AutoID® Automates Online Lead Attribution, Providing Cross-Domain Mapping of Complete Customer Journey

New, easy-to-implement analytics give dealers a complete, real-time picture of lead attribution and digital marketing ROI from one platform, identifying lead sources as well as hot prospects, sending alerts when a prospect visits a competitor’s website

New Orleans, LA – January 26, 2017 – AutoID announces AI℠, the first web analytics tool that can track cross-domain traffic. Launching at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in New Orleans, the easy-to-use platform maps the complete customer journey and provides cross-domain attribution - without cookies - giving dealers unprecedented visibility into which sources nurtured and generated each lead. In addition, AI identifies “hot prospects” by analyzing the number of website visits, form submissions and VDP pages viewed. And, for the first time, dealers can be alerted when a prospect visits a competitor’s website.

AI replaces a digital ‘wall’ with a window, solving one of the biggest marketing headaches confronting dealers – effective management and optimization of digital spend. And, while the technology behind it is complex, the platform itself is easy to use and to install: “All it takes is one simple line of code,” said Jason Scinocca, founder and CEO of AutoID.  “Never before has lead attribution been more transparent, nor, because it is a fully automated platform, have dealerships needed to exert less effort, resources or training to manage and understand where online customers come from, how they arrived or where they go when they leave the dealership website.”

With the installation of a single line of code, AI starts automatically tracking each visitor’s complete online journey. AI’s simple interface means there’s no need to set up complicated Google Analytics campaigns in order to track sources. Dealers will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing channels from a centralized dashboard, assessing the ROI of their digital spend and holding vendors accountable for results.

The insights AI provides means dealerships will no longer have to rely on sometimes unreliable vendor reporting or complex, analytics products to know exactly how a customer has found their website – whether through email, third-party websites or social media. Among other things, AI lets dealers accurately track unique vs. returning visitors; view which VDPs a customer has visited and how many times; discover which visitors are hot prospects and ready to buy; as well as how many competitor dealer sites prospects have visited. AI can even alert dealers when a customer visits a competitor’s website.

“With so many touch points, channels and devices, digital marketing attribution has become incredibly complex,” continued Scinocca. “AI helps dealers cut through the clutter to understand what their online customers are really doing, in real time.”

Among the real time customer insights AI provides are:

• Vehicle they are currently viewing

• Previous phone lead/chat/phone call activity with dealership

• Number of other dealerships they’ve browsed

• Number of VDPs they’ve browsed

• Defection to a competitor’s website

AI has been piloted by a number of dealers across the US and was developed with their feedback. To learn more, visit www.autoid.com or come to Hall B1, booth #627 during NADA at the New Orleans Convention Center.

About AutoID

AutoID, Inc. was founded with a mission to provide automobile dealers with the most advanced analytics available. AI, with its proprietary automatic identification is able to generate unique fingerprints of individuals’ computers and mobile devices, to allow for the simultaneous tracking of each customer’s online journey and calling activity. AutoID’s precise analytics and actionable reports provide the data necessary to measure the effectiveness and engagement of digital marketing campaigns and, provide online lead attribution and conversion rates. To learn more, visit www.autoid.com.

CallSource clients have increased call-to-appointment ratios by 20% YOY; effective lost call recapture, strong analytics and training driving increases

Westlake Village, CA – January 26, 2017– CallSource, pioneers of award-winning solutions to help dealerships track, analyze and improve incoming call performance, has helped auto dealers recover nearly half a million (over 420,000) mishandled phone leads during 2016 through its DealSaver Alerts product alone.

DealSaver triggers an alert when a call is lost – whether it’s due to a rude or unprofessional exchange or a call handler simply failing to set an appointment with a qualified customer or obtain basic contact information. DealSaver is one of multiple safeguards CallSource customers are successfully using to significantly reduce the volume of mishandled phone calls and improve overall call handling and appointment setting, all designed to drive more cost-efficient sales.

“Our dealer customers improved call-to-appointment ratios by 20% in 2016 on a call volume that was constant year-over-year,” said David Greene, SVP, Automotive Strategic Accounts. “Zeroing in on better handling of calls that are already coming in versus increasing marketing spend to drive additional call volume demonstratively increased incremental sales and marketing ROI for our dealers.”

