Dominion Dealer Solutions announced Monday that both its customer relationship management and internet lead management systems have completely integrated with the General Motors Card Program.
Now, GM dealers that utilize either the Dominion Sales Center and/or the Dominion Web Control platforms will be able to automatically pull info regarding GM cardholders’ earnings.
“This integration will improve the operational efficiencies of our CRM and ILM customers and, as a result, increase our customers’ ability to better serve their car shoppers,” said John Reed, Dominion’s vice president of product strategy and management. “GM continues to be a good partner in recognizing integration opportunities that facilitate retail business operations.”
A GM partner for over ten years, Dominion Dealer Solutions’ integration with the GM Card Program will also be a feature for DominionCMX, Dominion’s new CRM offering.
For more information, visit the Dominion Dealer Solutions site here.
Reynolds and Reynolds announced that it has joined on as an NIADA Member Benefit Partner for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association.
Reynolds Document Services will now provide the business forms and sales contracts, compliance services, branding products and other dealership supplies to the NIADA’s dealer members in North America.
“We’re pleased to join the NIADA National Member Benefit program,” said Jerry Kirwan, Reynolds Document Services’ senior vice president and general manager. “We’ve worked informally alongside NIADA and its members for a number of years. This agreement helps solidify our commitment to providing a broad portfolio of business documents and supplies that help independent auto dealers manage their compliance risk, brand their stores and improve their operational efficiencies.”
Reynolds and Reynolds, in business since 1866, has provided automotive documents since the 1920s. Today, the company provides the Reynolds LAW 553 Universal Retail Installment Sales Contract, which the company says is the most widely accepted document in automotive finance.
“Our National Member Benefit program provides our members with an extensive, highly vetted roster of partners that supply the kinds of products and services our members use in their business every day,” said Scott Lilja, NIADA’s senior vice president of member services. “We’re pleased to now add Reynolds to the list of approved providers for business supply services.
“Reynolds documents and supplies are another set of tools we can offer to help our members streamline their processes, reduce their compliance risk and enhance the transparency of the vehicle sales transaction with their customers,” he continued.
CDK Global, in partnership with Zipwhip, a cloud-based texting provider, has created the former’s Text Connect solution, allowing dealer employees to send and receive texts from customers.
Employees with the system can text their customers via any Internet-enabled device, using existing landlines and toll-free phone numbers.
"Nearly half of consumers say they prefer SMS communication with their dealership for sales and service," said Bob Karp, president of Automotive Retail North America at CDK Global. "It's clear that consumers want to communicate with business differently than ever before. Text Connect enables dealerships to turn existing phone lines into communication tools that reach customers in their preferred method."
CDK says its research found that a majority of dealership employees are using their own personal cell phones to communicate with customers.
The company highlighted that Text Connect can also be used to deliver service-related notifications to customers, such as service appointment reminders, vehicle status updates while it is being serviced and parts delivery notifications, among many other options. The system also serves as a detailed, unified source of record keeping for communication with consumers, compared to messages being spread across many different systems and employees’ various personal devices.
Want to learn more? Check out the Text Connect site here.
In light of the closing of its acquisition of Dealertrack last month, Cox Automotive announced it is making Dealer.com — which joined the Cox family through the recent purchase — its primary website solution for Cox Automotive customers.
The company explained current customers of the VinSolutions website product will migrate over to the Dealer.com website solution starting in early 2016.
Cox expects the migration to be completed within two years, and management assured customers all VinSolutions website clients will be “fully supported under the terms of their existing contracts.”
Mark O’Neil, chief executive officer of Cox Automotive Software, said, “Cox Automotive is dedicated to providing its clients with the best possible technology and experience, and the selection of the Dealer.com solution for websites is a significant step toward helping us integrate the company’s technologies and teams for the benefit of the dealers.
“As part of the Cox Automotive family, I am confident we are well positioned to deliver the strongest, most comprehensive set of software solutions that will help our automotive retailing clients adapt to and thrive in today’s technology-driven world,” added O’Neil. “The advantage of our newly expanded organization is that we can truly leverage the best of the best in everything we do for our clients. The Dealer.com website solution is certified by 19 OEMs, and has a history of success and stability.”
It was announced in October that the Cox Automotive Software Division would be led by Mark O’Neil, the longtime chief executive officer of Dealertrack Technologies.
