ALBANY, N.Y. – November 3rd, 2014 –Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) has been honored as one of the thirty “Best Places to Work” in New York State’s Capital region by the Albany Business Review. It is the fifth year in a row that Auto/Mate has received the distinction.

"After five years we don't take this award for granted. We continue to work hard to create an environment where people really want to come to work and enjoy themselves while being productive," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. "I firmly believe that how happy your employees are directly impacts how loyal your customers are and ultimately how successful your company can be."

The Albany Business Review honors just 30 companies each year with the “Best Places to Work” awards. The business journal partners with Quantum Workplace, a Nebraska based research firm, to conduct anonymous employee engagement surveys at nearly 125 companies in the region.  The companies with the highest scores are recognized.

 “We only hire people who are a good fit for our company culture and who we believe personify our core values," said David Druzynski, Auto/Mate’s Director of Human Resources. "The employee survey results provide us with important feedback so we know how we're doing and if we're continuing to meet our goals for creating a great workplace."

In addition to mentoring, career growth opportunities and a choice of health, life and supplemental insurance plans, Auto/Mate offers the following perks to its employees:

• The Body/Shop: in office gym
• Tuition reimbursement
• Casual dress work environment
• Wellness program
• Discounted pet insurance, cell phone plans, home and auto insurance
• Discounted new car purchases and auto maintenance
• Employee outings to carnivals, amusement parks, wine tours & more
• Bagel Thursdays, Cupcake trucks and more!
• Paid time off for volunteering

The “Best Places to Work” winners will receive their awards at a special luncheon on Friday, December 5th at the Troy Hilton Garden Inn.

For information on career opportunities with Auto/Mate, contact David Druzynski at (877) 340-2677 or visit http://www.automate.com/careers.php

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,000 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the “Highest Rated DMS of 2012" and the "Highest Rated DMS of 2013" awards in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 850 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. For more information visit our website, follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to our blog at http://blog.automate.com

Urbandale, IA--October 27th, 2014--Flick Fusion (www.flickfusion.com), the industry's leading video marketing provider, today released InstaVid, an automated video production service that instantly creates and distributes new and pre-owned inventory videos for auto dealers. In many dealerships, the average time it takes to get photos of inventory for listings and videos is two to three days. InstaVid eliminates that wait time so the dealership can immediately benefit from video SEO and reduce the time that vehicles sit on their lot.

"InstaVid helps dealers move metal faster," said Brian Cox, President and CEO of Flick Fusion Video Marketing. "Within hours of a vehicle arriving on a lot, dealers can have videos of that vehicle all over the Internet, generating immediate video SEO. Why wait days to market your inventory when you can begin to attract video views and website visitors instantly?"

Many dealerships don't create any inventory videos or listings for new vehicles. Having videos for new inventory results in more than twice the video views and website traffic that a dealership normally gets if they are only creating videos for used inventory. When a car shopper in a dealer's area is searching for a particular make or model, Google is 50% more likely to return search results that include a video, according to Forrester Research.

When a VIN is entered into a dealer's DMS, InstaVid automatically generates a video featuring stock photos, a professional voice over and banners advertising dealership-specific specials. Each video is VIN-specific and keywords are added before uploading to YouTube and third-party inventory listing sites.

Once the dealership takes photos and/or videos of their vehicles and loads them into their inventory feeds, InstaVid automatically updates the videos, replacing stock photos with the new photos and/or videos. If a dealer decides not to take photos or videos of their inventory, the InstaVid video will remain on the Internet as long as the vehicle remains on the lot.

Inventory videos optimized for Video SEO deliver the following benefits to auto dealers:

• Video search results have a 41% higher click-through rate than plain text results - aimClear
• Viewers spend 100% more time on pages with videos on them - MarketingSherpa
• Videos increase people's understanding of your product or service by 74 percent - QuickSprout
• 90% of online shoppers found video helpful in making purchase decisions - Video Brewery

InstaVid is a fully automated service so dealership personnel don't have to do a thing. To learn more about InstaVid, visit http://flickfusion.com/product-instavid.php

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion specializes in creating, managing, and distributing dynamic and cost-effective online and mobile video products. Each video is designed to help dealerships reach and engage with customers, delivering rich content that results in increased sales and ROI. Flick Fusion produces video content for more than 3,000 dealerships and more than a dozen reseller partners. For more information, visit www.flickfusion.com.