As an example of this, CallSource reports that the average number of validated sales calls dealers receive each month is around 100, while the average number of missed opportunities is a whopping 41. By realigning process to focus on recovering even a small percentage of those calls and converting them into appointments – and likely sales – dealerships can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the bottom line.

“The good news is that dealers know they have a problem,” said Greene, citing a survey the company conducted in early 2016 in which 60% of dealers acknowledged that their sales teams were not handling inbound call traffic effectively – and a third were losing at least 1 in 5 car buyers to competitors due to poor phone handling skills.  “We continue to believe – and our data proves it - that our industry would do well to shift more focus onto their processes for handling phone leads.”

Casey Jenkins, Manager at TN-based Jenkins & Wynne Ford, Lincoln and Honda, concurs: “With CallSource, we are able to see the direct link between professional phone handling and higher customer satisfaction and profits. Now that we know exactly what’s happening on the phones, we’ve enacted tight accountability measures and can accurately monitor the team’s overall effectiveness.”

CallSource ties all the elements of a successful call management program into one system – closing the loop and delivering measurable results. Fifty-three of the top 150 dealer groups use CallSource.

CallSource will be at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans taking place January 27-29 in Hall B1, Booth #627.

About CallSource

CallSource, providers of award-winning solutions to help dealerships track, analyze and improve incoming call performance, has tracked more than a billion calls since 1991. For over 25 years, CallSource’s award-winning solutions have gone far beyond call tracking to providing marketing insight, including cost-per-lead analysis and sales conversion percentages, training and coaching solutions to improve phone skills, and tools that enable businesses to recapture mishandled sales opportunities. Based in Westlake Village, Calif., CallSource serves multiple industries including automotive, home services and healthcare, as well as numerous franchise businesses. Visit callsource.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, (949) 307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com 

Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, (818) 397-4630, cassandra@mwebbcom.com

Kerrigan Auto Retail Index indicates auto retail stocks reacting positively to Trump election, outperforming S&P by 240.9%

Irvine, CA, December 1, 2016 – Kerrigan Advisors today announced that The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index was up 11.66% in the month of November, significantly outperforming the broader S&P 500 Index by 240.9%.  With no earnings announcements or other major industry events, The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index attributes the rise to the election of Donald Trump.  

“While the Trump administration is still in formation, we believe stocks are reacting to key themes which portend strong auto sales,” said Erin Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors.  “First amongst these is Trump’s stated focus on domestic job creation as well as his advocacy for aggressive spending on infrastructure, including roads, bridges and ports, which could increase employment and add to commercial vehicle demand. In addition, we believe the index is reacting positively to his proposals to stimulate the economy with tax cuts.” 

The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index, which is a monthly index for the auto retail industry covering the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market, shows the following key trends in the month of November:

• The Index rose 11.66% overall in November
• The Index outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index, which increased 3.42% 
• Each of the seven component stocks in the index were up in November
• Four of the stocks up over 15% for the month
• Group 1 Automotive posted the strongest gain with an increase of 20.44%, followed by Sonic Automotive (+18.16%), CarMax (+15.72%) and Asbury Automotive Group (+15.31%)

“More specific to auto retail, the incoming Trump administration is assumed to be more business-friendly, and could slow, if not disband, regulatory initiatives such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and increased CAFÉ mileage requirements, both moves seen as highly positive to auto retail,” continued Ryan Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors.

The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to help public and private auto retailers understand the true value of their dealerships, while also providing key insights into factors influencing valuations of these public companies, with broader implications for the auto industry as a whole. To access the Kerrigan Auto Retail Index, click here.

Kerrigan Advisors also releases The Blue Sky Report™ four times a year and includes Kerrigan Advisor’s signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. The multiples are based on Kerrigan Advisors’ view of franchise values in the current buy/sell market and can be applied to adjusted pre-tax dealership earnings to estimate blue sky value. To download The Blue Sky Report, click here.

