The 13th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is fast approaching - just 3weeks left!

Not only is DealerOn a Title Sponsor, we will also have a booth (#1211), and many of us will be speaking as well!  Going to be a busy, busy few days for the DealerOn group.

Here are the sessions we are going to be presenting:

"Double Your Fixed Operations Business in the Mobile World"

Learn how the top dealer groups use digital and mobile marketing strategies to beat the national service brands.

Jeff Clark

"Advanced SEO for Dealers - What Still Works on Google"

Google is constantly changing and massaging its algorithm to improve its local results. Learn what still drives organic rankings and how to leverage that knowledge for your dealership in 2013.

Ali Amirrezvani

"Master the Art and Science of Website Conversion"

Amir Amirrezvani and Jason Ezell

Amir is also going to be a member of the panel for The Next Generation Innovation Panel, moderated by Eric Brown and Jason Ezell.

If you're going to be in Las Vegas for the conference, make sure to stop by our booth, #1211, and join us for any one (or all 4) of our presentations.  Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see you all there!

Naked Lime Helps Dealers Promote Their Brand Through a Consistent Message Across Different Media

KETTERING, Ohio – Oct. 2, 2012 – The facts: 4 industry tradeshows. 16 customer shows. 67 ads. 110 blog posts. 168 Facebook posts. These are just a handful of the ways over the last 365 days that Naked Lime Marketing has shared a consistent message with automotive retailers: the power of one vendor for all of a dealer’s traditional and digital marketing, advertising, and web services needs.

Naked Lime Marketing is a complete, full-service agency with expertise in traditional and digital marketing, advertising, and web services for automotive retailers.

“This year, we’ve had a particular focus on demonstrating to dealers the results they can achieve by delivering a consistent message across every channel they use to reach prospects and customers,” said Trey Hiers, who oversees marketing at Naked Lime. “And we take that message to heart as well. Across all the communication channels we’ve used to get our message across – news releases, customer newsletters, dealership visits, social media, video, and more – we’ve led by example. We want to show what a comprehensive, cohesive traditional and digital marketing strategy looks like and how that can help retailers achieve business results.”

Naked Lime Marketing offers services that cover every aspect of a dealership’s retail marketing, advertising, and web strategy, including traditional advertising, digital advertising, targeted marketing, SEO, social media, reputation management, mobile marketing, and web. Naked Lime’s services can be used by any dealership, regardless of the dealership management system, website host, or other solutions the dealer may be using.

“It’s really the human touch that adds the twist to the services we offer and sets us apart from other agencies,” said Hiers. “We’re able to deliver the power of one vendor for all of a dealer’s marketing needs because of the people at Naked Lime – from our marketing analysts and social media specialists to our product managers and marketing communications team. Their ability to apply their expertise in doing the heavy lifting for dealerships is what enables us to carry out the Naked Lime vision and deliver results for our customers every day.”

Hiers concluded, “We know the only thing certain in the digital world is growth and change. Those changes will bring about new opportunities for Naked Lime to help dealers carry out their marketing and advertising strategies and help them get noticed at the right time by the right audience on the right channel.”

Continuing the tradition of taking the agency’s message directly to dealers, Naked Lime’s digital marketing experts, Steve Bell and Aloysius Carl, will be featured speakers at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference, Oct. 23-25, in Las Vegas. Nicole Case and Aloysius Carl also will be panelists at the GM eSummit 2012 Digital Marketing Conference events scheduled for October and November.

About Naked Lime Marketing

Naked Lime’s Naked Truth: Deliver fresh and innovative full-service marketing, advertising, and web solutions and services that help automotive dealers turn the heads of consumers and inspire consumer loyalty at every point in the retail process. Connect with Naked Lime Marketing on the Web: www.nakedlime.com, Facebook: www.facebook.com/nkdlime, or Twitter: www.twitter.com/nkdlime.

###

Media Contact:
Loretta Good   
937.485.1932
media@nakedlime.com

CHICAGO – Automotive dealerships may have opportunities to invest more effectively in digital media, according to Dataium LLC, the largest aggregator of online auto shopper behavior.  In an independent study commissioned by Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used vehicles, Dataium found inefficiencies between dealerships’ digital marketing mix and the quantity and quality of traffic to their websites.