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 27th, 2014 –Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced the successful completion of its first annual User Summit for auto dealers. Dealers and managers from around the country attended the summit on September 19th in Albany, NY. The User Summit was designed for Auto/Mate's dealer clients to learn the newest features of Auto/Mate's dealership management system (DMS), as well as best practices for implementing new technologies into dealership processes. Additionally, attendees enjoyed networking with peers and fellow Auto/Mate users.

"It was really nice to have so many of our customers in one place and to get their feedback and input on various aspects of our software," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. "The Town Hall meeting that we hosted was very informative and we came away with a greater understanding of our clients' needs than we could get in any other way."

The two most popular sessions were the 'New Feature Announcements' which gave an overview of the new desking, dispatch, Open/Mate integrations, data security features and more; and the 'Rockin 101' features overview

"I was very happy to see the new improvements with accounting and payroll...I found the whole seminar to be very informative and I was excited to hear about the new improvements. I am glad I went and appreciate all the hard work everyone put into it," said Melissa LeVasseur, Controller with Don Reid Ford in Maitland, FL.

"It was worth the trip from Ashland, Ohio! It's obvious that Auto/Mate is working for their dealers...and their dealers' workflow and efficiency in mind. It was nice to hear what's coming in the near future and to talk with other dealers about their use of Auto/Mate, and to talk directly with Auto/Mate staff. Finally I can put faces to the voices I've talked with on the phone. Thanks for this opportunity," said Mark Everly, Controller with the Donley Auto Group in Ashland, OH.

Sponsors of Auto/Mate's User Summit included 700 Credit, DealerSocket, Total Customer Connect, MOC1, OneView, Great America, Inland Associates, TimeHighway, Route One, ELeadOne, DealerBaby and Business Partners Forms & Systems.

For more information on attending or sponsoring the User Summit in 2015, contact Jessica Joralemon, Manager of Events & Marketing Communications, with Auto/Mate at 518-371–4331.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,000 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the “Highest Rated DMS of 2012" and the "Highest Rated DMS of 2013" awards in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 850 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. For more information visit our website, follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to our blog at http://blog.automate.com

Clearwater, FL--October 21st, 2014--AutoLoop LLC, a leading developer of sales-generation and customer-retention software for auto dealers, today announced the addition of Sean Donovan as Sales Representative for western North America. Donovan brings nearly 20 years of automotive marketing, technology, and analytics experience to the team, and his new position emphasizes AutoLoop’s continued expansion into the western U.S. market.

“Sean’s an exciting addition,” said John Bottone, AutoLoop’s Vice President of National Sales. “He has a deep understanding of our products and the ways dealers can benefit from them. Having him on the team will be a tremendous asset to our ongoing success in the west coast markets.”

Before joining AutoLoop, Donovan served at dealerships throughout the western U.S., and has watched how the rise of mobile devices has affected the consumer purchasing process. “Today’s dealers must focus stronger efforts on engaging and retaining customers,” he said. “Loyalty is more important than ever, and AutoLoop products can deliver measurable results and stronger revenues."

“My goal is to build long-term relationships,” said Donovan. “I’m excited to show west coast dealers the increased revenue we can drive to their operations. By focusing targeted efforts on their existing customer base, we can increase the lifetime value of every customer.”

About AutoLoop

Since 2005, AutoLoop’s commitment to “Retention Through Engagement” has helped automotive dealerships nationwide increase sales, improve client retention and achieve overall higher satisfaction ratings. With an all-encompassing platform that monitors customer DMS activity in real-time, AutoLoop automatically triggers personalized custom messages through voice, email, SMS and direct mail to precisely targeted customers. An Inc. 500 company with over 35 million names in our database and nearly a billion individual communications initiated, we’re passionate about making AutoLoop America’s best customer retention partner for progressive dealerships.