Erin Kerrigan is Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors, and is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells. A sought after commentator on automotive retailing topics ranging from consumer auto buying trends to auto retail consolidation to private equity in auto retail, she has keynoted numerous automotive conferences and her analysis has appeared in publications such as Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal.   For a recent video of Erin’s commentary on the market, click here.

Ryan Kerrigan is Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors and an expert on US auto retail buy-sell transactions. Ryan served as Managing Director at Serent Capital, a $250mm private equity fund investing in middle market companies. Prior, he briefly served as General Manager of the family’s auto dealership. Mr. Kerrigan began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on growth strategies, organizational issues, pricing and business valuation.

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is a national dealership buy/sell advisory firm focused on providing a high level of client service for dealership sellers. Led by a team of veteran advisors who have represented transactions totaling over $2 billion dollars in automotive, private equity and investment banking, Kerrigan Advisors customizes each sale process to maximize the seller’s transaction proceeds. With the most comprehensive buyer database in the industry, Kerrigan Advisors has the industry context and expertise to match each seller with the right buyer.

In addition to the monthly Kerrigan Auto Retail Index, each quarter, Kerrigan Advisors publishes The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values.  Kerrigan Advisors’ Managing Director Erin Kerrigan, who authors the report, is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells, and is a frequent speaker at leading auto retail events and conferences, including NADA, JD Power Automotive Roundtable, AICPA, NADC and Driving Sales’ President’s Club. She has also been a keynote speaker for events hosted by American Honda Motor Company, Audi of America, US Trust, Ohio Automobile Dealer Association, and SunTrust Bank and has led webinars for NADA and Automotive News.  Her expertise is also featured in a monthly column for Dealer Magazine. 

Kerrigan Advisors Media Contact:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

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CarStory Launches VDP Deep Linking: Delivers Low Funnel Traffic and High Engagement to VDPs During “Moment of Search”

The CarStory Advertising Network offers faster and more effective Vehicle Details Page deep linking from CarStory’s extensive and highly trafficked network of automotive marketplaces

Austin, Texas – August 9, 2016 – Dealerships can now attract low-funnel, high-converting consumers from the highly trafficked CarStory Advertising Network via deep links directly into their websites’ Vehicle Details Pages (VDPs), CarStory announced today. The new offering also includes CarStory’s popular and comprehensive inline Market Reports, full of unique information that further engages consumers on their VDPs. Powered by over 30 used-car marketplaces, including Car and Driver, AOL Autoblog and J.D. Power, the CarStory Advertising Network boasts over 10 million unique search sessions monthly.

Deep linking to a dealer’s VDP is the most effective way of getting car shoppers to the exact vehicle they are viewing on a 3rd party marketplace – and offers the best opportunity for conversion because the shoppers are in prime time active research and decision making mode. VDP views have also been proven to be one of the best metrics for moving cars quickly and a recent study showed that VDPs with 20-30 page views spend 29% less time on the lot.

Compared to other VDP deep-linking programs, most of which rely on display advertising or SEM, the CarStory Advertising Network deep links from listings featured on automotive marketplace sites teeming with “in-market” consumers – and it is much faster:  car shoppers are transferred to dealership VDPs in just 200 milliseconds, approximately 25 times faster than other solutions. And, because the dealer’s VDPs are equipped with CarStory Market Reports, bounce rates are lower and engagement is measurably deeper: VDPs featuring CarStory’s free Market Reports have a 16% reduction in bounce rates and a 14% average increase in lead conversions.

“We have significantly advanced VDP deep linking by anchoring it to the ‘moment of search’ and sending car shoppers from our high traffic network to VDPs featuring CarStory Market Reports,” said Chad Bockius, Chief Marketing Officer of CarStory. “CarStory delivers a complete VDP solution: dealers cut out costly third parties along the shopping journey and get speedier access to deep funnel, in-market shoppers; while shoppers arrive on information-rich VDPs, increasing the likelihood of conversion.”

“CarStory Market Reports help turn our website visitors into car buyers – in addition to the amazing increase in lead conversion, our overall VDP bounce rate has gone down by 16%, while time spent on the page has increased by 10%,” said Ryan Montville, Webmaster, of Checkered Flag Auto Group.

