HomeNet offering a free Video Online customers – 30 day trail.

March 2, 2010 (West Chester, PA) – HomeNet announces the release of enhancements to its Video Online Marketing Suite that allows dealers who are creating live video ads for their vehicle inventory to turn each video into hundreds of still images, which can then be transferred into its Inventory Online Marketing Suite and automatically associated to the vehicle for distribution to the dealer’s website and online classifieds.

“Today, top dealerships are spending the extra time to shoot live video of their vehicles instead of using traditional picture-to-video products. They realize that this small investment of time turns every video into a mini-commercial, which allows the dealership to really ‘sell the car,’” says Tim James, Director of Sales at HomeNet. “This can dramatically increase the emotional response from the consumer and drive a lot of traffic.”

Video Online’s Live Video Upload feature allows a dealer to upload their own video footage of a vehicle from within HomeNet’s IOL Inventory Marketing Suite, associate that video with the vehicle, and webIOL then distributes the video to the dealer’s website, YouTube, and online classifieds along with each vehicle’s marketing data, including the vehicle Installed and Enhanced Options, Vehicle Description and Dealer Comments, Vehicles Photos, etc.

“Without Video Online,“ James adds, “dealers still have had to take individual photos of each vehicle to attach to their Internet ads and distribute throughout the Internet. Video Online’s video-to-still-images feature removes that extra step and saves the dealership a lot of time.”.

When the dealer chooses to “create still images”, Video Online will automatically slice the video into hundreds of high quality still images from which the dealer may select. In a matter of seconds, the dealer has as many or few of the images as desired and may push those images to that vehicle’s content management section inside of IOL.

“This is huge, and it will be the standard for all dealerships,” said Tim Jennings, Internet Director of Tom Sparks Toyota in Dekalb, IL. “I shoot a lot of actual videos for my inventory, and being able to turn those videos into high quality, still images will save me the 30 minutes it takes me to also shoot, name, and upload pictures for that vehicle. With that time, I can shoot even more videos.”

HomeNet’s Video Online (VOL) Marketing Suite is a Video Based Internet Marketing System that allows automotive dealerships to create dynamic video commercials for every vehicle in their inventory. By utilizing HomeNet’s Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite, Video Online offers features like API-driven automated video creation and Live Video upload which allow dealers to take actual videos of their inventory and quickly upload them to their webIOL data files, allowing virtually real-time display on HomeNet IOL Hosting platform which many dealers use as their “online display” of their inventory for their websites.

HomeNet is offering a free 30-day trial to new Video Online customers.

About HomeNet
HomeNet Automotive helps the automobile industry save time and sell more vehicles and is proud to be recognized as a “Top 10 in 2010 Companies to Watch” by AutoSuccess Magazine. It is the leading provider of inventory merchandising, management and marketing services, led by its flagship product, Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite. IOL is a web-based vehicle marketing solution that helps tens of thousands of automotive dealers to engage buyers online and bring them into the showroom ready to buy by streamlining the process of converting raw vehicle data into consumer-friendly and emotional online ads. With 135 employees, HomeNet has garnered a spot on the “Inc. 1000″ for the second year in a row, its third recognition by the prestigious magazine in as many years. HomeNet is a private company based in West Chester, PA, with offices across the U.S. For more information, please visit www.homenetauto.com or call 877-738-3313.

(Vocus/PRWEB ) February 14, 2010 — Sean Wolfington has agreed to serve as Chairman of the Board of VinSolutions, the industry leading automotive “Dealership Marketing System” that helps retailers attract, sell and retain more customers profitably.

“We asked Sean to join our board because of his vision and his unique experience leading some of the most successful marketing and consulting companies in the industry,” said Doug Kinney, CEO of VinSolutions.

We asked Sean to join our board because of his vision and his unique experience leading some of the most successful marketing and consulting companies in the industry

DealerSocket Announces Two Major Product Enhancements

San Clemente, CA – February 10, 2010 – Leading automotive CRM provider DealerSocket announced today two significant upgrades to their core CRM solution. Beginning immediately, DealerSocket customers can now respond to inbound leads via a mobile device and “stop the clock.” This important enhancement allows users to respond via mobile email or phone call and have the action automatically recorded into the DealerSocket customer record. In addition, DealerSocket has announced that it has completed integration of its CRM Desking tool with DealerTrack lease rates and residuals. Still in pilot with two DealerSocket key customers, this vital enhancement will be available to all DealerSocket Desking customers by the end of March 2010.