For more information on AutoLoop, visit the company’s website.

 New Car IQ from Pearl Technology wins 2014 Innovation Cup Award and “YouTube Postal Service” from Robert Karbaum E-Commerce Manager, Weins Canada Inc./Don Valley North Lexus, wins the 2014 Dealer Best Idea Award; presented at 2014 DrivingSales Executive Summit  

Salt Lake City, Utah – October 20, 2014 – DrivingSales today announced the winners of the 2014 DrivingSales Innovation Cup and Dealer Best Idea Awards. “New Car IQ” from Pearl Technology won The Innovation Cup Award for the most innovative dealership solution of the year. Robert Karbaum, E-Commerce Manager, Weins Canada Inc./Don Valley North Lexus took the Dealer Best Idea Award for “YouTube Postal Service.” This is the second year in a row Karbaum has won the award. The awards were presented in Las Vegas on October 14^th at the sold-out DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES). Over 1,000 dealers and industry professionals attended the three-day event, which concluded on Tuesday.

“It always gives me great pleasure to announce the winners of the Innovation Cup and Best Idea awards, especially because they are judged and selected by dealers themselves,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “This year’s finalists were particularly inspiring to our team and attendees. We congratulate Pearl Technology and Robert Karbaum for winning our 2014 competition – and for all the outstanding finalists for sharing their creative thinking and products.”

Selected by dealers from a competitive group of applicants, five finalists for each award presented onstage at this year’s DrivingSales Executive Summit. A panel of dealer judges asked questions of each presenter and scored each solution/strategy. The solution with the highest score was presented with the 2014 Innovation Cup Award. The dealership strategy with the highest score won the 2014 Dealer Best Idea Award, which was sponsored by CDK Global and included $10,000 in cash and prizes.

Pearl Technology’s New Car IQ™, a product that helps solve the complex puzzle of new car pricing by automating incentive integration, auto compiling vehicle competitive sets to trim and color and calculating real-time true market value of every new car, received the highest score in The Innovation Cup Award competition.

Other Innovation Cup finalists were (alphabetically): Lead Launch from CarWars; Mid-Interval Communications from DMEautomotive; Gubagoo Behavioral Engagement & Analytics Technology (BEAST), and Chat and Call Centers from Gubagoo; LotLinx Vehicle Display Network from LotLinx

Robert Karbaum, E-Commerce Manager, Weins Canada Inc. / Don Valley North Lexus, who took home the Dealer Best Idea Award, received the highest score for “YouTube Postal Service,” his strategy of embedding YouTube videos of salespeople in reply emails to lead submissions.

Other Dealer Best Idea finalists were (alphabetically): “Monetize your Digital Assets” - Bryan Armstrong, Internet Manager, VW SouthTowne; “Loyalty-Driven Sales Velocity: in-Store and vBDC” - Erich Gail, COO, Cardinale Automotive Group; “#MyRideYYC” - Shelly Hebert, Business Development/Marketing Manager, Glenmore Audi, and “Free Gas Friday” - Cathy Nesbit and Alyssa Safty, Director of Social Media/Comm.

The DrivingSales Innovation Cup and Dealer Best Idea Awards were part of an exciting 2014 line up that included high-profile keynotes from digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist Brian Solis; content, search, and social media guru Rand Fishkin, co-author the Art of SEO; and Professor of Marketing at Kellogg School of Management, Florian Zettelmeyer, just to name a few. Attendees were also able to choose from 30 breakout sessions featuring industry experts and dealers talking on topics ranging from the importance of mobile devices in today’s car buying, social media, SEO, dealership BDC strategies, workplace culture and its effect on profitability and more.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is where the most progressive dealers gather to collaborate and learn forward-thinking trends in automotive operations. DSES features world-renowned experts on marketing, technology and retail operations from inside and outside the industry, who provide the most valuable and actionable insights for today’s dealership professionals.  The DSES agenda is dealer-driven, ensuring the content is 100 percent focused on the needs of progressive dealers. 