“Dealers’ websites are one of the primary ways they connect with potential customers, and when they see the bulk of traffic to their sites coming from search engines, it makes sense that they would drive more of their marketing dollars into paid search,” said Jason Ezell, president of Dataium LLC.  “Because our study was able to look beyond direct referral traffic, however, we found that the majority of search engine traffic comes as a result of a consumer typing a variation of the dealership name into the search field.  In other words, consumers are forming impressions earlier in the process, likely via other forms of media – search engines are often the taxi taking them to the place they’ve already decided they want to go.”

The study, conducted between January and June, measured the activity of more than 20 million automotive shoppers per month on Dataium’s network and focused on evaluating the direct and indirect value of the two primary dealer advertising investments – paid search engine marketing and automotive marketplaces.

The study’s findings included:

·         Role of automotive marketplaces: According to Dataium, automotive marketplace websites are among the primary ways for dealers to influence purchase decisions because they facilitate the research process and link unique shoppers to a specific vehicle quickly and easily, ultimately helping to deliver prospects to dealership websites who are closer to purchase.  In its analysis of both direct and indirect traffic, Dataium found that consumers who visited Cars.com were 70% more likely than those who had not visited the site to click on a map, review directions or look for business hours on dealership websites – key “walk-in indicators” reflecting purchase intent.  Shoppers who visited Cars.com were also 10 times more likely to submit a lead on a dealership site and did so within 48 hours on average – 4 times faster than the 8 days averaged by consumers who had not visited Cars.com.  Overall, Cars.com was in the browser profiles of users submitting 36 percent of the email form leads received via websites of Cars.com dealers – whether the shopper was referred to the dealership website directly from Cars.com or visited the dealership website in a separate session.

·         Inefficiencies in paid SEM spend: Despite an average of 55 percent of dealerships’ online advertising budgets being devoted to paid search engine marketing, just 6 percent of dealership website traffic on average is referred by paid search keywords.  Furthermore, less than 1 percent of this traffic resulted in email form leads submitted on dealership websites.

·         Value of “upstream” media: Nearly 80 percent of direct referrals from search engines during the study were driven by keywords that were a variation on the dealership name, representing traffic a dealership would theoretically receive via high rankings in organic search results regardless of the level of paid SEM spend.  In addition, this search activity suggests that these shoppers had been familiarized with the dealership prior to their visit to the search engine – by what Dataium calls “upstream” media in its report.

“Dealers know that there’s more to the story than the last source a consumer visited prior to clicking over to the dealership website,” said Michael Page, Vice President, Advertising Solutions at Cars.com.  “Dealers have access to more data than ever before, but it remains difficult to see all of the sources that contributed to a sale – at the end of the day, a consumer still has to walk into the dealership to purchase a vehicle.  What we wanted to accomplish in commissioning this study was to understand the indirect value of dealerships’ online investments and provide dealers with information about the quality – not just the quantity – of their online investments.” 

The study also found that Cars.com outperformed its competitors when it comes to engagement and conversion of the direct traffic referred to its customers.  Dataium discovered that Cars.com users consumed 2.5 times more pages and 3 times more vehicle detail pages on dealership websites compared with visitors from other automotive marketplace sites, and Cars.com’s direct lead conversion rate on dealership websites was more than 40 percent higher than the average achieved via others in its competitive set.

“Understanding why Cars.com outperformed is an area we’d like to explore with additional research, but I would speculate it has to do with the consumer experience.  Cars.com offers resources for the entire shopping process from start to finish, including research, comparisons, pricing, inventory and reviews – all of which advance a shopper toward purchase,” said Ezell.  “That’s not to diminish the value of the other sites – we saw similar trends in shopper activity across the category – Cars.com just seems to be more of a ‘one-stop-shop.’”

Download more insights about the study at http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/dataium-insights.

ABOUT DATAIUM LLC

Dataium is the largest aggregator of Internet automotive shopping activity. With its Cloud Intelligence® platform, the company collects, analyzes, and indexes billions of online automotive shopping events from over 20 million active auto shoppers monthly. The company supports cutting-edge data collection and reporting technology; VisiCogn® Knowledge Center, VisiCogn® In-Market Lead Solutions, and is also known for its ASI™ index. For more information, visit www.dataium.com, email: info@dataium.com, or call 877-896-DATA (3282).

ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

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Webinar on October 9^th at 2 p.m. EDT shares key insight into generating more customer pay dollars from current and next generation consumers

Daytona Beach, FL – October 2, 2012 – DMEautomotive (DMEa), the science-inspired, results-based automotive marketing leader, announces its upcoming webinar hosted with WardsAuto on October 9^th, at 2 p.m. EDT. This free event provides attendees with inside information on how to generate more customer-pay dollars from current and next generation consumers. The webinar will also share key best practice marketing and communication strategies.