Liquid Motors today launches a fleet marketing service to assist fleet management companies in the remarketing process. The company also recently announced several enhancements to its One-Click wholesale service.
First off, Liquid’s fleet marketing service includes an easy-to-use mobile inspection application for drivers to perform self-inspections on vehicles about to be turned in, as well as a secure online portal for drivers, employees, grounding dealers and wholesalers to use to purchase the vehicles when they’re being grounded.
The vehicle can also be listed online via Liquid’s One-Click wholesale service.
Michael Daseke, Liquid’s president and chief executive officer, says his company was approached by several fleet management companies seeking to leverage its upstream wholesale marketing services.
"The results of those discussions culminated in the development of a comprehensive fleet marketing service to overcome the challenges of getting photos of the vehicle and vehicle condition data for fleet vehicles and to help sell more fleet vehicles earlier in the remarketing process,” Daseke said.
Here’s how it works, according to the company: When a vehicle is about to be turned, its driver is sent a notification about when they need to complete an inspection. Via a mobile inspection app available for both Android and iPhone, the driver uses the app to confirm the VIN and color of the vehicle, current mileage and then takes specified photos and answers various questions about the vehicle’s condition.
"Fleet management companies are looking to provide more value to their customers." said Cynthia Meyer, vice president of sales at Liquid Motors. “Selling fleet vehicles to drivers and employees provides a great employment benefit to their customer’s employees and selling more vehicles earlier in the remarketing process provides a large financial benefit as well.”
In other Liquid Motors news, the company also announced a partnership with several independent auctions in the U.S. to provide a new service to dealers. Using One-Click, dealers can list aged units on the wholesale marketplace with no monthly subscription required.
"For the past year, we have piloted an outside the gate program with some of our independent auction customers." Daseke said. "This new service is the next step to growing the program to a broader dealer audience."
Dealers will have access to manually list their aged vehicles or use “auto-launch” to automatically push the units. The only requirement for using the program is that the dealer must list their aged inventory, the vehicle must be listed within a reasonable percentage of the Manheim Market Report value and one of the participating independent auctions must be selected to facilitate the transaction.
Speaking of MMR, Liquid also announced this week its added support of MMR pricing on its One-Click service. MMR pricing is now listed on the manual listing screens and is also available to reach a figure for the program’s “auto-launch” feature.
"We are very pleased to work with Manheim to improve the quality of the pricing of vehicles listed from our One-Click Wholesale Service." Daseke said. "We believe the integration of MMR pricing will fuel additional success for our customers."
For more information about Liquid Motors, visit its site here.
Canadian auto tech company Selectbidder, best known for its auction-centric dealer trade networking platform, has been busy lately with the signing of three new auction locations on the Eastern Seaboard.
Selectbidder signed Bloomsburg Auto Auction in Bloomsburg, Pa., a couple weeks ago, and penned an agreement with Acadia Auto Auctions on Tuesday. The latter has two auction locations that will be serviced by Selectbidder: Port City Auto Auction in Richmond, Maine and Acadia Auto Auction in Carmel, Maine.
Auto Remarketing caught up with Sean Liptay, Selectbidder’s chief executive officer and owner of the Great Northern Auction in Moncton, New Brunswick, to learn more about the additions.
“We’ve been really focused on proving the model fit in the U.S. and we’re having really good success,” Liptay said. “We’ve signed up four auctions in different markets and we’re really immersed in getting the up and running right now.”
That fourth auction, Space Coast AA, was signed as Selectbidder’s first U.S. client following the NAAA Convention at the end of September. Liptay says the Melbourne, Fla. auction is still building its dealer network but really excited to completely roll-out the system.
According to Liptay, the relationship with the Acadia auctions was stirred up the old-fashioned way: by doing the legwork.
“Originally the Maine auto auctions we had popped in to visit them way back when we had the concept of rolling it out to other independent auto auctions,” Liptay said. “Unfortunately, they weren’t even there at that time so we had to circle back to them. But we had really good conversations with them and just basically picking up the phone and calling them. That’s the way these relationships have started, really.”
Looking back at Selectbidder’s home auction of Great Northern Auction in Canada, the only location where the Selectbidder system is completely rolled out, Liptay says the response from his own auction staff and the dealers utilizing the network has maintained its strength since it officially hit the ground in April.
“We’re still getting new signups and the auction sales people are still loving it,” Liptay said. “And loving being out there helping dealers move their trade-ins quicker.”
