Third annual awards recognize dealer satisfaction with services provided by vendors in over a dozen categories; Redesigned Vendor Ratings site launches

Las Vegas, NV – February 3, 2012 – The third annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards were presented today in conjunction with the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo. The awards measure dealer satisfaction with services provided by vendors in 2011 in fourteen categories, including CRM, New Car Leads, Used Car Advertising, Chat Products, Websites, SEO and many more. Vendors who achieved the highest dealer satisfaction rankings received “Highest Rated” or “Top Rated” awards.

“Congratulations to the recipients of the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards – the dealer community has spoken, and we are proud to recognize the outstanding vendors that have met and exceeded the needs of their dealership customers,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton.

The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards measure dealer satisfaction by allowing dealers to rate and review their vendors at DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings, the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons. The awards also incorporate the results of the 2011 Vendor Ratings survey, which was deployed to nearly 18,000 dealerships nationwide.

“The thousands of dealers who made their voices heard through their participation in Vendor Ratings not only seek to recognize the excellence of service providers who are leading the charge in innovation, performance and customer service,” continued Hamilton. “But they also, importantly, are helping their peers make the critical vendor decisions that can ensure growth, profits and greater dealer satisfaction in 2012.”

The awards were presented at a special ceremony at the 2012 NADA Convention & Expo in Las Vegas.   The company also unveiled a redesigned DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings site at the ceremony, including new features that make it easier for dealers to navigate between vendor products and categories and to quickly find the highest rated vendors, as well as to rate vendors through a more intuitive process. Enhancements to the vendor process were also added including increasing the exposure of vendor contact information and the ability to easily add new products.

The 2011 DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award Recipients are (listed by category):

Call Management

o CallSource – CallTracking :: Highest Rated

o Callbright^®– Inbound Lead Tracker :: Top Rated
o Who’s Calling – Who’sCalling :: Top Rated

Chat Products
o ContactAtOnce! LLC – ContactAtOnce! AutoDealer Chat :: Highest Rated
o ActivEngage – ActivEngage Chat :: Top Rated
o Dealer e Process – PRO-ACTIVE Live Chat :: Top Rated

CRM - Fixed Ops

o CIMA Systems – CIMA Car Care Service Menus :: Highest Rated
o ADP Dealer Services – ADP CRM :: Top Rated
o Dealer e Process – Virtual Service Consultant :: Top Rated

CRM - Sales Dept.

o Dominion Dealer Solutions – Autobase CRM :: Highest Rated
o CAR-Research – CAR- Research XRM :: Top Rated
o DealerSocket – DealerSocket CRM :: Top Rated

DMS Providers
o Reynolds and Reynolds – Reynolds Power DMS :: Highest Rated
o ADP Dealer Services – ADP DMS :: Top Rated
o DealerTrack – DealerTrack Dealer Management Services :: Top Rated

ILM Systems
o Dominion Dealer Solutions – AVV Web Control :: Top Rated
o DealerSocket – DealerSocket ILM :: Top Rated
o VinSolutions – VinSolutions MotoSnap ILM :: Top Rated

Inventory Pricing Tools
o vAuto – vAuto - Pricing, Appraising, Stocking, & Merchandising Tools:: Highest Rated
o VinSolutions – MotoSnap Market Pricing Analysis :: Top Rated

o eCarList – eCarList TrueTarget :: Top Rated

Mobile Sites
o Dealer.com – MobileSites :: Highest Rated
o Cobalt – Cobalt Mobile Websites :: Top Rated
o VinSolutions – MotoSnap Mobile Websites :: Top Rated

New Car Leads
o Dealix – New Car Leads :: Highest Rated

o Cars.com – NewLeadsPlus :: Top Rated
o ZAG – Zag Sales Strategy :: Top Rated

Owner Marketing
o J&L Marketing, Inc. – Sales Events :: Highest Rated
o CIMA Systems– Complete Virtual BDC :: Top Rated
o Dominion Dealer Solutions – @utoRevenue :: Top Rated

SEM - PPC

o Dealer e Process – Dealer e Process SEM :: Highest Rated
o PCG Digital Marketing – PPC Management Service :: Top Rated
o POTRATZ – Search and Behavioral for Website and Mobile:: Top Rated

SEO
o eXtéresAUTO – eXtéresAUTO - SEO :: Highest Rated

o Dealer e Process – Power PageRank SEO :: Top Rated

o PCG Digital Marketing – SEO & Strategic Internet Marketing :: Top Rated

Used Car Advertising

o AutoTrader.com – Used Car Advertising :: Highest Rated
o Cars.com – Cars.com Online Advertising :: Top Rated
o Dealix – UsedCars.com :: Top Rated

Websites
o Dealer e Process – Dealer e Process Dealer Websites :: Highest Rated
o DealerFire – DealerFire Custom Websites:: Top Rated
o DealerOn – Flex Sites :: Top Rated

Full award results are available online at http://dealersatisfactionawards.com/. Full broadcast coverage of the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards ceremony will be available at www.drivingsalestv.com following NADA.

DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award recipients will be showcased in the Q1 2012 issue of DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide which, in addition to being distributed at the 2012 NADA Convention and Expo, is delivered to every new car dealership nationwide, as well as to the top 100 used car dealerships.

About DrivingSales Vendor Ratings

DrivingSales Vendor Ratings is the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons “searchable by category, company or rating”  and is one of the most popular features of DrivingSales.com. Dealers are asked to rate their vendors on a 1-5 star scale, including whether they would recommend the vendor product to colleagues, and why they would or would not recommend the product.

About DrivingSales.com

DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information and business intelligence to auto retailers and industry professionals. Approximately, one in every four dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

DrivingSales' information network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network; DrivingSalesTV (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 Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 949.307.1723
Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776