Guided by Mike Martinez, CMO at DMEautomotive and Dr. Mary Sheridan, research director at DMEautomotive, “How to Increase Customer-Pay Service Revenue” will empower participants to increase profits and drive sales. The interactive webinar is packed with new data that supports key best practices proven to increase customer-pay services, including marketing and communication strategies targeted at in-market buyers for tire, brake, and battery services. Attendees will also learn the importance of maintaining good customer relations with existing maintenance plan users, along with essential tips on how to do so effectively.

Among the key data insights from DMEautomotive’s recent national consumer surveys to be discussed in the webinar are:

• 56% of consumers with a prepaid or complimentary service plan are likely to continue servicing at the dealership after expiration.
• Younger consumers are much more likely to have a plan, and are more likely to have all maintenance done under the plan.
• As vehicles reach age 3-6 years, only 31% of customers report using the dealership for “bread-and-butter” services like brakes, oil changes, batteries, and tire replacement.

“Customers no longer use dealerships as their first stop for maintenance or repairs,” said Dr. Sheridan. “With so many service centers out there, dealerships must now earn customer-pay service revenue. Our How to Increase Customer-Pay Service Revenue webinar will provide key steps to prevent service center customer bleed and increase coveted customer-pay service revenue, along with tips for safeguarding service loyalty from current and next generation consumers – including the typically dealership adverse, younger generation.”

For more information, or to register for the How to Increase Customer-Pay Service Revenue webinar click here.

About DMEautomotive

DMEautomotive (DMEa) is the industry leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, and provides turnkey marketing to the largest and most innovative automotive organizations, from automobile dealerships to many of the largest aftermarket companies in the U.S. DMEa's uniquely panoramic view of the complete automotive sales and service market, combined with its cutting-edge, science-based marketing programs, increases customer yield, conversion and retention.

DMEa does not take marketing performance on faith, and each product and service is measured by a simple, precise scientific approach: Is it true? Prove it. Will it work? Test it. Does it generate results? Show it! Supported by DMEa’s proprietary, cloud-based Red Rocket Technology Platform, the DMEa product suite includes science-based, data-driven, multi-channel customer acquisition and retention marketing programs; best-in-class campaign reporting; data management and analytics; auto-focused Customer Interaction Center solutions, and complete on-site mail and email fulfillment services. Headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, DMEa also has major operations in Jacksonville, Fla.

About WardsAuto
WardsAuto is a world-leading provider of auto industry news, data and analysis, having served the industry's information needs for more than 80 years. WardsAuto Dealer Business  is a monthly magazine serving automotive dealers.  WardsAuto.com is an online subscription service delivering virtually all the industry news, data and analysis compiled by WardsAuto, the world’s leader in automotive industry information. A Southfield, MI - based division of Penton Media, Inc., WardsAuto also publishes the manufacturing-focused monthly magazine WardsAuto World, and offers a wealth of other automotive information services including reference annuals, online databases, and customized data reports.

Contact:

DMEa Media Relations:
Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, 424-603-4340, melanie@mwebbcom.com 
Angela Jacobson, mWEBB Communications, 714-454-8776, angela@mwebbcom.com 

Award recognizes the most innovative dealership solutions of 2012; finalists to compete and present their solutions at the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit

Salt Lake City, Utah – October 1, 2012  – DrivingSales today announced that finalists have been selected for the third annual DrivingSales Innovation Cup Award, which recognizes the most innovative dealership solutions of 2012. The Innovation Cup Award will be presented at the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES), the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers, which will be held Sunday, October 21st through Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

The 2012 Innovation Cup Award finalists are: CallSource’s DealSaver with Mobile App; cDemo’s Mi VIDEO; DMEautomotive’s DriverConnect Mobile App; HookLogic’s Lead2Show, and J&L Marketing bLinked®.

“So many amazing dealership solution were submitted for the Innovation Cup Awards, it made the job of our dealer judges, who were charged with selecting the finalists, very difficult, but exciting! We all came away from the selection process inspired by the level of innovation in our industry,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “The task of choosing the Innovation Cup Award winner will, no doubt, be just as challenging. We are thrilled that our attendees will have a chance to see these remarkable solutions first hand and presented by their ‘inventors’ at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. Congratulations to all the finalists!”