He also says the auctions really love the idea of the auction being the center of the dealer-to-dealer network.
“We hear that a lot,” he said. “Especially on the buying side of it, they’re really happy to have the auction and the infrastructure within the auction providing those extra services for this dealer-to-dealer network with the auction as the central hub. We hear that time and time again.”
Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing’s sister publication, Auto Remarketing Canada, as we next take a closer look at Selectbidder’s operations in its home country in our November-December issue.
After being added to Kia’s digital provider list in October, Netsertive announced Monday a new automaker partnership.
The digital marketing company has been selected by Mazda as the fourth approved partner for the Mazda Digital Advertising Program, which launched in 2014.
“We are excited about the opportunity to be working with Mazda and continuing to grow our automotive expertise at Netsertive,” said Brendan Morrissey, chief executive officer and co-founder of Netsertive.
Netsertive offers a variety of digital solutions for dealers, including its MarketWise for OEMs and StreetWise for automotive dealers products. For more information, check out its site here.
Mazda touts 644 dealers in North America, and Netsertive management said it aims to “arm” dealers with instant co-branded content, turnkey brand compliance, automated funding and reimbursement and more.
“As major automotive brands continue to choose Netsertive as a partner of choice, it further validates the role of local digital marketing programs in the world’s largest industries. Our selection here is a true testament to both the power of our offerings and our phenomenal team, and we look forward to the work we will do together,” said Morrissey.
Digital marketing intelligence company Netsertive announced Tuesday it has been selected to join Kia’s list of digital providers.
The company is now one of six Kia Certified Website and Digital Advertising providers, a program that began in September at the Kia National Dealer Meeting in Las Vegas.
“Digital advertising is an important focus of our business to ensure that our dealerships are showing up in search and are using our brand-compliant assets to achieve success,” said Gene Black, national manager of digital sales at Kia Motors America. “Automotive shoppers average 19 hours of online research and will visit just one or two dealerships before buying. Netsertive will help us drive more sales with measurable, results-driven strategy designed to target those online consumers.”
Netsertive offers a variety of digital solutions for dealers, including its MarketWise for OEMs and StreetWise for Automotive Dealers products. For more information, check out its site here.
“As Netsertive continues to be chosen as a partner of choice, it validates the role of local digital marketing programs for automotive dealers and manufacturers,” said Brendan Morrissey, Netsertive’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We are honored to be selected by a major brand, such as Kia. It is a true testament to both the power of our offerings and our phenomenal team, and we look forward to the work we will do together.”
Have a GoMoto Digital HUB in your showroom or service bay that you’re looking to easily integrate into your customer relationship management system? Do you utilize VinSolutions’ VinConnect CRM and looking for a way to expand its usefulness? Maybe you even use both?
Either way, VinSolutions announced Monday that the two solutions have integrated, allowing for the customer information entered into a GoMoto HUB to be sent directly to the dealership’s VinConnect CRM tool.
Todd Marcelle, GoMoto’s chief executive officer and founder, commented on the situation in VinSolutions’ release.
"We are excited to announce an integrated customer experience with VinSolutions as they have continually been innovators in automotive,” Marcelle said. “Our partnership will improve the in-store customer experience, streamline the car-buying process and provide powerful data for dealer management to improve performance."
For more information on these two offerings from VinSolutions and GoMoto, visit the VinConnect site here or the GoMoto HUB site here.
Insurance solution Fetchaquote.com announced Wednesday the integration of its auto insurance service with the Wayne Reaves Dealer Management Software.
According to the company, this integration will allow car shoppers the ability to quickly obtain multiple insurance quotes and purchase a policy online while present at a dealership.
Joseph Kindley, Fetch’s president, explained that by working with Fetch, the Wayne Reaves offerings receive an expanded portfolio of service providers with an integrated auto insurance solution.
"Wayne Reaves has been helping dealerships with software needs since 1987, and Fetch is excited to be on the Wayne Reaves platform,” Kindley said. “With this integration, Wayne Reaves' dealers will have an integrated option to allow their customers to shop for and purchase affordable automobile insurance from nationally recognized insurance carriers.”
According to the release, Wayne Reaves’ aim for the integration is to help streamline the process of transmitting customer information with insurance companies to help benefit not only the customers shopping in the dealership but the dealership personnel as well.
For more information Fetch’s offerings, click here. To find out more about Wayne Reaves, click here.
