Community Features, Press, Newsletters and “How to”

DrivingSales, (www.DrivingSales.com), the auto industry’s original online community and social networking site, today announced the winner of its inaugural Strategies contest. Strategies and other best practices are an essential part of the DrivingSales experience, as members of this fast growing automotive community get the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise and benefit from the shared knowledge of their peers. Members who posted strategies competed for the best rating from fellow members, in a fun competition for sharing best practices. Nathan Scripps, director of sales for Jumpstart Automotive Media (www.jumpstartautomotive.com), submitted the winning sales strategy, entitled “The Long Spiff.”

The winning submission challenges dealers to think long-term about spiffs for sales people. Instead of strictly focusing on short-term daily, weekly or monthly sales, Scripps proposes incentives that reward staff members for repeat and referral business. In this way, sales people begin to view customers as life-time clients, rather than just one-time sales. (Visit www.drivingsales.com for the complete strategy.) For posting the winning strategy Scripps will receive a new MacBook Air laptop.

“From working with many dealers every day, I’ve got first hand exposure to the ups and downs they’re facing in today’s market,” commented Scripps. “DrivingSales offers an ideal forum for dealers and service providers alike to share effective, long-term ideas to help boost sales, cut costs, and more – something that is especially needed right now. It’s an honor to be recognized by a group of fellow professionals who are all focused on improving automotive sales and service.”

Members of the DrivingSales community rate Strategies based on their ingenuity, usefulness and effectiveness. A 1-5 star rating is used, along with written reviews and recommendations on whether or not they think colleagues will benefit from the idea.

“There was some stiff competition in this contest,” stated Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales founder and CEO, “with members providing a wealth of creative, proven ideas. The beauty of these strategies is that they offer a quick and easy reference to boost performance, not to mention great ideas for when you walk into your next sales meeting.”

The next DrivingSales Strategies contest begins next month, and the topic will be “great ideas and strategies for success in a down economy.” The prize will be the new Apple iPhone 3g. Visit www.drivingsales.com to learn more, to post a strategy, and get tactical tips from other automotive professionals.

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Salt Lake City, UT, July 16, 2008 - DrivingSales.com, the auto industry’s original online community and social networking site, today announced that over two dozen industry experts have become frequent bloggers on DrivingSales.com. Member-generated content is a cornerstone of the DrivingSales community, and the site continues to draw industry thought leaders who are contributing best practices in their areas of expertise.

“The DrivingSales Blogs are a collection of the best blogs in our business – written by industry insiders who have a valuable opinion to share with our dealer audience,” commented Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales founder and CEO. “Our stance is: if you have value to add, we have an audience to share it with. Having just opened DrivingSales.com to the whole industry last month, we’re thrilled to see so many of the most respected names in the business already on board. We’re looking forward to having more join us in the common months.”

The following is a sampling of DrivingSales bloggers and some of the topics covered:

• Allan Cooper, an industry executive with over 25 years of global professional experience, recognized by JD Power and Associates as an Internet Visionary and Pioneer – on employee retention issues for dealerships

• Dean Evans, seasoned online automotive retailing executive and chief marketing officer for Dealer.com - on tactical ways dealers can capitalize on online retailing and Web 2.0 practices

• Rafi Hamid, industry veteran and former groups director of e-commerce for the Napleton Automotive Group - on all facets of enterprise automotive sales

• David Kain, dealership sales and process expert and president of Kain Automotive training and consulting firm - on efficient and successful retailing and operations.

• Dale Pollak, best-selling author of the pre-owned vehicle sales guide Velocity and chairman and founder of vAuto, Inc. - on pre-owned sales and other retailing strategies.

• The DrivingSales Blogs also include contributions from its editorial staff, including highly popular industry blogger and Internet manager Paul Rushing, and other associate editors who currently work within dealerships, who blog on the typical day-to-day issues dealers face.

• Other topics covered in the DrivingSales Blogs include: highlights from industry events and workshops; information on running “green,” environmentally-sustainable dealerships; as well dealership compliance issues; subprime sales; CRM; and more.

“DrivingSales offers an easy way for all of us in this business to pick up strategic and tactical best practices that we can apply immediately,” commented contributor Rafi Hamid. “Whether you are a new Internet sales manager, an account rep at a vendor, or heading up e-commerce for a large dealer group, DrivingSales is a great way to share knowledge, connect with colleagues, and improve operations.”

Read more about the DrivingSales bloggers at www.DrivingSales.com.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is a community of automotive industry professionals, networking and sharing best practices to maximize their success. On DrivingSales.com, members post profiles, share sales strategies, and get access to relevant content contributed by industry experts, including blogs, videos, interviews, and more. Members who are dealers rate and review vendors, sharing their experience with the DrivingSales community; while vendors get the opportunity to provide feedback on reviews and showcase their products and services. DrivingSales empowers auto industry professionals to take their businesses and careers to a whole new level of success. Get connected at www.drivingsales.com.

Technorati Tags: auto industry experts, dealership best practices

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