CarStory Market Reports, adopted by over 6,000 dealerships nationwide, analyze tens of millions of pieces of customer vehicle preference data to provide consumers with inline ‘instant access’ information, including unique pricing and vehicle data, such as the number of owners the vehicle has had, if it has low mileage relative to others on the market, whether or not it is likely to sell quickly, as well as the features and packages that people find most interesting and valuable. This robust information keeps consumers engaged and eliminates the need for additional research that could take the shopper away from the dealer’s website. CarStory delivers 15,000,000 Market Reports each month to consumers around the country and they have been adopted by 50% of the top 10 dealer groups.

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About CarStory

CarStory is a service that matches used car shoppers with the right car. Using patented technology and an industry-leading dataset, CarStory facilitates an efficient, effective discovery process resulting in a confident purchase decision. With a network of over 6,000 participating dealerships nationwide, CarStory’s available inventory and user-data is the largest, and most accurate in the industry. Discover your new used car and drive happily ever after at: www.carstory.com.

About Vast 

Vast is a big data-as-service platform that provides consumer experiences —powered by data and analytics — for big purchases in automotive and real estate. Founded in 2005, Vast is the premier provider of big data solutions for many of the Global 1000’s largest automotive and real estate businesses. Learn more at Vast.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, 949) 307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com 

Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications 818) 379-4630, cassandra@mwebbcom.com

New Study: Dealership Purchase Transactions Reduced by 60 Minutes, Likelihood to Buy Increases 56% with New Process

White Paper from eLEND Solutions with Huntington Beach Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram examines how a simple driver’s license swipe, and a new process can set financing pre-qualification in motion, reduce transaction times and increase closing ratios

Foothill Ranch, CA – August 4, 2016 – The time it takes to complete a purchase transaction in the dealership can be shorted by sixty minutes with the simple swipe of a driver’s license and specific process improvements, according to a new study released today by eLEND Solutions. The study entitled “A 60 Second Process Change Decreases Transaction Time By Over 60 Minutes” conducted with California-based Huntington Beach Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, proves that, in addition to streamlining the transaction time, triggering financing pre-qualification at the start of the sales process can increase likelihood to purchase by 56%.

“We knew the only way to cut the time customers spent in the dealership was to start Sales and Finance at the same time,” said Pete Shaver, Managing Partner of HB Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. “To us, this meant the minute the customer enters the showroom. We decided to empower our sales team with the ability to combine the driver’s license test-drive scan with a consumer consent soft pull credit application. The results really speak for themselves.”

“Saving time during the car sales transaction has become a kind of holy grail in the auto industry. Both dealers and consumers alike want to shorten a process that is documented as being notoriously long, unwieldy and exhausting – often lasting up to four hours,” said Pete MacInnis, CEO of eLEND Solutions. In fact, a recent Cox Automotive study, said that less than 1% of consumers like the sales process as it is today – with the time spent in the finance department being the biggest issue; while 88% of dealers say significant opportunities exist to improve the sales and finance process in their store.

In the six-month study, HB Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram’s sales team was required to get a quick driver’s license swipe from consumers and invite them to opt-in for a pre-qualification soft pull credit app – with no SSN required and no impact on their credit score.

Key results included:

• Closing ratios up by 150% from 18-25% to 45%
• Average transaction time went from 3-4 hours to just 2-3 hours
• Gross profit per car sold increased $300+
• Savings of $200-275 per car sold in variable labor and miscellaneous costs
• CSI scores increased 4 points

Not only did HB Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram report record closing ratios, increased gross profits and shorter than ever transaction times, they also discovered that consumers welcomed this new process – especially because there was no SSN requirement or obligation to purchase. Over 50% of customers opted in for the one-click, soft credit pull and most had better than average credit scores – signaling a “ready-to-buy” buyer.

“Creating a connection between the traditionally silo’d sales and finance departments also helped solve the issue of data disconnects and bottlenecks in the finance department by capturing and de-duping all customer details in the CRM – whether from new walk-in customers or those already in the system,” continued Shaver. “Another improvement was the flagging up of potential fraudulent IDs prior to a test drive – an issue every dealer needs to get to grips with.”

