UPDATE: Win a Free Trip to the Synergy Sessions

The Fourth Annual Synergy Sessions is in Atlanta at the Renaissance Hotel on October 5 and 6th, 2009.  Sean V. Bradley says this is going to be this years’ best training and networking event for the industry.

Training is critical for dealers and team members and this year’s theme is “Restructure to Maximize Performance.” Dealer Synergy is excited that the event is drawing speakers like Dale Pollak from vAuto, Sean Stapleton of Vin Solutions, Ken Potter from CarsDirect.com, and Ralph Paglia from ADP Dealer Services. Their participation shows in a tangible way that Synergy Sessions has become one of the industry’s “must events” of the year.”

This Synergy Sessions training and networking event focuses on helping auto retailers increase their performance levels, adopt powerful hiring practices and leverage technologies that consumers are utilizing during the vehicle shopping process.

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Normally when this subject comes up, amongst dealers, a lot of not-so-nice things are said.  I want to take a different approach in this article.  No, I’m not planning to completely side with our manufacturers, but to hopefully create a compelling argument that gets some to rethink their policies (and I’m counting on your comments as well).

I think we all can acknowledge that it is impossible for a national (or even global) corporation to understand every local market.  Some places are a little behind the technology curve and others are deeply into it.  Whether a dealer’s market is in the center of the tech universe or in the middle of ho-dum-hickory-ville there are differing marketing strategies for every type.

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DealerRefresh Welcomes a new sponsor – activEngage

Making your marketing dollar produce more results is what drives every employee at ActivEngage. Helping your dealership achieve better results and capture more leads from your dealership’s website. ActivEngage offers live chat concierge level services to your website customers to help them navigate your website, while engaging them in a powerful live sales chat. ActivEngage helps to make each of your website visitors experience engaging and informational.

activEngage launches a dealership branded chat window at key marketing opportunities as the customer shops the dealership website looking for a new or pre-owned vehicle. These messages engage the customer to take action resulting in more qualified leads from the dealerships website.

More than just live chat software activEngage provides the only dedicated automotive dealership specific application.

To read more about activEngage and their services, click here.

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Jeff and Alex want to thank Joe Pistell for designing this survey.

Joe is the Marketing Director for the Sun Auto Group and a BIG participant on the DealerRefresh Blog. He is also one of the Moderators for the Inventory Control and Display section of the DealerRefresh forums.

This survey is designed to create factual environmental impact figures based on actual dealership business.  When completed, it will become a press release, so be sure to get your Dealership’s name in for some SEO exposure!

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ATLANTA – August 11, 2009 – AutoTrader.com, the ultimate automotive marketplace with 3 million vehicle listings, today announced it will begin carrying live listings of all Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Nissan automobiles currently available at Nissan’s 1,070 retailers nationwide. In addition, AutoTrader.com will also power all CPO listings on Nissan’s own web site, NissanUSA.com.

On a daily basis AutoTrader.com is provided a feed of raw data by Nissan North America about each of the automaker’s CPO vehicles currently available in the United States. Using this feed, AutoTrader.com then incorporates information about the selling dealership, such as address and contact information. Also integrated is specific information about each vehicle listing as supplied by the dealership to AutoTrader.com, such as color, trim level and equipped options, plus photographs of the actual vehicle. Using AutoTrader.com’s proprietary technology, a final data feed is produced and used to populate listings on both sites.

“This partnership highlights AutoTrader.com’s ability to help automakers such as Nissan save time and money in expanding the audience for their CPO listings by using our technical expertise,” said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. “Each month, these OEMs are able to reach the broadest possible audience of CPO buyers through both our site and their own online presence.”

To qualify for Certified Pre-Owned status, each Nissan must be less than 5 years old and have less than 60,000 miles on the odometer. In addition, these vehicles must possess a clean title and pass a 142-point Quality Assurance Inspection. Once certified, each Nissan includes an 84-month/100,000-mile limited warranty, a vehicle title history report, a vehicle title insurance policy, 24-hour roadside assistance, and trip-interruption coverage.

About AutoTrader.com www.autotrader.com
AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet’s leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location about 3 million new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and the site attracts about 14 million unique monthly visitors. Through innovative merchandising functionality such as multiple photos, videos, detailed descriptions and comprehensive research and compare tools, AutoTrader.com unites new and used car buyers and sellers online to improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit

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