SAN RAMON, CA – August 15, 2011 – MediaTrac™ today announced the release of the BeBack Program. This vehicle sales inducement program helps auto dealerships specifically target those potential buyers who may have visited the dealership but failed to purchase a product on their most recent visit. The average auto dealership sees 75 to 80 percent of floor traffic leave the store without ever making a vehicle purchase and 40 percent of those shoppers will buy a vehicle in the next three days from a competitor. This new program is designed to help drive these lost sales opportunities back into auto dealerships. BeBack provides the buyer with an immediate, customer-centric, valuable motive to return to the store and make a purchase. It is also a very effective tool for motivating existing customers to return for secondary or repeat purchases.

MediaTrac, a marketing technology company providing customized frequency marketing, customized loyalty, prepaid maintenance, retention and media tracking programs for auto dealers, just completed six months of in-field beta testing on BeBack, which has proven extremely effective at targeting these prospects and turning them into vehicle buyers. “Our new BeBack program has been highly effective in the beta dealerships. In fact, one Toyota dealership sold 10 new Toyotas in the first 10 days on the program as a direct result of the BeBack card,” commented Jeff Shenk, Director of Operations at MediaTrac.

The BeBack Program allows each dealership to select an incentive value, issue it in the form of a time-restricted, redeemable card and offer it to customers as a sales incentive to entice them to return within a specified period of time to make a purchase. The BeBack card resembles a gift card with the dealership’s brand prominently displayed. Cards may have a variety of different denominations; the dealership chooses the discount value offered to each prospective buyer.

The BeBack cards carry a much higher perceived value to the customers than any other "take away" the dealership may already be providing. It is not unusual for dealers to see 18 to 20 percent of their prospects who received a BeBack card return and purchase a vehicle within 10 to 15 days of receiving the incentive card.

Immediately following their initial visit to the dealership and the issue of a BeBack card, a series of high-impact communications are sent to prospects. More than just an email, each communication utilizes a different aspect of sales psychology messaging to entice the prospect back into the dealership. The first of these emails is a quick survey which seeks to determine the exact reason(s) why the customer did not make a purchase. Based upon the customer reply, a tailored sales response from the dealership may be initiated. The responses tend to be surprisingly candid and dealers may expect a 30 to 40 percent response rate to the survey.

“Prospects decide where to buy in part based on the speed and quality of sales follow-up. Statistics prove that if you can get your prospects back to your store quickly you will have a much better chance of closing the sale. We deliver the right communications at the right time to entice your customers to return. And whether it is sitting in your prospect’s wallet or purse – or even on their dresser at home – the BeBack card is a concrete reminder of the value of doing business with your dealership,” said Shenk.

About MediaTrac™
Established in 2001 and headquartered in San Ramon, California, MediaTrac is a marketing technology company providing customized loyalty, retention, marketing, prepaid services, and media tracking programs for the automotive, retail, entertainment and hospitality industries. 

            Las Vegas, NV, August 15, 2011, MPi (www.mpi-edge.com), the leading provider of vehicle inspection tools, processes, and consulting for auto dealer service departments, announced today that dealerships using its “green light” upsell strategy are reporting substantial growth in monthly parts and labor sales.

“We’re averaging $100,000 a month in upsell parts and labor using processes that help advisors earn customers’ upsell ‘green light’ go-ahead,” says Brian Pearce, Parts and Service Director for Superior Honda of Omaha, Omaha, NE.

“We’ve been practicing upsell processes for about two years now and we’re realizing an additional $231,000 per month in upsell parts and labor sales a month,” says Todd Sylvester, Service Director for Northside Lexus, Houston, TX.

An upsell is any recommended service or repair beyond that originally identified by the vehicle owner.

The green light strategy that dealerships like Superior Honda and Northside Lexus use to boost upsell results centers around a multi-step vehicle inspection that confirms owner-identified vehicle needs. Then the technician immediately checks the vehicle for any other safety, performance or convenience needs that might merit upsell attention.

