard a new employee until the virtual or in-person training is scheduled.” 

With this program, dealership staff can be onboarded at a faster rate. The program establishes a standard to certify an employee in the use and application of the Instant Cash Offer product and processes, as well as be interactive, engaging and relevant. This illustrates best practices for turning a car inspection into a lead for a vehicle sale, all while integrating Kelley Blue Book’s trusted brand into the dealership experience and prestige in the mind of consumers.  Through the mobile-friendly platform, dealership staff experience how to be successful with Instant Cash Offer across multiple customer touchpoints, including in-showroom, online, home and remote services, how to follow-up, the walkaround inspection, and more.  

The Instant Cash Offer training program helps create fast, easy conversations that alleviate price anxiety and leverage the Kelley Blue Book brand in conversations with customers. Dealership personnel also have the ability to manage and monitor their staff performance across multiple dealerships, helping each employee move from proficiency to trade-in mastery with ease.  

Award entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts and executives based upon the following criteria: fit the need, design of the program, functionality, innovation and overall measurable benefits. Excellence Awards winners will be honored at Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Excellence Conference, January 26-28, 2021, at the Hilton West Palm Beach, Florida.  

“The Excellence Awards serve the critical function of reinforcing the essential business benefit of creating great experiences for candidates and employees,” Brandon Hall Group CEO Mike Cooke said. “All award winners must demonstrate that their HCM programs drive bottom-line business results. That’s what sets our awards program apart from all others.” 

For more information about Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, visit https://b2b.kbb.com/ico/. To see the Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer program in action, visit https://vimeo.com/upperdiamond/review/401087434/3c9fbc6b09. For more information about The Learning Academy e-Learning Platform, visit https://thelearning.academy/. For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book, follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/kelley-blue-book/.                                                                           

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)  
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides market-reflective values on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor tool, which provides a range for what consumers can reasonably expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. Car owners looking to sell immediately can also get a redeemable, transaction-ready offer with Kelley Blue BookSM Instant Cash Offer. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand.  

About Cox Automotive  

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues of $21 billion. www.coxautoinc.com  

About Upper Diamond (www.upperdiamond.com)

Upper Diamond is strategy driven 14-year-old digital agency dedicated to elevating conversations that deliver maximum results in learning, sales enablement and marketing. Our development of thelearning.academy is a result of our legacy of innovation in the marketing, technology, and content creation space.  When it comes to supporting sales-centric organizations, we know that a single-digit percentage increase in conversions can lead to substantial gains in revenue and sales force retention.

From our experience in automotive, we know that your salesforce is your most valuable resource and that keeping them motivated, prepared, and engaged is the key to not only the company’s success but their own success.  We’ve produced numerous assets, designed curriculum, and created tools tailored to support recruitment, retention, personal development as well as decreasing the time needed for new salespeople to be proficient. Upper Diamond’s learning and development focus includes an expertise in promoting diversity and enhancing understanding of organizational inclusion opportunities.

About Brandon Hall Group

Brandon Hall Group is an HCM research and advisory services firm that provides insights around key performance areas, including Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition and HR/Workforce Management.

With more than 10,000 clients globally and 25 years of delivering world-class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing research that drives performance in emerging and large organizations, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results.

Our mission: Empower excellence in organizations around the world through our research and tools each and every day.

At the core of our offerings is a Membership Program that combines research, benchmarking and unlimited access to data and analysts. The Membership Program offers insights and best practices to enable executives and practitioners to make the right decisions about people, processes, and systems, coalesced with analyst advisory

services which aim to put the research into action in a way that is practical and efficient. (www.brandonhall.com)                                                                                                          

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