Late last week, TrueCar Inc. revealed a new tool aimed at developing more solutions to simplify the way cars are sold: TrueCar Labs.
The company will use the initiative to deploy new products and solutions in their earliest phases to garner feedback from both shoppers and dealers.
The company described the new development as “an incubator focused on developing innovative solutions for the automotive ecosystem.”
"We believe that the creation of TrueCar Labs is another step forward in our mission to transform the car-buying and selling experience for consumers and dealers," says John Krafcik, TrueCar president. "Sell My Car will be the first service to be launched from TrueCar Labs, but it definitely will not be the last. We are committed to launching new, innovative products that provide winning propositions for both consumers and dealers."
And TrucCar labs is already ready to launch its first application: “Sell My Car,” which will be a mobile app that allows consumers to get offers on their current vehicles.
Here’s how it works:
After downloading the Sell My Car app, users will be guided through a 10-15 minute interview, taking photos and providing other condition factors that a dealer would use to value a used car, the company explained.
Then, that info will be passed on to participating dealers, and the consumer will then begin receiving offers for their car from TrueCar Certified Dealers in their area within 24 hours.
But this is just one of the products in the TrueCar Lab pipeline.
The company says the inative will work to address the following challenges in the future:
- Connecting consumers and dealers for trade-ins
- Offering real-time vehicles values for dealer and consumers
- Making the in-dealership car sales process more efficient
Carvana said Monday it has launched a white-label online auto retailing platform that marks the company’s first foray into the business-to-business space.
Through this custom retail offering, outside companies — including everyone from retail organizations to financial institutions — can gain full access to Carvana’s proprietary technology.
In essence, this would provide such companies with the technology to sell used cars completely online, Carvana said.
“Expanding the availability of Carvana's technology and inventory platform provides a scalable model for those seeking to leverage technology to offer a better car buying experience to its customer base,” said Ernie Garcia, founder of Carvana.
“Whether it is a financial institution or retail organization, our new white-label solution allows for immediate entry into the online pre-owned automotive market,” he added.
More information can be found at www.carvana.com.
Smartphone texting integrated with a dealership’s website is the offering of TextUps.com, a recently-announced hang-tag lead system.
A tool aimed at after-hours shoppers and those who don’t want to get out of their vehicles, TextUps.com is available in 22 states and offers dealers a new way to connect with prospective buyers.
“When a shopper wants more information, they simply text the stock number on the hang-tag,” said John McKinnon, co-founder of TextUps.com. “Within seconds of sending the text, the shopper receives an automatic text reply containing information about that specific vehicle.
“The dealership is then sent a TextUps lead into their CRM containing the shopper’s mobile phone number and a link to the vehicle they expressed an interest in,” he said.
According to James Fletcher, in customer service for TextUps, text leads are where emailed leads were 15 years ago.
“We are on the leading edge," said Fletcher. “TextUps couldn’t be easier to use; the dealership just needs to hang the tags and wait for the leads to roll in. We professionally print and ship everything. We don’t use QR codes.
“Most importantly, you get the shopper’s mobile phone number. This is what sets TextUps apart from other lead providers,” he said.
Dan Dyer, TextUps representative for Dallas, explains the service to dealers like this: “In this day and age, it just makes good sense to text vehicle information to your shopper’s mobile phone.”
For a free demo kit, visit www.TextUps.com.
More — and more relevant — used-car information to simplify the buying process: That’s the aim of new technology from PureCars.
On Wednesday, the company announced the launch of its all-new Value Intelligence Platform, or VIP.
Using PureCars' proprietary algorithm, which pulls from more than 1 billion data points of reference, the platform organizes and ranks the data to educate customers on the value of a pre-owned vehicle across trim level, certification, ownership, mileage, and reconditioning.
“The Value Intelligence Platform is now the heart of PureCars, representing where we've been and where we're going," said PureCars chief executive officer Jeremy Anspach.
"Growth ultimately results from refining what is great and making it better, smarter and more relevant to the state of the industry," he said.
The content optimizes conversion rates on dealer websites, listing sites, and in BDCs, the company said.
The new platform also offers expert and consumer reviews and factory warranty details, and its latest features include the all-new Showroom App and an upgraded Auto-Responder.
Automotive customer contact and marketing engagement provider ELEAD1ONE rolled out major expansions to its CRM mobile application on Tuesday.
In order to upgrade its CRM mobile portal, the company added a vehicle identification scanner, driver’s license or photo ID scanner and mobile desking solution.