Upsell recommendations that may be identified are described for the consumer in detailed and visually instructive reports, a Know Your Vehicle Report that explains why recommendations for that customer’s vehicle are being made, and a Recommended Action Plan that outlines the priority of any additional recommended repairs. Together, these tools help build credibility and trust in the advisor’s recommendations.

Says Sylvester, “The first step to upsell success is the relationship the advisor builds with the customer, which begins when the customer brings in a new vehicle. Advisors can want to avoid new-car customers for the simple fact new cars don’t need work, certainly not upsell work. But this is the place where the all-important relationship for the long haul is established, and I train my advisors that this is the point where they begin exceeding customer expectations of what dealership service should be.”

Sylvester’s point, learned from MPi’s World Class Inspection program, is that a relationship built early in the customer’s experience with the dealership when service needs will generally be minor, if at all, helps build the kind of bridge that can bear the weight of bad news as that vehicle ages and does require customer-pay work the advisor will likely recommend.

“I attribute much of this success to MPi and its ongoing advisor training on the upsell process,” Sylvester notes, “which has made us more consistent in what we do from advisor to advisor. Upsell dollars per RO parts and labor have doubled since then and lead to improved CSI as well.”

Superior Honda uses these processes to improve its service business too. “We’re generating a little more than $67 in upsell per RO – two-to-three fold greater than what we were doing before embracing these processes,” Pearce says. “Our monthly return on investment makes this program well worth it for our store.”

Sammy Reagan, Dealer Principal at Infiniti of Omaha, says not only has practicing this strategy helped grow his service department’s upsell parts and labor dollars, but boost after-sale retention too. For instance, his shop now recaptures 35% of Declined Service customers within 30 days.

His service department practices Infiniti’s Quarter-Time Rule. It specifies that upsell presentations happen within minutes of the customer’s arrival in service. For a scheduled 90-minute job, for instance, upsell recommendations need to happen within the first 23 minutes.  “That was a challenge when techs waited until the initial job was completed to inspect the vehicle for other needs,” Reagan says. “When we started with MPi we flipped the inspection process so every service began with the vehicle inspection – and upsells went up substantially.”

The uniformity and consistency in upsell processes this green light strategy creates helps dealerships establish the kind of confidence in their services and trust in their people that are critically important to stronger service sales.

“Having gained this trust, advisors are more likely to receive customer’s go-ahead to have recommended upsell services or repairs completed,” Sylvester notes.

Reagan agrees. “This consistency in how we inspect, present and build value into our service business has also helped boost CSI and today we’re the second-highest customer retention dealer for Infiniti, west of the Mississippi River.”

About MPi:

For more information visit:

http://www.mpifix.com/company/overview.aspx

http://www.mpifix.com/Customers/Videos.aspx

http://www.mpifix.com/solutions/recommendation-videos.aspx

$10,000 in prizes to be awarded for the best, most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2011 at DrivingSales Executive Summit in Vegas

Salt Lake City, Utah - August 11, 2011- DrivingSales (http://www.drivingsales.com) today announced the call for entries for the 2011 DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award, sponsored by ADP |Cobalt, which recognizes the most innovative dealership strategies of 2011. Five auto dealer finalists will have a chance to win over $10,000 in cash and prizes, and the opportunity to present their ‘best idea’ at the DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) in October. All U.S. dealerships are invited to apply.

“The Dealer ‘Best Idea’ Award recognizes the year’s smartest, best and most innovative dealership strategies and is modeled on the spirit of idea-sharing and collaboration among dealers that we see everyday at DrivingSales.com,” said DrivingSales Founder and CEO Jared Hamilton. “We are proud to once again partner with ADP Digital Marketing | Cobalt to share that spirit by bringing attention to the original and creative ideas that are driving results in dealerships across the country.”