“These two key improvements are things our customers told us they must have, and we listened,” said Brad Perry, DealerSocket co-founder and CTO. “Last year we released over 46 enhancements to our core product and the majority of them were based on suggestions from our valued customers. With these two upgrades, our auto dealer customers will save time, save money and be able to improve profitability in their dealerships.”

ATLANTA, Ga. and CENTREVILLE, Va. – February 10, 2010 – Contact At Once!, LLC, the leading provider of car dealership chat software and other internet marketing tools that move online lookers into live conversations with car dealerships, and Carfax have partnered to help dealers sell cars faster.

Contact At Once! and Carfax will integrate their products, giving consumers free access to dealer-purchased Carfax Reports during chat sessions. In addition, online shoppers viewing Carfax Reports will have an easy way to initiate contact with the selling dealer.

“We provide car dealership chat software that helps sell more cars,” said Marc Hayes, Executive Vice President and founder of Contact At Once!, “Sales people using our car dealership chat software are particularly effective when the right information is at their fingertips, including valuable vehicle history information from Carfax.”

Recent studies show that providing a Carfax Report up front in the shopping process helps dealers sell cars faster and for more money. Dealers who use the Contact At Once! car dealership chat software will be able to quickly determine if a specific vehicle has a Carfax Report available and utilize vital information from the report, such as the Carfax 1-Owner designation, with a single click of the mouse. A link for customers to access the Carfax Report for free can be shared during the chat session.

“Carfax and Contact At Once! are working together to help dealers enhance their customers’ shopping experience,” said Larry Gamache, communications director at Carfax. “When you give buyers what they want, you sell cars faster and make more money.”

About Car Dealership Chat Provider Contact At Once!, LLC
Contact At Once!, LLC is the leading provider of car dealership chat software and internet marketing tools for automotive sales, apartment leasing, and other industries where consumers conduct research online before visiting a dealership or office. The ContactAtOnce! service typically moves at least 25% more website visitors into live conversations with sales people by utilizing a suite of technologies such as presence, IM/chat, VoIP telephony, video chat and text messaging, resulting in increased revenue and a better return on marketing expenditures. ContactAtOnce! is the only solution with features specifically for vertical search websites and over 35 such sites, along with thousands of merchant businesses, are using it today. Find out more at www.contactatonce.com.

About Carfax (www.carfax.com)
Millions of used car buyers and sellers each year rely on Carfax, the most trusted provider of vehicle history information. Using the unique 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) found on vehicle dashboards and title documents, Carfax instantly generates a detailed Vehicle History Report on any used car or light truck. Carfax Vehicle History Reports™ provide valuable information that help used car buyers and sellers make better decisions. For more information or to become a Carfax-subscribing dealer, call 800-444-0145 or visit www.carfaxonline.com.

CHICAGO – Feb. 5, 2010 – Cars.com announced today the availability of a free iPhone Cars.com car shopping application that helps mobile shoppers search dealer inventories and private-party listings to locate the vehicle they want. The app, which also works on the iPod Touch and upcoming iPad, can be downloaded from the App Store on iTunes.

“Nearly a third of all mobile visits to Cars.com are being made from the iPhone,” said Bill Swislow, Cars.com senior vice president of product. “We are excited to enhance the mobile experience for Apple users and reach a new audience of car shoppers by offering the first automotive shopping app for the iPhone that allows shoppers to find both new and used cars from a large selection of inventory.”

Waltham, MA (February 1, 2010) – DealerRater, the nation’s premier car dealer review Web site, announced today that their Web site has been updated with a new look and improved features. In an effort to stay fresh-looking, easy-to-use and informative, DealerRater has made cosmetic changes and added new features.

New Site Look

The new look is crisp and fun, and allows DealerRater to convey a sociable feel to their Web site helping users connect with the simple, clean and friendly experience that is a hallmark of DealerRater. Users might first notice a streamlined logo. The new logo has maintained the circle and checkmark elements, but removed shading to provide a clean design. The signature font has been changed to a style that also has rounded edges, but is easier to read at various sizes. The company has decided to remove the “dot com” from the logo name and going forward will be identified as “DealerRater.”

New ActivEngage Program Helps Toyota Dealers by Providing Consumers Recall Information and Communication on Auto Dealer Websites

Orlando, Florida, January 28, 2010— ActivEngage, the automotive industry’s premium dealer chat software with business intelligence, today announced the launch of a unique program to help Toyota dealers communicate recall information to customers on dealership websites via live chat. ActivEngage proactively compiled all relevant recall information and details, including information from their Toyota dealers. The company then educated their virtual sales assistants and added special website graphics to all ActivEngage Toyota dealer websites, letting site visitors know that live chat is available to discuss any recall issues or questions. As a growing number of Toyota vehicle owners seek information and answers about the safety recall, ActivEngage’s Toyota dealers are now prepared to handle their customers’ concerns efficiently and effectively online.