ELEAD1ONE contends these upgrades will drastically increase the speed and accuracy in which customers at the retail facility are logged, vehicles appraised and purchase offers consummated.
A state-of-art barcode scanner can allow the appraiser or salesperson to scan the VIN and upload a trade directly into ELEAD CRM and the desk log.
Similarly, the customer’s driver’s license or photo identification can be scanned and uploaded so that the card never needs to be out of the customer’s sight, and the information is captured within ELEAD CRM instantaneously.
ELEAD Mobile Desking can provide quick and accurate payment and lease options in a professional presentation that ensures rapid response and negotiation without ever leaving the customer’s side.
“We recognized our clients’ desire for advanced mobile solutions that deliver a true ‘desk-free’ experience,” said Bill Wittenmyer, a partner of ELEAD1ONE, a division of Data Software Services.
“ELEAD1ONE is committed to ensuring our clients have access to the most innovative and forward-thinking technology for strategic business advantage,” Wittenmyer continued. “With the expansion of ELEAD1ONE mobile offerings, our dealers are able to compete at levels never before seen and successfully win more business.”
For more information, visit www.eleadcrm.com.
SiriusXM is continuing its expansion into the pre-owned arena with its new partnership with Nowcom — the company behind DealerCenter dealer management products.
Through the new partnership, the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program will be integrated into the DealerCenter system, which helps dealers manage their customers and leads, sales, inventory, financing, websites and online marketing.
“DealerCenter’s integration of the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program offers dealers another way to easily give their customers more with their vehicle purchase and join more than 12,000 dealers already participating in the program,” said Joe Verbrugge, senior vice president and general manager of the Auto Remarketing Division at SiriusXM. “Once enrolled, dealers can demonstrate SiriusXM’s unparalleled entertainment offerings and give customers the added value they look for when buying a pre-owned vehicle.”
The 4,500 dealerships that utilize DealerCenter now have the ability to enroll in the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program, identify vehicles in their pre-owned vehicle inventory that are equipped with factory-installed satellite radios and demonstrate SiriusXM during test drives, the companies explained.
Furthermore, customer purchasing a used car with a factory installed satellite radio from these same dealers will receive a three-month SiriusXM subscription.
“DealerCenter provides dealers with the best resources and technology in the marketplace to help generate sales and increase profits,” said Rob Lekstrom, chief operating officer, Nowcom. “We continually strive to innovate and improve DealerCenter with the goal of adding value for our dealers. Now with just a click of a button, dealers can participate in the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program strengthening their ability to offer the latest audio entertainment features and amenities in high-quality vehicles at an incredible value.”
And Nowcom isn’t alone. In April, AutoManger integrated with SiriusXM Pre-Owned, as well.
For more on the AutoManager integration, see the Auto Remarketing story below:
AutoManager Integrates with SiriusXM Pre-Owned
Billed as a “true partnership in every sense of the word,” software-as-a-service relationship management solution provider DealerSocket entered into a strategic investment relationship on Tuesday with Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm with more than $12 billion in committed capital focused on investments in software and technology-enabled services companies.
DealerSocket recapped that it has grown from a startup software company in a garage 13 years ago to a firm with 450 employees supporting the CRM platform for franchised and independent dealerships.
DealerSocket partnered with Vista to accelerate growth and to continue to invest in product, service and operational scale.
Chief executive officer and co-founder Jonathan Ord explained the new relationship with Vista will serve as a platform to continue the DealerSocket traditions of great culture, innovation and customer service and couple it with an increased ability to scale and grow well into the future.
Ord added DealerSocket’s current management team will remain in place and continue to hold a significant ownership stake in the company in a situation he deemed as a “true partnership with Vista in every sense of the word.”
Ord went on to say, “DealerSocket is a great company with tremendous potential. We looked long and hard for a partner that could provide the type of strategic and operational support for our leadership team that would enable us to realize our full potential.
“We did not want to be acquired. Rather, we sought to find a partner that would not dilute our brand or de-energize our employees or customers as well as help us capitalize on all available opportunities for growth. This relationship with Vista accomplishes that goal and more,” he continued.
Vista founder and managing principal Robert Smith said, “We are tremendously excited about partnering with DealerSocket. We are convinced that DealerSocket is a wonderful platform company in a space that is in need of thoughtful innovation and attention to customer satisfaction.
“The company is led by a passionate management team that loves automotive and loves their customers and desires to continue the legacy of DealerSocket,” Smith went on to say.