Last year’s award was presented to Marc McGurren, Internet Director/Sales Manager of Jerry Durant Auto Group who received the highest score for his ‘best idea’ of using a dedicated point-of-sale mobile site to engage the after-hours customer. “One of the most exciting things about winning this award is the number of dealerships who contacted me about adapting my idea for their dealerships,” said McGurren. “Thanks to Cobalt and DrivingSales - who continue to inspire creative thinking in our industry - I have been able to share and collaborate on this and other strategies with my peers across the country.”

The DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award, sponsored by ADP |Cobalt is part of an exciting DSES line up this year, which includes workshops and interactive roundtables featuring 2011’s top dealership success stories from each department, as well as keynotes from renowned social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk; owner of Social Media Explorer, Jason Falls, and location-based marketing guru Aaron Strout. The DSES will be held October 9th through October 11th, 2011 at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

"It is no secret to us that dealers have the best ideas for applying new approaches and technologies to improve their businesses, which is why sponsoring this award at the DrivingSales Executive Summit is so important to us,” said Chris Reed, CMO of ADP Digital Marketing. “We find that uncovering the ‘best ideas’ that are changing our industry for the better is one of the most rewarding parts of our business – and truly valuable as we continue to develop meaningful and successful products and services for dealerships.”

About The 2011 DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award

The 2011 Dealer Best Idea Award sponsored by ADP |Cobalt contest is held during general session at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. All dealership employees are eligible to apply. Applications are reviewed by a dealer panel, which selects five finalists to be invited onstage at the DSES to present their ‘best idea’ in competition for over $10,000 in cash and prizes and the award for 2011’s Best Idea.

For more information about the 2011 Dealer Best Idea Award sponsored by ADP |Cobalt and/or to submit an application, go to http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/awards/. There is no charge to apply.

The application deadline for the DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award is midnight PST, September 14, 2011.

DrivingSales Executive Summit 2011

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is a uniquely collaborative event modeled after the best practices and information-sharing among dealers and auto industry professionals on DrivingSales.com. The third annual event will bring 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 2012 action plans for every dealership department.

Unlike other automotive industry events, the DrivingSales Executive Summit is 100% dealer driven and designed specifically for the most advanced dealer principals and dealership executives in the industry. The exclusive event has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio.

For more information, visit http://www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Follow DSES news as it develops on http://www.twitter.com/drivingsales.com using #DSES and on facebook.com/drivingsales.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information to auto retailers and industry professionals. DrivingSales' media network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (http://www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices in a 20-group style setting; DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry's leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry's most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DrivingSales encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch by Auto Success Magazine.

About Cobalt
Cobalt is North America's leading provider of digital marketing solutions to the automotive industry. Cobalt currently provides marketing services to nearly half of the automotive dealerships in the United States as well as automotive dealers in Canada and Mexico. Cobalt is part of ADP Digital Marketing, a business unit of ADP Dealer Services.

About ADP
Automatic Data Processing, Inc., with about $10 billion in revenues and about 570,000 clients, is one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. Leveraging over 60 years of experience, ADP offers a wide range of human resource, payroll, tax and benefits administration solutions from a single source. ADP's easy-to-use solutions for employers provide superior value to companies of all types and sizes. ADP is also a leading provider of integrated computing solutions to auto, truck, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle, heavy equipment vehicle dealers throughout the world. For more information about ADP or to contact a local ADP sales office, reach us at 1.800.225.5237 or visit the company's Web site at http://www.ADP.com.

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

Appointment Continues eXteresAUTO’s Expansion of National Sales and Support Force

Riverside, CA – August 3, 2011 – eXteresAUTO, the top-rated SEO and Online Reputation Management provider[1] for automotive retailers, today announced that Tina Bui has been named Regional Sales Manager for Northern California. Bui’s appointment is part of the company’s ongoing initiative to provide dedicated client development, support and training in regions across the U.S.