The finalists will present their solution onstage at the DrivingSales Executive Summit on Monday, October 22nd. A panel of dealer judges will then ask questions of the presenter and score each product. The solution with the highest score will win the Innovation Cup Award for “Most Innovative Solution of 2012.”

The Innovation Cup Award is part of an exciting DSES line up this year, which includes high-profile keynotes from Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance,  prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google.  Last year's summit was standing room only, and although DSES 2012 will allow for an expanded number of registrants, it is expected to sell out. Register online for the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers. DSES brings together the most progressive dealers in the country, along with world-renowned speakers, all focused on pushing the auto industry’s ‘innovation boundaries’ and translating the latest trends and business realities into solid 2013 action plans for every dealership department. The summit is 100 percent dealer-driven and has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio and is the only automotive conference where dealers decide the agenda, not the vendor sponsors. This translates into the highest level of learning for the dealer attendees versus other events where workshops are little more than glorified sales pitches. 

For more information about the Innovation Cup Award, go to www.drivingsalesinnovationcup.com/. For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.


About DrivingSales
Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.


DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 1^st, 2012 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that Mike Esposito will be presenting a workshop at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 24^th at 3:30 p.m. How to Increase Service Growth Through Auto Dispatching is aimed at dealers, general managers, fixed ops and service managers who are looking for ways to increase gross profits in the service department.

“Many managers have attempted to transition from outdated, manual dispatching methods to automated systems, but few have managed a 100% successful transition,” said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. “In the workshop we’ll discuss the pitfalls common to this transition and how to avoid them.”

Additionally, Esposito will cover the three levels of service dispatching (manual, semi-automated and automated) and discuss the benefits achieved with each new level, such as increased service tech efficiencies, shop efficiencies and shop loading. Attendees will learn:

1. The thought process and technical process that dealers and managers need to go through to set up an auto dispatching system; i.e., how to define service tech skill levels, how to set up op codes, and most important, how to retrieve all this information from your existing system.

2. How to track and measure the improved efficiencies in the service department.

3. What doesn’t work, why it doesn’t work and how to avoid problems during the transition process.

For more information, visit: http://blog.automate.com/index.php/2012/09/mike-esposito-presents-increase-service-profitability-auto-dispatching/

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 dealership management software in use by more than 800 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate offers the best customer service in the industry, with live people answering the phone and minimal hold times for technical support. Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 300 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “designed by car people, for car people” slogan. For more information, visit www.automate.com and follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS

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DMEautomotive consumer survey reveals that key service opportunities are not being seized - while young, hard-researching, online-buying consumers are rewriting the purchase process

Key Findings:

• Only 5% of consumers who needed tires – 9% a battery – and 21% a brake service –were first made aware they needed these services performed because of a service provider recommendation.
• Wired, under-35-year-old consumers research at dramatically higher rates: 2 in 3 research these three service purchases, vs. 1 in 3 of those over 35, on average.
• Younger consumers are driving an e-commerce surge: 38% now purchase batteries online, and 17% purchase tires online - 4 and 8 times the rate, respectively, of those over 35.

Daytona Beach, FL – October 1, 2012 – DMEautomotive (DMEa), the leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, today released key findings from a national survey conducted among 2,000+ U.S. vehicle owners by its Strategy & Analytics Division.[1] The new data reveals a changing consumer purchasing process for the auto service industry’s high-volume, high-profit “Big Three”: brakes, batteries and tires - and indicates that new sales and marketing strategies, especially for younger car owners, are needed by service retailers.

With battery, brake and tire replacement services representing tens of billions in customer pay dollars annually, the findings serve as an industry wake-up call. On average, only one car owner in twelve first learned that they needed new brakes, tires or a battery from a dealer or mechanic, indicating that an overly passive sales approach is leading to lost revenue opportunities. And, while the survey reveals that consumers, on average, do a large amount of research on these services, it’s the under-35 customer that’s radically remaking the path-to-purchase: not only are they far more likely to research providers, using more digital media sources, and to start researching further in advance – they’re also exponentially more likely to both buy, and consider buying, their tires and batteries online.

“This new research helps all service businesses understand today’s brakes/battery/tires purchasing funnel, so they can put in place the right, cross-channel strategies to grow market share,” said Doug Van Sach, Vice President of Strategy & Analytics at DMEautomotive. “And the new data suggests several basic, best practices that retailers really should embrace:

1. To combat widespread sales passivity, complimentary, comprehensive multipoint inspections need to happen with every service visit.
2. Retailers need to create a high-visibility, engaging online shopping platform for batteries and tires, with clear pricing, a range of price-points and detailed product features.
3. The ‘holy grail’ is to implement marketing programs that can anticipate when a customer is ready to make a brakes, battery, or tire purchase and deliver timely, relevant campaigns that interrupt their typical research windows – to put that store top of mind when it most matters.”