This week, Internet-based customer relationship management developer VinSolutions completed the integration of Carleton’s SmartCalcs consumer lending and leasing calculation engine into its recently enhanced desking platform.
Carleton provides lending compliance software products to many of the major lending captives and lenders in the auto industry. Officials said this new integration will enable VinSolutions dealers to stay in compliance with auto lending regulations, which frequently change.
“At VinSolutions, we are committed to making it easier for sales people to close deals faster and easier, and providing a comprehensive desking solution is a key component in achieving that goal,” said Brian Skutta, vice president and general manager of VinSolutions.
“We needed a partner that understands the ever-changing auto lending regulatory environment, and this integration of SmartCalcs will help our dealer customers stay in compliance today and when regulatory changes occur in the future,” Skutta continued.
Within VinSolutions’ newly enhanced desking platform, Carleton’s SmartCalcs software can provide greater compliance and accuracy for all the lending and leasing computations at the state, federal and lender level nationwide.
Along with handling all methods of computations in the auto industry, the robust calculation functionality of SmartCalcs also can handle the expansive tax and fee computations for loan and lease transactions nationwide.
“Accuracy and compliance support are certainly critical to the success of VinSolutions providing a complete desking solution to their dealers,” Carleton president and chief executive officer Patrick Ruszkowski said.
“With more than 40 years of experience, we are confident that our time-tested expertise in providing compliant calculation support will be highly beneficial to VinSolutions’ customers,” Ruszkowski added.
This new integration is the latest in a round of enhancements that VinSolutions has released this year for its desking platform.
Other new features can provide sales people with the ability to manage multiple deals at once, render deals on a tablet or mobile device, reduce redundant data entry, and can provide for a more transparent and improved customer buying experience.
For more details, visit www.vinsolutions.com.
With the aim of streamlining the website experience across all 382 Mitsubishi dealerships in the U.S., Mitsubishi Motors North America on Monday announced its selection of a third preferred website provider.
Named as one of only three such providers for Mitsubishi dealers is Haystak Digital Marketing.
The Mitsubishi Motors’ program will offer dealers access to comprehensive website solutions at special rates, while providing a more consistent customer experience across all tiers, company officials said.
“Consumers spend the majority of their car shopping time online, so it is incredibly important for automotive marketers to use the latest technology and solutions available to reach those shoppers,” said Duncan Scarry, general manager and founder of Haystak Digital Marketing.
“We are proud to be selected as one of the preferred website providers by Mitsubishi Motors and look forward to working with their dealers to build exceptional websites that help them connect with consumers whenever and wherever they shop,” he said.
Haystak developed the HAYSTAK KORE360 website platform with the needs of today’s dealerships and automotive marketers in mind.
Its responsive technology automatically detects the type of device used to access the website, making it easier for dealers to reach consumers.
In addition to the HAYSTAK KORE360 platform capabilities, Haystak said its selection as an MMNA preferred website provider is also due to the company’s technical expertise, knowledge of SEM and SEO, ability to train and support dealers, comprehensive reporting capabilities and experience with similar OEM programs.
Haystak will offer a three-year, fixed-price model for website solutions, with additional products available for purchase.
Insurance Auto Auctions recently launched the CSAToday by IAA mobile app for Android featuring Market Value. This development follows the roll out of IAA’s iPhone app and further expands customers’ ability to estimate the value of their vehicles anytime, anywhere.
The company said this application can offer CSAToday customers the latest operating platform and enable users to be at the forefront of technology. Through the patent-pending Market Value, CSAToday customers can quickly and efficiently research and compare vehicle values.
Similar to the iPhone app, users can scan the VIN with their phone, enter a VIN manually or type or speak a year/make/model. Market Value uses historical auction data to compare customers' vehicle information to vehicles previously sold through IAA auctions using criteria such as damage details, location information, vehicle specifics and model options.
The tool also can look at intuitive filters, such as loss type, damage, run and drive capability, engine size and more, to help users further refine their search results. Customers also can select from the matching vehicles to customize their Market Value results which can be printed, saved or shared as a PDF.
“Our first of its kind Market Value for the CSAToday by IAA mobile app offers anywhere technology to ensure sellers have a satisfactory experience at auction,” said John Kett, president of Insurance Auto Auctions.
“With our new launch, we are pleased to make this app available on both iPhone and Android platforms. This development further demonstrates IAA’s commitment to technology and to building innovative and seamless solutions for our customers,” Kett continued.
Market Value is the first of many features that will be available on the CSAToday by IAA mobile app. The mobile app is available for download in the Apple iTunes store and on Google Play.