Bui, who will work with dealerships in one of the top auto markets in the country to maximize ROI from eXteres’ award-winning SEO and Reputation Management programs, brings over 8 years of automotive experience to eXteresAUTO. Most recently she successfully grew the West Coast territory by 300% as a Performance Coach/Account Executive for izmocars, from July 2010 to May 2011. Previously she served as a Credit Analyst for Long Beach Acceptance Corp. and a Finance Director at Orange County Nissan for 3 years. She was also a Finance Manager for Honda, working with The Hendrick Organization and AutoNation, Inc. Bui started her automotive career as an Internet Manager at Quality Toyota/Hyundai in 2003.

“Tina will bring real-world dealership experience to her clients. She knows what it takes to run a successful Internet program, and she knows the challenges and rewards of working with customers,” said Dennis Colome, eXteresAUTO’s Vice President, Sales and Marketing. “She will be a tremendous asset to eXteres and a great resource for our clients in Northern California.”

eXteresAUTO provides total “Search Asset Management” (SAM™) for car dealerships, combining the first, and consistently #1-rated, dealership SEO and Online Reputation Management solutions. Every eXteresAUTO product is engineered to help auto retailers establish the most powerful presence across the search engines and online review/social media sites – to generate a high volume of calls and leads at a fraction of the cost of other traditional and Internet marketing options.

For more information about eXteresAUTO, contact: Beth McGoarty @ beth@rbicom.com or 213-300-0107

Director of Zappos.com’s customer loyalty team shares revolutionary approach to customer service with dealers at October’s Vegas summit

Salt Lake City, UT - August 02, 2011

DrivingSales.com today announced that Rob Siefker, Director of the Customer Loyalty Team for Zappos.com, will join the keynote line-up for the third annual DrivingSales Executive Summit(DSES) scheduled for October 9th through 11th, 2011 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. Siefker will address a critical issue for auto dealerships across the U.S. - customer loyalty – as he shares Zappos.com’s hugely successful customer service formula and how it can be leveraged to reinforce dealership customer retention programs.

“Rob knows customer service from the ground up which is why we are so excited that he will be sharing Zappos.com’s innovative customer loyalty approach – one that has helped the company increase gross merchandise sales from millions to over $1 billion,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “As more and more of our industry’s business takes place in the digital universe, understanding how to build an online culture of customer satisfaction that drives retention and loyalty is of particular interest to today’s auto dealer. We feel that Rob’s insights about the Zappos model will not only be enlightening, but also full of practical applications, for our DSES attendees.”

Zappos.com, the leader in online footwear and apparel and known for creating a culture of “Delivering Happiness”, attributes its rapid growth to aligning the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Siefker - who joined the company as a temporary call center employee in January of 2004 and quickly rose up the ranks to become Director of the Customer Loyalty Team - has helped grow the team from 30 to 475 employees by focusing on providing the very best service for both customers and employees. A popular speaker on customer service, Siefker has keynoted conferences for IQPC, Frost & Sullivan, and Marcus Evans, as well as speaking at Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality.

Siefker is scheduled to keynote the DSES on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 8:30 am and joins an exciting keynote line-up that also includes social media expert and New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk, renowned social media strategist Jason Falls, and location-based marketing expert Aaron Strout.

Hundreds of progressive auto dealers from across the country will converge in Las Vegas at this year’s annual DrivingSales Executive Summit, which is dedicated to pushing the auto industry’s ‘innovation boundaries’ and translating the latest trends and business realities into solid 2012 action plans for every dealership department. To maintain a focused and interactive environment, registration is limited for the exclusive summit, which is expected to sell out soon.

Register before August 15th to receive early bird pricing of $699.

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit click here.

DrivingSales Executive Summit 2011

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is a uniquely collaborative event modeled after the best practices and information-sharing among dealers and auto industry professionals on DrivingSales.com. The third annual event will bring 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 2012 action plans for every dealership department.

Unlike other automotive industry events, the DrivingSales Executive Summit is 100% dealer driven and designed specifically for the most advanced dealer principals and dealership executives in the industry. The exclusive event has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio.

