Awards recognize dealer satisfaction with products / services in 14 categories; presented at special ceremony in conjunction with the 2014 NADA Convention  

New Orleans, LA – January 24th, 2014 – The fifth annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards were presented at a special ceremony today in conjunction with the 2014 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo in New Orleans. The awards measure dealer satisfaction with products and services provided by vendors in 2013 in 14 categories, including Chat Products, CRM, New Car Leads, Reputation Management, SEO, Used Car Advertising, Websites, SEO and more. Vendors who achieved the highest dealer satisfaction rankings received “Highest Rated” or “Top Rated” awards.

“This year we mark the fifth anniversary of the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards. Back when we launched the awards, our industry was challenged by a deep recession and we were very proud to play a role in helping dealerships make smart vendor decisions with neutral, comprehensive vendor rating from their peers,” said Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales CEO and founder. “Today, with a more robust industry and a continuing digital revolution, dealers are faced with ever more complex vendor decisions just as critical to the bottom line as they were five years ago. We are proud to continue to help dealers help their peers through our Vendor Ratings -- and prouder still to recognize the 33 companies that, in 2013, consistently ranked at the highest levels with the dealerships that use them. Congratulations to our 2013 Dealer Satisfaction award recipients on being recognized as the best-of-the-best by the dealer community.”

The 2013 DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award Recipients* are (by category):

 Call Management

o CAR-Research XRM – Highest Rated

o CallSource – Top Rated

Chat Products
o Contact At Once! – Highest Rated
o ActivEngage – Top Rated
o CarChat24 – Top Rated

CRM - Sales Department

o DealerSocket– Highest Rated
o Dominion Dealer Solutions – Top Rated
o ELEAD1ONE – Top Rated

DMS
o Auto/Mate Dealership Systems – Highest Rated

o Dealertrack Technologies – Top Rated

ILM
o Dominion Dealer Solutions – Highest Rated
o DealerSocket– Top Rated

o ELEAD1ONE – Top Rated

Inventory Pricing
o vAuto – Highest Rated

New Car Leads
o Dealix – Highest Rated

o Autobytel – Top Rated

o AutoTrader – Top Rated

Owner Marketing
o J&L Marketing, Inc – Highest Rated
o CIMA Systems – Top Rated
o ELEAD1ONE – Top Rated

Reputation Management
o Dealer Rater – Highest Rated

o XtéresAUTO– Top Rated

o eSlipstream Creative – Top Rated

Sales & Service Events

o J&L Marketing, Inc – Highest Rated

SEM - PPC

o Local Search Group – Highest Rated

o Dealer e Process – Top Rated

SEO
o eXtéresAUTO – Highest Rated

o L2TMedia – Top Rated

Used Car Advertising

o Dealix – Highest Rated

o Cars.com – Top Rated

Websites
o Dominion Dealer Solutions – Highest Rated
o Dealer e Process – Top Rated

o DealerOn – Top Rated

The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards are based on cumulative ratings tallied and verified over the calendar year (January – December) at DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings.  DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings is the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons, and provides dealerships with important information from actual customers who have hands-on experience using vendor products / solutions in their stores. Each rating is verified as coming from an actual dealership employee.

Full award results are available online at http://dealersatisfactionawards.com/. Award winners are showcased in the Q1 2014 issue of the DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide which, in addition to being distributed at the 2014 NADA Convention and Expo, is delivered to every new car dealership nationwide, as well as to the top 100 used car dealerships. For more information on the Dealership Innovation Guide, please visit: http://drivingsalesinnovationguide.com/.

*The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards recognize those solutions with the highest vendor ratings for which there was a sufficient sample size / number of ratings. For each category that had a sufficient sample size / number of ratings, there are a total of up to three possible winners: a “Highest Rated” winner, and up to two “Top Rated” winners.

About DrivingSales

DrivingSales is a professional network serving the auto industry with dealer-driven news and information, online training, and performance data, all to enable dealers to make critical business decisions at their dealerships.  DrivingSales’ mission is to connect progressive dealership professionals to the people and information they need to maximize their success.  Founded by a third-generation car dealer, and opened up to the industry in 2008, today DrivingSales has registered users in over 50% of new car dealerships in the US and is active in several other countries around the globe.  To learn more about the DrivingSales community, training or performance analytics visit DrivingSales.com, DrivingSalesUniversity.com and DrivingSalesData.com

DrivingSales Media Relations:

Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 949.307.1723