ID Drive is able to authenticate every version of every driver’s license for all 50 states, Canada and Mexico. ID Drive is also able to append validated address and phone information to the lead record, and automatically convert a driver license scan into a consumer consented pre-qualification application.

“HB Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram’s commitment to, and its sales team 100% compliance of, this new procedure helped cement their success. The results really speak for themselves - proving the case for connecting the sales and financing processes and beginning F&I as early as possible in the selling process,” concluded MacInnis.

To read the full white paper, click here.

ID Drive’s pre-qualification function works hand-in-hand with eLEND’s CreditPlus, a tool that instantly pre-qualifies customers based on dealer-defined credit criteria, giving car buyers direct, upfront access to dealership financing sources and real near-final terms from multiple lenders, all of which are controlled by the auto dealer.

About eLEND Solutions
eLEND Solutions is a privately held technology company whose patented platform offers integrated credit, identification and finance solutions that enable a connected buying experience for consumers and a streamlined sales and finance workflow for dealers and lenders that reduces the time to complete a vehicle purchase transaction by hours.  For more information, visit www.elendsolutions.com.

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

Vast executives to share insights on how a shift in fundamental marketing strategies can lead to increased used vehicle sales for car dealers

Austin, Texas – June 22, 2016 – Vast announced today that two of its executives from its CarStory® product team will be sharing insights into how dealerships can improve marketing strategies to make stronger connections with today’s used car shoppers, presenting data on the importance of appealing to customer’s needs versus stereotypical demographics.

The presentations are based on a month-long survey carried out by Vast’s Research Department that sought to better understand the needs of today’s used car “buyer personas.” Vast connects buyers and sellers of cars and homes through data-driven discovery experiences. CarStory.com, Vast’s vehicle discover site and app, utilizes the Vast data platform to understand consumer intent and match each shopper with the right vehicle.

Women in Automotive, Orlando, FL

Stefania Mereu, VP of Research for Vast, will speak at this month’s Women in Automotive in Orlando, Fl (June 26-28). Mereu’s session, entitled “The Doctor is In: Prescribing Marketing Plans to 3 Women Personas” takes place Tuesday, June 28th from 10:25-11:10, and will shatter stereotypes while helping marketers understand the importance of marketing to personas versus simple demographics. Mereu holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and strongly believes data should overrule gut instinct. She has developed products and insights for Vast that increased product conversions by 700%.

Digital Dealer 21, Las Vegas, NV

Ryan Leslie, VP, CarStory Strategic Partnerships, will take on a similar theme at Digital Dealer 21 in Las Vegas (August 8-10) in his session entitled: “Overcoming Consumer Information Overload – Using ‘Big Data’ to Cut Through the Noise of Information and Unlock the Paradox of Choice.” At CarStory, Leslie is focused on helping dealers capitalize on their marketing opportunity through differentiation.

About Vast 

Vast is a big data-as-service platform that provides consumer experiences —powered by data and analytics — for big purchases in automotive and real estate. Founded in 2005, Vast is the premier provider of big data solutions for many of the Global 1000’s largest automotive and real estate businesses. Learn more at Vast.com.

About CarStory

CarStory is a service that matches used car shoppers with the right car. Using patented technology and an industry-leading dataset, CarStory facilitates an efficient, effective discovery process resulting in a confident purchase decision. With a network of over 6,000 participating dealerships nationwide, CarStory’s available inventory and user-data is the largest, and most accurate in the industry. Discover your new used car and drive happily ever after at: www.carstory.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, 949)307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com 

Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, 818) 397-4630, cassandra@mwebbcom.com

Company founder and director, Carey Fried, to lead “Mindful & Emotional Intelligence for Leaders” workshop

Westlake Village, CA – June 21st, 2016 – CallSource today announced that company director and founder Carey Fried will present a workshop based on Google’s “Search Inside Yourself” curriculum at the upcoming Women in Automotive (WIA) conference taking place in Orlando, FL (June 26-28). The company is also a sponsor of the conference.  CallSource is a leading provider of solutions to help auto dealerships track, analyze and improve incoming call performance.