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. 

About DrivingSales

DrivingSales is a professional network serving the auto industry with dealer-driven news and information, online training, and performance data, all to enable dealers to make critical business decisions at their dealerships.  DrivingSales’ mission is to connect progressive dealership professionals to the people and information they need to maximize their success.

Founded by a third-generation car dealer, and opened up to the industry in 2008, today DrivingSales has a registered user in over 50% of new car dealerships in the US and is active in several other countries around the globe.  To learn more about the DrivingSales community, training or performance analytics visit DrivingSales.com, DrivingSalesUniversity.com and DrivingSalesData.com

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 20th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today the integration of its dealership management system (DMS) with etfile's electronic document management solution. Auto dealerships using the etfile document imaging, filing & retrieval system can now receive deals from F&I and Repair Orders (RO's) from service, via real-time delivery from Auto/Mate's DMS. The integration also allows dealers to identify all documents that were not scanned on a given day.

"Auto dealers can create hundreds of documents on a daily basis, and if they're using an electronic filing system the ability to retrieve documents out of their DMS in a timely manner is critical to increasing efficiencies," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate Dealership Systems.

"Partnering with Auto/Mate will allow hundreds of dealerships to take advantage of the benefits associated with our document management system, which include saving thousands of dollars per month in productivity as well as greater accuracy than a human filing papers in drawers," said Mark Linton, President of etfile.

etfile's Enterprise Content Management solutions provide auto dealers with a competitive advantage around customer service and efficient dealership management. Using automated workflows of document scanning and electronic retrieval to create a “paperless” environment helps to streamline the management of parts and repair orders, invoices, and sales paperwork. It also enables dealership employees to instantly retrieve information so they can answer inquiries from partners and customers.

Auto/Mate's dealership management system, Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS), is a comprehensive solution offering robust functionality for any size dealership or auto group, advanced reporting capabilities, along with the best customer service in the industry. For more information visit www.automate.com.

About etfile

etfile is a leading provider of custom integrated, electronic document imaging, filing and retrieval systems offering superior price and performance and comprehensive service and support. Our product portfolio features both client/server and cloud-based content management and automated workflow management software solutions designed to easily scale to the needs of enterprises of all sizes and small-to-medium businesses in all industries. For more information visit www.etfile.com

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. Our Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,100 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the "Highest Rated DMS for Customer Satisfaction” in 2012 and 2013 in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

This is a testament to the more than 900 years of Auto/Mate employees' combined experience working in franchised auto dealerships, the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning their customers' business each and every month, which is why they require no long-term contracts, free software upgrades for life and free training for life. For more information follow them on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to their blog at http://blog.automate.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Clearwater, FL--October 13th, 2014-- AutoLoop today introduced Engage^TM, a call center solution proven to engage customers and increase sales and service profitability for auto dealers. Building on twenty years of call center experience obtained in the 2014 merger with CAR-Research XRM, AutoLoop Engage uses USA-based agents to manage all inbound sales and service calls for dealers, perform unsold prospect surveys to increase sales and provide industry-unique true ad sourcing, service new and aged Internet leads and improve dealership CSI.

"Data collected from the thousands of customers we have spoken with shows that dealerships often answer only one of six incoming sales and service calls properly, and that in service departments more than 70 percent of inbound calls can go to voicemail or result in customer hang-ups from long holds," said Keith Shetterly, Vice President of AutoLoop Engage. "Capturing and engaging these missed opportunities is critical for dealerships to stay competitive and build customer loyalty. That's why we named the product Engage."