For more information, visit http://www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses(at)drivingsales(dot)com. Follow DSES news as it develops on http://www.twitter.com/drivingsales using #DSES and on facebook.com/drivingsales.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information to auto retailers and industry professionals. DrivingSales' media network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (http://www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices in a 20-group style setting; DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry's leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry's most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DrivingSales encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch by Auto Success Magazine.

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

Las Vegas, NV, August 1, 2011, MPi (www.mpi-edge.com) the leading provider of vehicle inspection tools, processes, and consulting for auto dealer service departments, today announced the release of EDGE Mobile for Service Advisors. 

EDGE Mobile is an effective sales tool developed for auto dealership service advisors to leverage as they interact with their customers during the Greet and Write-up process. Currently available for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, EDGE Mobile enables service advisors to quickly capture and communicate legitimately needed opportunities that are commonly not identified until much later in the service process. Providing this information and interaction at the Greet and Write-up process helps build trust with the customer. It establishes better rapport for the upsell of any legitimately needed work, leading to a better upsell process and increased profitability.

Some key features and benefits of EDGE Mobile include:

• Enables service advisors to perform a walk-around inspection before the repair order has been written up in the Dealership Management System

• Provides access to Previously Declined Recommendations that were made on prior visits, allowing the advisor to recommend other identified services during write-up.

• Delivers customer educational information; such as Recommendation Videos and additional information articles, to help better educate the customer and assist in the sales cycle.  These communication tools are available directly on the mobile device once a recommendation has been made. This includes items from today's inspection and previously declined items.

• Provides three customizable best practice walk-around inspection templates that make implementation quick and simple. Two are designed to help sell more on the drive while the third minimizes liability through documentation of dents and dings.

“Customers are more inclined to agree to needed repairs if they have an upfront conversation about the options available to them, rather after spending a period of time waiting for their vehicles and then learn that more work is needed,” commented Les Silver, MPi Chairman/CEO. “EDGE Mobile provides this information and interaction at the Greet and Write-up process, which helps build a better rapport for the upsell of any legitimately needed work.  It makes for a happier customer as they know what to expect and it streamlines the entire upsell process,” Silver added.

Utilizing MPi’s EDGE program, MPi’s primary focus is providing dealerships the necessary tools, processes and training to successfully institute a comprehensive, World Class Inspection Program (WCI) in service departments across North America.  Since 2003, MPi’s proven results driven solution has been helping over 1,000 dealerships achieve a 4 or 5 to 1 return on investment by increasing the sale of legitimately needed service work.

The EDGE program focuses on the management of a “customer friendly” vehicle inspection process which, when performed correctly, produces better results.  MPi’s complete and all inclusive vehicle inspection program includes its state of the art software solution, EDGE; customized customer friendly communication tools (Recommended Action Plan™ and Know Your Vehicle™ Reports); detailed management reporting and analysis tools; ongoing consulting and training services; and process and performance metrics.

EDGE pricing is based on dealership size and number of users. A dealership can receive a no-cost price quote and business case by contacting MPI at (888) 335-5736, or visit MPi’s website at: www.mpi-edge.com.

About MPi:

For more information visit:

http://www.mpifix.com/company/overview.aspx

http://www.mpifix.com/Customers/Videos.aspx

http://www.mpifix.com/solutions/recommendation-videos.aspx

Award recognizes outstanding Utah entrepreneurs and start-up companies

Salt Lake City, UT -- July 26, 2011 -- DrivingSales (http://www.drivingsales.com) today announced that it has received a 2011 “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) which spotlights outstanding entrepreneurs and start-up companies in Utah. DrivingSales and the other award winners collectively created 800 jobs and $189 million in 2010 revenue. Award ceremonies were held on July 14, 2011 at Utah Valley University.

“We are pleased to receive this award, and honored to be in the company of the top-performing organizations in Utah,” said DrivingSales Founder and CEO Jared Hamilton. “We are proud that DrivingSales has already made an impact on the automotive industry, and equally proud to be recognized by the great state of Utah as an emerging and fast-growing company.”