“We’re passionate supporters of women in every industry and strongly believe in promoting a level playing field in the workplace,” said Carey Fried, founder and director, CallSource, Inc. “We are pleased to be part of an event - as both sponsor and presenter - that offers a platform where women can connect, do business, network and promote connectedness in the auto industry.”

CallSource is sponsoring Track 3 of the WIA agenda – “Personal Development” – which will include sessions designed to empower women (and men) with tools and tactics to improve their personal and business lives.

Carey Fried, a CallSource founder and director, will lead “Mindful & Emotional Intelligence for Leaders,” an experiential workshop, on Sunday at 2:40-3:25. Based on Google’s “Search Inside Yourself” curriculum, the session will combine neuroscience research with relaxing mindful exercises to help conference attendees create a more emotionally intelligent workplace. Fried was trained as in Google’s science-supported mindfulness and emotional intelligence curriculum.

About CallSource

CallSource, providers of award-winning solutions to help dealerships track, analyze and improve incoming call performance, has tracked more than a billion calls since 1991. For over 25 years, CallSource’s award-winning solutions have gone far beyond call tracking to providing marketing insight, including cost-per-lead analysis and sales conversion percentages, training and coaching solutions to improve phone skills, and tools that enable businesses to recapture mishandled sales opportunities. Based in Westlake Village, Calif., CallSource recently received a patent for its Sales Performance Management (SPM) system, which combines the actionable data of its call analytics, performance analysis, advisory services, and online and phone training/coaching from seasoned sales professionals. CallSource serves multiple industries including automotive, home services and healthcare, as well as numerous franchise businesses. Visit callsource.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, (949) 307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com 

Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, (818) 397-4630, cassandra@mwebbcom.com

The Blue Sky Report™ released by Kerrigan Advisors analyzes dealership buy/sell activity for Q1 2016; overall activity, including multi-dealership transactions, size of groups coming into market and luxury import transactions, continues to rise; publics’ blue sky multiples decline: valuations at parity or below many private acquisition opportunities

Irvine, CA, June 7, 2016 – U.S. dealership buy/sell activity continued to rise in the first quarters of 2016, including growth in multi-dealership transactions, the size of groups coming into market, and luxury import transactions, according to The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which today released analysis of the first quarter of 2016.  But, the report reveals, this activity was accompanied by a monumental shift in public market valuations of auto retail stocks, putting a chill on public company acquisition activity.  Year to date, The KAR Index™ (The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index) declined by 11.8% and is down 30% from its high in June 2015.

“For public companies to trade at parity with private dealership groups is highly unusual. In most industries, when public consolidators decline in value, private companies quickly follow suit,” said Erin Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisor.  “This aberration may be explained by auto retail’s continued fragmentation and domination by private companies.  It should be noted that the publics represent just 8% of industry revenue and a minority of industry acquisitions. Nevertheless, these declines are something to be watched and could be a leading indicator for future blue sky values.”

The report from Kerrigan Advisors is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values. Laying out the high, average and low multiples for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments for the quarter, the report offers a detailed view of public and private company dealership acquisition activity. 

According to the report, key activities influencing trends in the first part of the year were the completion of a few very large acquisitions, including AutoNation’s purchase of the Allen Samuels Group in Texas and Fremont Private Holdings purchase of Morrie’s Automotive in Minnesota.  Among the leading buy/sell trends, The Blue Sky Report identifies the following three as shaping the market for the balance of 2016:

• Private buyers and new entrants dominating 2016’s buy/sell market
• Acquisition financing terms drive purchase price
• Blue sky values increasingly based on multi-year average earnings

“While the 2016 buy/sell market is expected to be as active as 2015’s, we anticipate greater pricing disparity as industry growth plateaus and dealership earnings come under pressure,” continued Kerrigan. “There seems to be a growing divide between the bid/ask spread in the buy/sell market. Sellers have very high pricing expectations, particularly in the luxury market, and buyers are increasingly challenged to achieve their return on investment requirements.”

The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, is published four times a year and includes Kerrigan Advisor’s signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. The multiples are based on Kerrigan Advisors’ view of franchise values in the current buy/sell market and can be applied to adjusted pre-tax dealership earnings to estimate blue sky value. To download the report, click here.