Agents undergo rigorous training in AutoLoop's Adept Agent^TM program and are continually focused on getting the best results for dealer clients. They engage with customers to increase sales and improve dealership CSI

The Engage call center solution delivers auto dealers the following benefits:

Increase Sales and Service Appointments

Engage agents respond to Internet leads, mine CRMs for inactive leads, and set sales and service appointments. In dealerships that retain Engage for their service departments, agents have increased service appointment volume by an average ten to thirty percent, resulting in a larger average Repair Order (RO) total overall.

Turn Unsold Customers Into Be-Backs

On average, 80 percent of all showroom ups leave a dealership without purchasing. Engage associates make multiple follow-up attempts and connect with 60 to 70 percent of these unsold customers within a critical two to twenty-four hour time period--before they've had time to buy from another dealership.

This follow-up results in increased be-back and closing ratios.

Discover Process Breakdowns

Engage agents are trained to ask customers about the Road to the Sale (RTS) process in order to discover if and where breakdowns occurred. Often customers had a positive experience at a dealership but don't share their issues while at the dealership and won't tell the salesperson if they call. Engage agents find the truth, resulting in more be-backs and more sales.

Identify Best Ad Sources

Engage agents ask every unsold customer which ad was most prominent in their decision to visit, resulting in the industry's most accurate ad sourcing available. Dealers receive information about which ads, online and offline, are working for them so they can save in their overall ad spend.

Increase Customer Satisfaction and Dealership CSI Scores

Engage agents report customer issues from both sales and service to dealers so they can be quickly resolved, increasing customer satisfaction and boosting OEM CSI scores. USA-based call center associates ensure that the customer experience is seamless and there won't be any language barriers.

"Because we are a third-party service, customers are more comfortable opening up to us and our agents get to know the 'true voice' of the customer,” said Shetterly.  "We find out the real reasons why the customer didn't buy, gather valuable CSI information and drive a significant percentage of customers back to the dealership. Over time our unmatched customer engagement results in improved processes, better customer retention and increased profitability."

AutoLoop Engage is CRM-agnostic and available to dealers using virtually any CRM System. Engage is available immediately to auto dealerships in the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.AutoLoop.com.

About AutoLoop

Since 2005, AutoLoop's commitment to "Retention Through Engagement" has helped automotive dealerships nationwide increase sales, improve client retention and achieve overall higher satisfaction ratings. An Inc. 500 company with over 35 million names in its database and nearly a billion individual communications initiated, AutoLoop is passionate about being the best customer retention partner for dealerships. Follow AutoLoop on Twitter @AutoLoop1 and on Facebook at /AutoLoop1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Urbandale, IA--October 13th, 2014--Flick Fusion (www.flickfusion.com), the industry's leading video marketing provider, today launched Autoflicks^TM for auto dealers, live action videos that provide car shoppers with a virtual test drive experience for every vehicle in a dealer's inventory. Autoflicks are available for nearly every make and model and are designed to drive customers to a dealership's website, keep them engaged with entertaining and informative presentations, and increase website lead conversion.

"Most dealers have inventory photos and videos on their website for their pre-owned inventory, but Autoflicks makes it easy and fast to showcase all their new inventory as well, more than doubling the volume of videos than can be used to market their inventory and website on the Internet," said Brian Cox, President and CEO of Flick Fusion Video Marketing.

Dealers that subscribe to Autoflicks will have access to an ever-expanding library of videos that showcase both new and used inventory in attractive, live action videos. The videos can be used to create a virtual showroom on a dealership's website, with links to videos from every VIN. Dealers can also display videos for vehicles they don't currently have in stock, engaging customers and creating demand that can be addressed regardless of inventory.

Car shoppers searching a dealership's inventory can click on a video and instantly imagine tooling down the highway, using interactive dashboards, and admiring the aesthetic lines of their new vehicle. At the same time the customer is learning everything they need to know to make an informed purchasing decision: from fuel economy to warranty information and dashboard technology. Autoflicks videos emphasize must-have features while relaying important safety and warranty information.