DrivingSales launched nationally in 2008, and is on track for its third consecutive year of triple digit revenue growth. DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property and includes DrivingSales.com, the world's largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices; and DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts. DrivingSales also invented the industry's first and only Vendor Ratings Platform, designed to help auto dealers find and select the best vendor partners by allowing dealership employees to rate and review their vendors anonymously. An estimated 1 in every 4 dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community. The company also hosts the DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES), the auto industry's leading conference where progressive auto dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts. This year’s DSES conference will take place October 9th – 11th at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

“UVEF is pleased to recognize DrivingSales for their growth as an innovative Vendor Ratings platform,” stated John Pilmer, UVEF Top 25 Under 5 event chair. “They found a new niche in an established industry and worked hard to provide a disruptive new service to meet the need.”

The “Top 25 Under Five” award is in its twelfth year of competition, and has highlighted more than 200 companies over the years. For more information about DrivingSales, visit http://www.drivingsales.com. To learn more about the DrivingSales Executive Summit for car dealers and auto industry professionals, please visit http://www.drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information to auto retailers and industry professionals. An estimated 1 in every 4 dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community. DrivingSales' media network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (http://www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices in a 20-group style setting; DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry's leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry's most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DrivingSales encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch by Auto Success Magazine.

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

Cierley to Head Up Marketing Strategy and Development for Leading SEO and Online Reputation Management Technology Provider

RIVERSIDE, CA – July 25, 2011 – eXtéres Corporation, a leading provider of Search and Online Reputation Management technologies, today announced that Kari Cierley has been named Director of Marketing. Cierley will oversee development of marketing and sales initiatives for both eXtéres Corporation and eXtéresAUTO, the firm’s award-winning automotive division.

“Kari brings to eXtéres over 10 years of experience in a range of industries from automotive to professional services. Her combined expertise in marketing, sales development and training make her a valuable addition to our executive team,” said Richard Winch, eXtéres Corporation’s Co-Founder and CEO. “As we enter into a period of significant expansion, I’m extremely pleased that Kari will be guiding our marketing initiatives.”

As Marketing Director Cierley will be responsible for the development and implementation of eXtéres’ sales and marketing strategies (for both the parent company and eXtéresAUTO), including planning and budgeting, brand management and advertising and communications programs. She will also work with clients to help them maximize the company’s technology solutions.

“When I look at the results eXtéresAUTO is generating for dealerships across the country, I’m convinced that no organization is achieving ROI at this level,” noted Cierley. “I’m thrilled to join a company that’s providing the most effective, innovative technologies, and help continue their expansion.”

Prior to joining eXtéres, Cierley led marketing and business development for the Law Offices of Don Featherstone, and was responsible for all marketing and sales initiatives. Previously, for nearly 10 years, she managed consumer marketing programs for over 40 brands at Fleetwood Enterprises, a leading manufacturer of RVs and mobile homes.

eXtéres Corporation was the first company to develop multi-faceted “Search Asset Management” (SAM™) technologies for the automotive industry. The company’s SEO and Online Reputation Management solutions help dealerships establish the most powerful, positive presence across search engines and online review/social media sites - to generate a high volume of calls and leads at a fraction of the cost of other traditional and Internet marketing options.

For more information, contact Diana Wright 310-806-0789, diana@rbicom.com

Auto/Mate Integrates New Service Merchandising Module into its DMS; Increases Fixed Ops Efficiency for Auto Dealers

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – July 18, 2011 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today the release of a new Service Merchandising module for its dealership management system (DMS). The new module consolidates all service merchandising functions within one, user-friendly screen; greatly increasing productivity and enabling auto dealer service managers to more efficiently manage their departments.

“Boosting profits in fixed ops has become increasingly important to many dealerships, and technology is key to achieving this,” said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. “We developed the features in this module over the last year largely based on customer requests and feedback, and the response has been that the new interface helps to streamline processes and grow profits in the service department.”