Kerrigan Advisors also releases a monthly index, The KAR Index, designed to help public and private auto retailers understand the true value of their dealerships, while also providing key insights into factors influencing valuations of these public companies, with broader implications for the auto industry as a whole. To access the KAR Index™, click here.

Erin Kerrigan is Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors, and is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells. A sought after commentator on automotive retailing topics ranging from consumer auto buying trends to auto retail consolidation to private equity in auto retail, she has keynoted numerous automotive conferences and her analysis has appeared in publications such as Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal.   

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is a national dealership buy/sell advisory firm focused on providing a high level of client service for dealership sellers. Led by a team of veteran advisors who have represented transactions totaling over $2 billion dollars in automotive, private equity and investment banking, Kerrigan Advisors customizes each sale process to maximize the seller’s transaction proceeds. With the most comprehensive buyer database in the industry, Kerrigan Advisors has the industry context and expertise to match each seller with the right buyer.

Each quarter, Kerrigan Advisors publishes The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values.  Kerrigan Advisors’ Managing Director Erin Kerrigan, who authors the report, is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells, and is a frequent speaker at leading auto retail events and conferences, including NADA, JD Power Automotive Roundtable, AICPA, NADC and Driving Sales’ President’s Club. She has also been a keynote speaker for events hosted by American Honda Motor Company, Audi of America, US Trust, Ohio Automobile Dealer Association, and SunTrust Bank and has led webinars for NADA and Automotive News.  Her expertise is also featured in a monthly column for Dealer Magazine. 

Kerrigan Advisors Media Contact:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

Appointment of key marketing and sales execs, Robin Schweitzer and Bill Bauwens, adds 35+ years of sales and marketing expertise to leading call management company
 
Westlake Village, CA – May 12, 2016 – CallSource today announced the appointment of two veteran sales and marketing executives to its management team. Robin Schweitzer brings a 20-year record of marketing success to her role as Marketing Director for the company; Bill Bauwens adds over 15 years of strategic and measurable sales expertise to the company’s automotive division as National Sales Manager, Auto.

“We are pleased to welcome Robin and Bill to our team and look forward to the many ways they will help us continue our growth as a leading call management company for the automotive, health care and home services industries,” said Elliot Leiboff, Chief Strategy Officer of CallSource. “They will be instrumental in expanding our footprint as the only call management company with a United States Patent for tracking, analyzing, and, crucially, training sales staff to better handle inbound phone leads.”

Schweitzer is an award-winning marketer with an extensive background in results-driven direct and digital marketing. Prior to CallSource, Schweitzer consulted on digital marketing for YP and Taproot and was VP, Client Marketing at Valassis, a national marketing and media company, where her accounts included McDonalds, Starbucks and AT&T. “CallSource’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to customer success are inspiring,” says Schweitzer. “I look forward to working within its people-focused culture which clearly breeds passion and commitment to results.”

Previously, Bauwens was Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Santa Barbara-based Neovia where he increased sales by $500K in his first nine months and developed strategic sales and marketing initiatives that drove 90% ROI.
“CallSource, a leader in its space, empowers its management team to be on the cutting edge of technology and product development,” said Bauwens. “I look forward to being part of this strategic team as we take this exciting company to the next level of innovation.”

About CallSource
CallSource, providers of award-winning solutions to help businesses track, analyze and improve incoming call performance, has tracked more than a billion calls since 1991. For over 25 years, CallSource’s award-winning solutions have gone far beyond call tracking to providing marketing insight, including cost-per-lead analysis and sales conversion percentages, training and coaching solutions to improve phone skills, and tools that enable businesses to recapture mishandled sales opportunities. Based in Westlake Village, Calif., CallSource recently received a patent for its Sales Performance Management (SPM) system, which combines the actionable data of its call analytics, performance analysis, advisory services, and online and phone training/coaching from seasoned sales professionals. CallSource serves multiple industries including automotive, home services and healthcare, as well as numerous franchise businesses. Visit callsource.com.
 
Media Relations: 
Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, (949) 307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com 
Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, (818) 397-4630, cassandra@mwebbcom.com