Autobytel's Dealership First Services Help Car Sellers Keep Pace With Record Number of Online Customers
January 04 2005 - 7:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Autobytel's Dealership First Services Help Car Sellers Keep Pace
With Record Number of Online Customers Autobytel Network Most
Visited Internet Automotive Destination in November, With 9.36
Million Unique Visitors IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 4
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autobytel Inc. (NASDAQ:ABTLE) has
reported that 9.36 million unique monthly visitors used its
websites in November(1), again making the Autobytel Network the
most visited Internet automotive destination and one of the most
visited sites overall. Continuing its mission to help auto dealers
effectively sell more cars to these millions of car buyers, the
company is providing a wide range of value added services to its
dealer network through its Dealership First program. Autobytel
Dealership First is an aggressive, comprehensive program designed
to help member dealers optimize closing rates and cost-per-sale for
the car buyers who submit Purchase Requests on Autobytel web sites
-- an estimated 67% of whom are expected to purchase a vehicle in
the near-term(2). The program is backed by dedicated, certified
account managers who provide hands-on dealership support. It also
includes monthly management reports, custom phone surveys, training
and evaluations and Automotive Interactive Marketing (AIM), which
displays dealership website ads, customized dealer messages,
customer testimonials and more to visitors to Autobytel's websites
that are located in that dealer's geographic area. In addition,
Dealership First services now includes Automated Dealer
Appointments which encourage consumers to make an online test drive
appointment as soon as they have submitted a Purchase Request, with
the information passed directly into the dealer's Web Control
system. Through Dealership First, Autobytel also provides a
rigorous 7-step customer quality program (Quality Verification
System), which screens and validates all customers' names and
telephone numbers before the Purchase Request is sent to a dealer.
All Autobytel online affiliates are also monitored for the quality
of their customers. Autobytel's customized research service,
meanwhile, gives dealers the same data and research tools used by
many of the leading manufacturers and web portals. To promote the
dealership to in-market car buyers when a Purchase Request is
submitted, the dealership's website link is embedded in the
confirmation email sent to customers who submitted a Purchase
Request through Autobytel. After launching the first Internet
customer management program in 1996, Autobytel pioneered online
automotive CRM technologies and today, CRM tools represent the
fastest-growing segment of the company's business. Its Retention
Performance Marketing program (RPM(SM)), designed to help
dealerships increase their service department revenue, is
delivering an average of 22:1 return on investment for dealers
nationwide. And Autobytel's best-in-class customer and sales
management product, Web Control, is now used by more of the
nation's top-100 e-Dealers than any other product(3). Autobytel
also offers dealerships Finance Leads, a finance customer
acquisition program, available through Car.com. It was recently
reported that the number of finance leads delivered to dealers
tripled in Q3 year over year. "The measure of our success is the
number of customers we generate for dealerships and how well our
dealers are able to service those customers," said Autobytel Inc.
CEO Jeffrey Schwartz. "Through Autobytel, they tap into the
Internet's largest audience of car shoppers, and receive the full
support of our Dealership First value-adds, marketing, quality
control and training, as well as CRM and service reminder programs
-- all designed to help them sell more cars for less." Founded in
January of 1995 with six employees, Autobytel processed 45,000
Purchase Requests for new vehicles in its first year of business.
In 2004, the company anticipates delivering approximately 4.5
million Purchase Requests to its nationwide dealer network and
today is responsible for over $1 billion in car sales a month for
dealers using its services. About Autobytel Inc. Autobytel Inc.
(NASDAQ:ABTLE), a leading Internet automotive marketing services
company, helps retailers sell cars and manufacturers build brands
through marketing, advertising, data and CRM (customer relationship
management) products and programs. The Company owns and operates
the automotive websites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Car.com,
Carsmart.com and AutoSite.com, as well as AIC (Automotive
Information Center), a trusted industry source of automotive
marketing data and technology for over 20 years. Autobytel is also
a leader in dealership lead management and CRM solutions and owns
and operates AVV, Inc., a top provider of dealership CRM and sales
management products, and Retention Performance Marketing, Inc.
(RPM(R)), which powers dealerships with cutting-edge customer
loyalty and retention marketing programs. As the Internet's largest
new car buying service, Autobytel generates over a billion dollars
a month in car sales for dealers through its services and was the
most visited new car buying and research destination in 2003,
reaching millions of car shoppers as they made their vehicle buying
decisions. Autobytel's car-selling sites and lead management
products are used by more of the nation's top-100 e-dealers than
any other program. (1) comScore Media Metrix, November 2004 (2)
Study by R. L. Polk & Company 2004 (3) 2004 Ward's Dealer
Business e-Dealer 100 DATASOURCE: Autobytel Inc. CONTACT: Melanie
Webber of Autobytel Inc., +1-949-862-3023, ; or Betsy Smith
Isroelit, ext. 17, , or Joe Foster, ext. 13, , both of RBI
Communications, +1-323-960-1360, for Autobytel Inc. Web site:
http://www.autobytel.com/
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