Autoflicks videos can be integrated into a dealership's video marketing strategy in the following ways:

• Create a virtual showroom on a dealership's website
• Display Autoflicks videos for makes and models not currently in stock, creating demand that can be filled or diverted to other makes and models
• Include links to Autoflicks videos in third-party lead listings to differentiate inventory and brand the dealership with a distinct voice
• Include Autoflicks virtual test-drive videos in e-mails and newsletters
• Upload videos to YouTube with keywords for SEO and direct links to the dealership's website, increasing SEO rankings on websites and mobile sites
• Display Autoflicks on a kiosk in a dealership showroom

All Autoflicks videos include calls to action to encourage customers to take the next step. "Live action videos create a stimulating sensory experience for car shoppers that keeps them engaged, increases website lead conversion rates and results in more sales," said Cox.

To see sample Autoflicks videos, visit www.flickfusion.com/autoflicks.php

About Flick Fusion

Flick Fusion specializes in creating, managing, and distributing dynamic and cost-effective online and mobile video products. Each video is designed to help dealerships reach and engage with customers, delivering rich content that results in increased sales and ROI. Flick Fusion produces video content for more than 3,000 dealerships and more than a dozen reseller partners. For more information, visit www.flickfusion.com.

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 13th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (www.automate.com) announced today the final integration of its dealership management system (DMS) with Nissan's dealer communications system (DCS). The completed integration means that 100 percent of Nissan dealers using Auto/Mate's DMS are now able to communicate seamlessly with their manufacturer in parts, service, sales and accounting.

"We are pleased to be one of the DMS vendors approved by Nissan," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. "Nissan dealers can benefit from having more DMS vendors to choose from, as well as the ability to choose virtually any third-party vendor using open standards for integration. More choices lead to more competition and overall lower costs for dealers."

Nissan's DCS is the electronic pipeline through which the factory and dealers exchange data on sales, inventory, service, parts, warranty claims and other sales and operating functions. Key integration points enable exchange of the following information:

Fixed Ops

• Parts inventory/shipper/order/return/master information

• Repair Order data

• Warranty Labor Time Guide

• Special service vehicle campaign

• Customer updates

• Service Appointments to Nissan

• National service history vehicle and customer search to and from Nissan

F&I Sales

• Vehicle inventory adjustment: inbound/outbound

• Retail delivery report

• Credit contracts

• Customer updates

Accounting

• Financial statements

• Warranty payments

• Customer Updates

Auto/Mate's DMS is user friendly, comprehensive dealership management system with more than 20 integrated modules to help dealers manage their business. It supports an unlimited number of users, workstations and printers, and can be implemented in any size dealership or auto group. For more information visit Auto/Mate's solutions page.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,000 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the “Highest Rated DMS of 2012" and the "Highest Rated DMS of 2013" awards in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 850 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. For more information visit our website, follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to our blog at http://blog.automate.com

CreditPlus Brings Consumer-Qualified Payments to Front of Sales Process

Mission Viejo, CA – October 13, 2014 – eLEND Solutions™ today announced the launch of CreditPlus™, the next generation of its industry-leading online, interactive credit application platform. CreditPlus instantly pre-approves shoppers based on dealer-defined credit criteria and provides shoppers with direct, upfront access to dealership financing sources and real near-final terms of approval from multiple lenders, all of which are controlled by the auto dealer.  With CreditPlus, for the first time, dealers are able to match a buyer’s credit profile with the right car and the right lender program before the customer has even started the test drive. This facilitates a more equal exchange of information between consumer and dealer and the structuring of a more profitable deal.

“Auto dealers are looking for ways to convert online shoppers to in-store buyers…faster,” said Pete MacInnis, CEO of eLEND Solutions. “Today’s shoppers expect more information, multiple choices, transparency, and immediate gratification. CreditPlus, powered by a patented rules-based loan decision engine, allows the customer to select from a menu of approved near-final finance terms, such as APR, term, monthly payment, down payment) from multiple lenders…all controlled by the dealer.”

How CreditPlus Works

• Better Consumer Experience  - CreditPlus features an easy, short interactive application that is 100% mobile and tablet adaptive. Applicants not only can get approved for financing in seconds, but they can also view their credit score and pick their payments…all of which is designed to drive engagement and accelerate conversion of online shoppers into showroom buyers.

