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Cliff Banks of Ward’s wrote about vendor ratings and DrivingSales -

Dealer Ratings? How About Vendor Ratings?

Salt Lake City, UT, October 7, 2008 — DrivingSales (www.DrivingSales.com), the automotive industry’s original online dealership best practices and professional networking community, today announced the launch of its user-generated streaming online Video Collection. The new site feature will be launched today during the J.D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas. A central focus of this year’s conference is social media, and Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO of DrivingSales, will lead a discussion about the growing importance of social media, including streaming video, for dealerships, OEMs and the automotive industry in general. Like the conference, the DrivingSales Video Collection focuses on providing automotive dealers proven solutions and tactics to improve their businesses and stay in the game.

“The increased speed, quality and overall access to online streaming videos is a real breakthrough for training and continuous learning,” commented Dennis Colome, vice president of Izmo Cars. “In person, onsite training will always be important, but video can be very effective for imparting new skills and knowledge. The richness of the medium can have a much more dramatic, immediate impact than reading a book or information online. The DrivingSales videos offer cutting-edge solutions, and now more dealers than ever will have access to proven strategies and tactics to help improve their operations and the bottom line.”

According to recent ABI Research, both supply and demand are driving the huge increase in online video consumption, “with more rich content available in ad-supported formats and more consumers eager for online video, from professionals and amateurs alike.”

The DrivingSales Video Collection is similar to YouTube, with the obvious difference that all video content focuses on helping automotive dealers maximize their businesses. Both professional and amateur content will be accepted, encouraging members to contribute helpful user generated content (UGC). Video subject matter covers virtually all aspects of dealership activities and operations, including sales, customer retention, Internet retailing, F&I, service, parts, and fleet sales. Content is already available from industry leaders such as: Google head of automotive strategic partnerships Adrian Madland, Dealix vice president of sales Kevin Hunt, CarFolks president and founding shareholder and board member of Auto Dealer Traffic, Inc. Mark Boyd, Cobalt director or marketing Melissa McCann, Curtis Kroeker, former director of vehicles for eBay Motors, and U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business professor Florian Zettelmeyer.

“Today, more than ever, dealers really need solutions, tactical ideas and answers to their questions about surviving this difficult period. The DrivingSales Video Collection provides our members with real-life, proven solutions for their problems: how to achieve a stronger capital structure, increasing parts and service sales, getting more repeat customers, differentiating yourself in competitive markets, using online marketing tools to maximum advantage, and more. The videos are our latest tool to help dealers compete and succeed through challenging times,” stated Hamilton.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is a best practices networking community for automotive professionals, including dealers, manufacturers, and vendors, who are collaborating to maximize their success. On DrivingSales.com, members create profiles and communicate with each other, building their networks and knowledgebase by connecting with the people and ideas they need to be more successful. Members share and rate proven strategies, and get access to relevant content contributed by fellow industry experts, including blogs, videos, interviews, and more. Members who are dealers rate and review vendor products, sharing their experiences 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: automotive retailing, autotmotive sales training, Internet sales training, online videos

Salt Lake City, UT, August 12, 2008 — DrivingSales (www.DrivingSales.com), the auto industry’s original best practices and social networking site, today announced its newest strategies and best practices contest: “Gas prices are up. Sales are down. What have you done in the last 90 days to increase your bottom line?” The purpose of the contest is to stimulate ideas for improving business in light of the current economic challenges many dealers face. The DrivingSales Strategies competitions invite the best minds in the automotive industry to share their knowledge with the community and provide valuable ideas to help dealers increase profit and improve operations.

“As a dealer and member of DrivingSales, I find the strategy postings by fellow members a great way to get quick ideas and inspiration,” commented Tom White, Jr. general manager of Suzuki of Wichita, Kansas. “You’ll find a dealership in a totally different part of the country, selling a different franchise, who is facing the same exact sales or staffing challenge that you are. And they’ve found a creative solution, which they write about on DrivingSales. It’s a great site to get fresh ideas quickly and easily.”

To contribute an idea or strategy, auto industry professionals must first become a member of DrivingSales at www.drivingsales.com, where they can then post their strategy or best practice in the Strategies section. Once posted, the strategy will be live on DrivingSales.com, where other members can provide a 1-5 star rating and written review, and recommend whether or not their friends would benefit from it. The prize for the winning entry is the new Apple iPhone 3g.

The contest closes and the ratings will be tallied at midnight on Wednesday, September 17, 2008. Members are encouraged to post their strategies as early as possible in order to receive the most ratings by fellow members before the contest closes. The winner will be announced on Monday, September 22, 2008. The first contest successfully generated a plethora of ideas that can benefit all areas of the dealership, including: new and used vehicle sales, parts and service, and Internet and BDC.

“They say necessity is the mother of invention, and we know that many of our members have developed really innovative methods to deal with the current environment of high gas prices and a slow economy,” commented Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales founder and CEO. “We’ve launched the next contest to tap into this wealth of knowledge and help during a particularly challenging time. As a continuously growing resource for dealers and the automotive industry, these contests are a fun way to engage community members and build DrivingSales’ ever-expanding content.”

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: Apple iPhone 3g, best practice contest, contribute strategies, increase your bottom line