DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award Winners Announced

Second Annual Awards Announced at NADA 2011; Winners Received Highest Vendor Ratings in 12+ Categories

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Feb 04, 2011, 08:30 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DrivingSales (www.drivingsales.com), the auto industry's largest car dealer social network, today announced the winners of the second annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards (formerly the Vendor Ratings Awards). The awards measure auto dealer satisfaction with services provided by vendors during 2010 in over 12 categories, including CRM, New Car Leads, Used Car Advertising, Vehicle Pricing, Websites, SEO and Social Media.

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The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards measure dealer satisfaction by allowing dealers to rate and review their vendors at DrivingSales.com. DrivingSales verifies each review to ensure a dealership employee submitted it. The validated reviews are published at www.drivingsales.com for dealers to use in their decision-making.

Vendors who achieved the highest dealer satisfaction rankings received "Highest Rated" or "Top Rated" awards. The awards were presented at a special ceremony at the 2011 NADA Convention and Expo in San Francisco.

"We would like to congratulate today's award winners. They have achieved what we consider to be the highest possible accolade: the satisfaction of their dealer customers," said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. "The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards are simply a reflection of the excellent results these solution-providers have generated for dealers across the nation, and we are proud to recognize their accomplishments."

The 2010 DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award Winners are (listed by category):

Call Management
o CallSource – CallTrack :: Highest Rated
o Who'sCalling – Who'sCalling :: Top Rated
o Callbright®– Inbound Lead Tracker :: Top Rated

Chat
o ContactAtOnce! – ContactAtOnce! AutoDealer Chat:: Highest Rated
o ActivEngage – ActivEngage :: Top Rated
o CarChat24 – CarChat24 :: Top Rated

CRM
o Autobase – AutobaseCRM :: Highest Rated
o CAR-RESEARCH XRM – CAR-RESEARCH XRM :: Top Rated
o DealerSocket – DealerSocket CRM :: Top Rated

DMS
o Reynolds and Reynolds – The ERA® System :: Highest Rated
o ADP Dealer Services – ADP Drive DMS :: Top Rated
o DealerTrack – DealerTrack DMS :: Top Rated

Internet Lead Management System (ILM)
o VinSolutions – MotoSnap ILM :: Highest Rated
o AVV – AVV Web Control :: Top Rated
o ADP Dealer Services – BuzzTrak Lead Manager :: Top Rated

Internet Trainers
o PCG Digital Marketing – Brian Pasch :: Highest Rated
o Dealers Technology – Rafi Hamid :: Top Rated
o eXteresAUTO – Merla Turner :: Top Rated

Inventory Pricing
o vAuto, Inc. – vAuto :: Highest Rated
o eCarList – eCarList TrueTarget :: Top Rated
o DealerTrack – DealerTrack AAX :: Top Rated

New Car Leads
o Dealix – New Car Leads :: Highest Rated
o Autobytel Inc. – New Car Leads :: Top Rated
o Cars.com – NewLeadsPlus :: Top Rated

Owner Marketing
o CIMA Systems – CIMA Systems Virtual BDC :: Highest Rated
o @utoRevenue – @utoRevenue :: Top Rated
o Cobalt – Owner Marketing :: Top Rated

SEM-PPC
o POTRATZ – Search and Behavioral for Website and Mobile :: Highest Rated
o PCG Digital Marketing – Management Service :: Top Rated
o Dealer.com – TotalControl DOMINATOR :: Top Rated

SEO
o eXteresAUTO – eXteresAUTO - SEO :: Highest Rated
o PCG Digital Marketing – Strategic Digital Marketing :: Top Rated
o Dealer.com – ManagedSEO :: Top Rated

Used Car Advertising
o AutoTrader – AutoTrader.com :: Highest Rated
o Cars.com – Ad Package :: Top Rated
o Digital Compass Marketing – Automotive Advertising Network :: Top Rated

Websites
o Dealer e Process – Dealer eWeb - Auto Dealer Websites:: Highest Rated
o Dealer.com – SmartSites :: Top Rated
o Cobalt – Cobalt Websites :: Top Rated

"Over five thousand individual reviews have been submitted to DrivingSales.com, providing valuable information and feedback for vendors and dealers alike," continued Hamilton. "Information that enables auto dealers to make smart vendor decisions for their businesses based on the objective rankings of their peers - and vendors to continuously improve their products - will be ever-more critical as car sales begin to recover in 2011. We are pleased to continue to help inspire innovation and improvement with Vendor Ratings' uniquely objective and broad-based information-sharing platform and our annual Dealer Satisfaction Awards."

Full award results are available online at www.DrivingSales.com/dealersatisfactionaward. Full broadcast coverage of the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards ceremony is available at www.drivingsalestv.com.

DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Award winners will be showcased in the Q1 2011 issue of DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide which, in addition to being distributed at the 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. Only dealership employees may post reviews or participate in the Vendor Ratings surveys. All contributors are verified to ensure that they are actual dealership employees.

Awards Methodology

Vendors are scored based on a weighted bayesian algorithm, a standard mathematical calculation that looks at the number of stars the reviewer gave as well as the statistically valid sample size needed, relative to the competitive set, to create a ranking based on the statistical accuracy of the results. Final vendor scores were compared exclusively within each specific category. The top three scores were awarded Dealer Satisfaction Awards. All dealers and dealership managers are encouraged to participate in the ratings by visiting www.DrivingSales.com/ratings.

About DrivingSales

DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information to auto retailers and industry professionals. DrivingSales' media network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices in a 20-group style setting; 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 encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch by Auto Success Magazine.