While both the aftermarket and dealerships alike are missing out on crucial revenue opportunities, Van Sach noted that other, recent DMEa research[2] reveals that aftermarket players are winning the brakes-battery-tires war, with only 64% of dealer customers reporting they would consider using dealers for brake services – 46% for battery replacements – and 36% for tires.[3] Only 44% are likely to choose dealerships for these services (in aggregate) within the first two years of in-warranty ownership. And, as vehicles hit 3-6 years, dealers lose roughly half of this business. Furthermore, DMEa research shows that for dealers, cracking the under-35 shopper’s service selection “code” is mission critical, as roughly half of aftermarket chain loyalists are now under-35, while half of dealer loyalists are an aging 50+.

Key Findings:

Too Little Monitoring/Selling: Customers aren’t actively monitoring their brakes, battery and tire health…and neither are retailers. Seventy percent reported they realized they needed to replace their battery because it was already dying/dead - 44% realized they needed new tires because they personally noticed they were worn out - and 69% became enlightened that they needed brakes because they were already squeaking, grinding, or having other issues. Dealers and mechanics are clearly not aggressively identifying or recommending these service needs:

High Research Levels: For relatively simple auto services, a surprisingly high level of provider-selection Internet research is going on - another window into the intensely disloyal service market. Thirty-nine percent researched where to have their most recent battery replaced, with 77% performing that research within a week of replacement. Forty-one percent researched where to have brakes replaced, with 63% starting that research within a week of service. For tires, research levels are even higher, and people are also taking more time to find the right place to buy: 58% researched their last tire purchase, and 47% began researching stores a month or longer before they pulled the trigger.

Sky-High Research Rates for Younger Shoppers: The survey found that the under-35, dealer-resistant consumer’s brake/battery/tire purchase process is a far cry from their “grandfather’s,” with this age group researching these services at rates over two times higher than those over 35:

Additionally, younger car owners research significantly further in advance. For instance, for tire purchases, they’re 62% more likely to start their tire research 2-5 months out, compared with those over 35.

Those under 35 are also more likely to consult a variety of external sources – especially digital media. For example, the survey closely examined the tire purchasing process and found that younger consumers consulted every commonly used resource when researching tires (whether TV or print ads - or asking a mechanic or friend) at higher rates than those over 35. They were also nearly three times more likely (31%) to consult store websites than those under 35 (13%), with store sites representing the #1 resource this younger shopper uses. Websites also have a more powerful impact on the under-35: over 50% reported store/auto sites impacted their tire purchase, vs. 25-30% of those aged 35+.

Younger Owners Vastly More Likely to Buy Online: The under-35 customer is also radically more likely to buy, and consider buying, their tires and batteries online.

And those that have made online purchases seem very satisfied: across all age groups, more than 90% that have purchased batteries/tires online would do so again.

About DMEautomotive

DMEautomotive (DMEa) is the industry leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, and provides turnkey marketing to the largest and most innovative automotive organizations, from automobile dealers to many of the largest aftermarket companies in the U.S. DMEa's uniquely panoramic view of the complete automotive sales and service market, combined with its cutting-edge, science-based marketing programs, increases customer yield, conversion and retention.

DMEa does not take marketing performance on faith, and each product and service is measured by a simple, precise scientific approach: Is it true? Prove it. Will it work? Test it. Does it generate results? Show it! Supported by DMEa’s proprietary, cloud-based Red Rocket Technology Platform, the DMEa product suite includes science-based, data-driven, multi-channel customer acquisition and retention marketing programs; best-in-class campaign reporting; data management and analytics; auto-focused Customer Interaction Center solutions, and complete on-site mail and email fulfillment services. Headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, DMEa also has major operations in Jacksonville, Fla.

Media Inquiries
Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, +1-424-603-4340, melanie@mwebbcom.com
Angela Jacobson, mWEBB Communications, +1-714-454-8776, angela@mwebbcom.com

Business intelligence and data company for the automotive industry moves into Utah corporate headquarters as company experiences tremendous growth

Salt Lake City, UT – September 24, 2012 – DrivingSales, a leading business intelligence and data company for the auto industry, today announced that it has established new corporate headquarters, including a new studio for its Web TV channel, in Sandy, Utah. The company, which is on track for its third consecutive year of triple-digit revenue growth, has grown its employee base by 62% in just the last six months. The company moves into the expanded offices just as it gears up for its 4th annual DrivingSales Executive Summit, a signature event for the company, which has doubled in size year-over-year into the leading and most authoritative auto industry event.