• Better Dealer Controlled Experience - CreditPlus offers dealers numerous application configuration options, including videos, vehicle detail image selections, and lead management tools.  Dealers are in complete control of credit criteria and payment terms displayed to the customer, which can also include dealer mark-up, doc fees, service contracts etc.

• Electronic Lender Rate Card - CreditPlus is powered by a rules-based loan decision engine that aggregates a limitless universe of lender programs based on credit, stability and ability. Results from real multiple lender loan underwriting rules, APR’s, program guidelines etc. are available instantly to the dealer and the customer. 

• Communication and System Integrations - CreditPlus drives engagement via automated email and text communications, chat integrations, automated system escalations and alerts…all designed to keep dealers in touch with ready-to buy online shoppers and convert them into showroom buyers faster!

• Security - eLEND Solutions is EI3PA Certified, the highest level of security certification in the industry, offering the most secure environment for collecting, storing, retrieving, modifying or auditing applications.

• Compliance and CFPB Protection - CreditPlus’ rules-based loan decision engine does not support decisions/terms that could be considered discriminatory or subjective. eLEND’s platform includes loan decision reporting and audit trail processes that can be made transparent to dealers, lenders and the CFPB.

• Industry Neutral Solution - eLEND Solutions’ credit platform, deal structuring decision engine and API platform is agnostic and compatible with any dealer desk tool and seamlessly able to be integrated with all dealer websites - and service providers including inventory management and CRM providers, finance platforms, and dealer management systems.

“We’ve witnessed two decades of innovation in online car buying, but the financing process remains outdated and low-tech. This lack of innovation has not only cost dealers time and money, but it has also seriously alienated consumers, who increasingly demand online transparency in everything they do,” said MacInnis. “CreditPlus’ real, upfront loan terms are a missing piece of the car-buying revolution, bringing dealers more high-quality credit app leads, while slashing the current 3-4 hour sales process.”

Consumer adoption of smart, online credit application solutions is remarkably high according to a Dealer.com study using eLEND’s first-generation, interactive online credit application, Get Pre-approved in Seconds (GPIS), which showed that GPIS generated a 2000% uplift in submitted credit applications vs. other standard long-forms submitted on dealer websites.  The study also showed that 50% of consumers who start the GPIS credit application complete it versus a mere four percent who complete the process with the traditional static application.

Furthermore, a recent HIS Automotive custom analysis of 1,400 dealers nationwide showed that of those consumers that submitted eLEND’s short-form credit application, 54% purchased a vehicle and those purchasing from the intended dealer saw average buy rates of 28%.  Performance was dramatically higher than the 6-8% closing ratio for standard 3^rd party leads according to Cobalt[1].

“eLEND’s online credit application has been the best lead conversion tool for our dealer group for the past eight years,” said Brad Mugg, General Manager at Norm Reeves Honda Superstore. “We expect that CreditPlus will drive even higher submit-to-sales conversions and will help us sell and finance more cars, with more speed, transparency and profitability than ever before.”

CreditPlus is available to U.S. dealers immediately. A demo can be seen here.  

About eLEND Solutions:

eLEND Solutions was founded in 2003 as DealerCentric, whose “Get Pre-Approved in Seconds” solution represents the auto industry’s leading online credit application product. The company has since expanded its mission by developing a comprehensive, next-generation consumer finance management system that will benefit dealers, lenders and consumers. eLEND Solutions technology platform will bring financing to the front of the sales process, and put the customer in the right vehicle and loan, at the point of sale, reducing the dealership financing process from hours to minutes. eLEND Solutions is headed by Pete MacInnis, who leads a management team with over 250 years of automotive, finance and technology experience.  

Contact: 
Media Relations 
Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, (424) 603-4340, Melanie@mwebbcom.com 
Crystal Hartwell, mWEBB Communications, (714) 987-1016, crystal@mwebbcom.com