ActivEngage anticipated the jump in Toyota dealers’ website traffic and the increase in visitors with recall questions last week, and prepared by creating the program to help its dealers in a time of need. There has already been a large spike in website traffic, which has increased an average of 15-20% this week, with a proportional spike in chat conversations. The ActivEngage program allows dealers to focus exclusively on phone calls and people walking into the dealership.

“Our Toyota dealers can now direct concerned shoppers to their websites for information, using the sites as hubs of communication, instead of relying on personnel at the dealership,” commented Ted Rubin, ActivEngage executive vice president. The company’s program lets more Toyota customers find recall information online quickly and easily, effectively decreasing the number of calls and meetings dealers must take in person. The program not only helps alleviate dealers’ increased communication needs, but also builds consumers’ trust and dealership preference by creating a consistent message during each conversation. Further, when the recall issues are resolved, dealers can use the data captured from consumers who chat about the recall to schedule service appointments for fixes.

“We knew consumers were going to utilize the web as the primary source of information (just as they did with Cash for Clunkers) and we are now helping our Toyota dealers online,” commented Todd Smith, ActivEngage president. “Our chat agents can deliver consistent and comprehensive recall information via websites, rather than sending people to the telephone or into the showroom. We have access to all recall information, and we will continue to educate and update all our virtual sales associates about how to handle the recall chat conversations. We are actively assisting our dealers to help their customers get the best recall information, quickly and easily online.”

About ActivEngage: (www.ActivEngage.com)
ActivEngage’s dealership chat software and proprietary business intelligence helps automotive dealers meet the needs of shoppers by providing dealerships easy to use, powerful website tools. Advanced live chat services let dealers identify, initiate interaction and communicate with website visitors in real-time. The essential person-to-person Meet & Greet that dealers require at the physical showroom is now possible on the dealership website through ActivEngage. This proactive website engagement decreases abandonment rates and increases website lead generation with the thousands of visitors the average dealership receives each month. ActivEngage provides the edge that dealerships need to engage more customers who browse for information because it starts building a personal relationship with shoppers from the moment they hit the dealership website. ActivEngage offers three tiers of service to ensure that all website visitors’ experiences are enjoyable and uncomplicated, thereby increasing the value of dealership websites through better lead generation.

Industry Leading Automotive CRM Provider Attributes Record Growth to Product Enhancements, Key Personnel Additions and Impressive Dealer and OEM Partner Gains

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The industry leading automotive CRM and lead management provider, eLead, today reported that the 2009 calendar year produced the company’s top year in sales since 2005.

“We’ve delivered another year of outstanding financial results, powered by key additions to our development team and growth within the call center. Our superior product and service offerings, combined with high-quality creative content, gives us a unique ability to continue delivering growth and value to our dealers”

Former AutoMart executive to join leading provider of live chat for car dealers

ATLANTA, GA – January 20, 2010 – Contact At Once!, LLC, the leading provider of live chat and other internet marketing tools that move online lookers into live conversations with car dealers, announced today the hiring of Skip Dowd as Vice President, Business Development. In this role, Dowd will be responsible for building and managing relationships with the company’s strategic partners.

Dowd began his career in 1991 as an advertising sales person with Trader Publishing, calling on auto dealers in Northeast Ohio. He rose to Vice President of Electronic Media, assembling and leading the team that launched AutoMart.com and AutoMercado.com. After AutoTrader.com, a division of Cox Enterprises, acquired AutoMart.com in October of 2006, Dowd managed the corporate transition before leaving to pursue independent consulting engagements within the automotive industry.

ATLANTA, GA – January 6, 2010 – Contact At Once!, LLC, (contactatonce.com) the leading provider of dealer live chat software and other internet marketing tools that move online lookers into live conversations with dealerships, announced today that the ContactAtOnce! dealer live chat service powered its two millionth live chat conversation. The company also released statistics and trend data showing dramatic industry-wide growth in the use of dealer live chat for online automotive marketing.

“The two millionth consumer-to-dealer live chat conversation took place on December 30th,” said Marc Hayes, Contact At Once!, LLC founder and executive vice president. “It was a happy coincidence that the conversation led to a sale for one of our dealer customers, Ken Garff Nissan in Orem, Utah.”