“DrivingSales is committed to the success of all our auto industry clients, and our new headquarters and studio in Sandy, Utah will allow us to even better serve our industry with the most up-to-date, profit-building information through all media channels,” said DrivingSales CEO and founder Jared Hamilton.

The new DrivingSales corporate headquarters in Sandy, which is part of the Salt Lake City metro area is set up to house the company’s three distinct divisions: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media, and designed to enable classroom style training, large meetings and auto dealership events. The new headquarters include a new DrivingSales TV studio, which can accommodate the filming of the company’s online interactive content, as well as webinars, teleconferences, and more. With multiple open spaces throughout, the new headquarters reflects the collaborative and interactive online environment typified by the company’s flagship site, DrivingSales.com.

Earlier this year, DrivingSales received a 2012 “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) – for the second year in a row – which spotlights outstanding entrepreneurs and start-up companies in Utah, as well as a Stevie® Award in the ‘Most Innovative Company of the Year’ category in the 10th Annual American Business Awards.  In addition to this year’s awards, DrivingSales was also named a 2011 Fast 50 “Emerging Eight” company by Utah Business magazine, and received an Interactive Media Award (IMA) for Outstanding Achievement in the ‘Automobile’ website category. Additionally, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2010 by Auto Success Magazine.


About DrivingSales
Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.


DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

Fort Lauderdale, FL – September 24^th, 2012— AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.autousadealers.com) announced today the availability of a free white paper for auto dealers, titled Pre-Qualified Payment Marketing: Converting Online Car Shoppers to Customers. The white paper gives an overview of the current payment marketing options offered by dealers to their online customers, outlining the benefits and drawbacks of each. The paper then compares these options to Payment Pro^SM powered by DriveItNow®, a new product that offers online customers instant, real payment quotes and delivers pre-qualified leads to auto dealers. In addition, the white paper shares proven results in a case study featuring Grubbs Nissan in Dallas, Texas.

“Since we launched Payment Pro in early August, we have received many inquiries from dealers about how this revolutionary payment marketing option impacts the bottom line,” said Mike Shawd, Vice President, Sales of AutoUSA. “This white paper demonstrates exactly how Payment Pro works, how it differs from other available tools and how it converts more online shoppers into pre-qualified leads from the dealer’s own website that close at an average of 20%.”

The white paper delves into what is most important to consumers in the car buying process, including:

• ŸThe answer to the question, “What is the monthly payment and how does my credit affect it?” Most customers know their monthly budget, but often don’t know the corresponding vehicle cost to achieve their target monthly payment.
• ŸCompleting most of the car buying process online before talking to a dealer, and progressing themselves down the sales funnel at their own pace.
• ŸProtecting personal information; most consumers don’t want to share their social security numbers, date of birth etc. and don’t want their credit scores affected with credit checks.
• ŸA desire for information provided by car dealers to be more complete and more accurate.

In addition, the white paper outlines the benefits of prequalified payment marketing:

• Close more existing website visitors
• Increased leads & closing ratios
• Keeps consumer engaged
• Consumers are less likely to consider alternative financing
• Additional F&I profit per deal
• Builds consumer confidence
• Highly qualified prospects
• No negative impact on consumer’s credit score
• No personal sensitive information required
• Eliminates discriminatory lending
• FCRA Compliant

Pre-Qualified Payment Marketing: Converting Online Car Shoppers to Customers with Payment Pro is available for free download at: http://www.autousadealers.com/DisplayDocList.aspx?DocId=126 

About AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Payment Pro^SM, a payment-based pre-qualification tool for dealer websites; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads from 100+ sites; PowerListings^SM 2.0, helping dealers increase traffic to—and leads from—their social media sites; and AVA Virtual Sales Assistant, helping dealerships manage more leads at a reduced cost. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

For more information, visit AutoUSA’s web site, subscribe to our blog at http://blog.autousadealers.com, follow us on Twitter @AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on Facebook at /AutoUSADealers

About DriveItNow (http://www.DriveItNow.com)

DriveItNow is a patent pending payment marketing technology service of Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS).  ACS leads the industry with innovative proprietary technology, superior customer service, and over twenty years of auto financing and leasing experience.

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