The Service Merchandising module includes the following new upgrades:

Ÿ One-Screen Access: All service merchandising activities are accessed within one screen, including the ability to schedule appointments, create estimates and repair orders, view manufacturers’ and service history, and edit customer information.

Ÿ Instant Repair Orders: ROs can be instantly created from the appointment screen with a single click of the mouse, greatly reducing wait-time for customers and increasing customer satisfaction.

Ÿ Graphics-Rich Calendar: Service managers can view appointments on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in a graphics-rich, user-friendly calendar application. At-a-glance scheduling makes booking and scheduling decisions easy, enabling managers to run their departments at maximum efficiency.

Ÿ Instant “Merge” Function: Unique to Auto/Mate’s DMS is the ability to merge duplicate customer information with a single click of a button. For instance, if there are four separate entries for the same customer, all that’s required is to select the four contacts, then click “merge” and the system automatically merges them into a single contact. Other DMS systems may have the ability to merge but it requires several, tedious steps.

Ÿ OEM Button: Another feature unique to Auto/Mate is the ability to instantly access manufacturers’ online information from within the DMS by simply clicking on the “OEM Button.” This eliminates the need to open up a separate web browser, access the OEM web site and import data or manually enter it. With Auto/Mate, a service employee can simply click on the VIN # from within the appointment screen, click the OEM Button and all the service information related to that vehicle will be instantly available; including recalls, service contracts, warranty information, repair history and more.

Auto/Mate’s new Service Merchandising module is available immediately and will be installed at no charge to current customers. With Auto/Mate, every customer receives new features at no additional cost; all upgrades are included within the low, monthly maintenance fee. For more information, call (877) 340-2677.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate is a leading dealer management system (DMS) provider that offers its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) to franchised dealerships. The company has received top satisfaction rankings from customers in NADA’s 2009 Dealership Management System survey and boasts more than 300 years of collective automotive experience among its key executives and employees—the foundation of its “designed by car people for car people” slogan. For more information, visit www.automate.com, and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AutoMateDMS

Las Vegas, NV July 18, 2011 —The ability to add legitimate line items to every repair order is a proven way for auto dealers to boost parts and labor profits – and retain customers, yet many fail miserably at the upsell process. To help auto dealers in this upsell process, MPi (www.mpi-edge.com) the leading provider of vehicle inspection tools, processes, and consulting for auto dealer service departments, today announced the release of a new eBook, Earning the Green Light to Customer Upsell Profitability.

“As straightforward as the upsell process sounds –and is – advisors often choke at upselling their customers. Yet a recent J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey notes that upsell work benefits both the customer and dealership – customers gain longer vehicle life and dealerships additional revenue,” commented  Les Silver MPi Chairman/CEO. “Some of the dealerships mentioned in Earning the Green Light to Customer Upsell Profitability are achieving monthly upsell parts and labor sales of $100,000 and more a month, using a process that helps them educate customers about their vehicles’ service, which builds confidence in upsell recommendations,” Silver added.

What auto dealer service advisors need to know about upselling customers – how to do it correctly and how to do it so customers sell themselves – is outlined in the eBook, Earning the Green Light to Customer Upsell Profitability.

Some highlights:

•       How to navigate perceptions so upsell isn’t viewed as a negative by customers – or advisors

•       How to develop advisors who feel confident in presenting upsell opportunities

•       How to move customers to “green” so the upsell can happen naturally

•       How to upsell customers so the dealership improves its parts and labor sales

 “Whether your shop has one advisor or a dozen, they can learn to see real value in the upsell process. As a result, they become adept at presenting additional service recommendations in a manner that builds customer trust and gains their additional business,” said Silver.

The new eBook can be downloaded at: http://www.mpi-edge.com/media/22710/earning_the_green_light.pdf

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About MPi:

For more information visit:

http://www.mpi-edge.com/company/overview.aspx

http://www.mpi-edge.com/results/video-testimonials.aspx

http://www.mpi-edge.com/solutions/world-class-inspections.aspx