Black Book(R) Online Trade Appraisal Service Launches New Activator(TM) Program for Dealers
BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 26, 2006 -- Black Book(R) Online, the Internet-based vehicle appraisal service featured on more than 2,000 auto dealership websites, is now available in an upgraded version. The new Activator(TM) service was launched in early October with 14 pilot dealers and offers six additional features that create more leads and help dealers reach valuable prospects.
"We were anxious to try Activator because of our past success with the Black Book Online product," said Mike Hankins, Internet Director at Toyota Mall of Georgia. "I am impressed with the new follow-up processes which back up our efforts to set more appointments with customers," he said.
Activator offers several features which will improve response to consumers, enhance appointment scheduling and extend communication with dealership prospects. These enhancements were not available with the original Black Book Online product and now include:
* Appointment Maker -- Upon completion of the online appraisal process, serious customers can automatically schedule an appointment with the dealership. Black Book Online verifies each appointment by phone with the dealership so no customer slips through the cracks.
* Safety Net(TM) -- This assures that every interested prospect has an opportunity to speak with the dealership. Customers automatically receive follow-up e-mails regarding the trade appraisal and are asked if they would like to set an appointment with the dealer to get a firm trade offer and test drive a car. Any customer who indicates they are ready to move forward will be automatically referred back to the dealer with a call from the Activator Safety Net Team.
* E-Coupons -- Activator comes with coupons that are attached to the appraisal that is e-mailed to the customer. The coupons offer incentives to make an appointment such as "Get Full Value for Your Trade" and can include dealership or manufacturer special offers. The e-mailed appraisal also includes links back to the dealership's credit application and inventory pages.
* Prospect Anywhere -- Dealers can now take the Black Book Online trade appraisal to tent sales, auto shows or even local shopping malls with a kiosk version of this prospecting tool.
* Spanish Language Version -- A Spanish language version of the trade appraisal service is also available with the Activator package.
* Dashboard -- This new feature reports program effectiveness each month.
"We've been studying the different ways that dealership personnel use our service for more than a year. We know that even the best dealership can experience times when it is difficult to reach every customer. Whether it is peak demand, turnover in personnel, or other operating challenges, we believe our appointment feature and Safety Net follow-up service can really add benefit," said Mike McFall, president Veretech, Inc., which provides the Black Book Online service.
"We don't want good prospects to go underserved. We learned that our Black Book Online trade appraisal service gets more web visitors to engage. Now, the Activator program helps make sure dealers get to meet these valuable prospects. Not only will the Activator program help dealers sell more units, but each customer comes with a trade, which means more gross for the dealer," he added.
"Without Black Book Online, a large percentage of our site traffic would slip through," said Hankins. "Now, with the new Activator features, we expect to make more appointments with customers we have not been able to reach in the past," he added.
Activator is now available for general release nationwide. Current Black Book Online dealership customers can upgrade to the new enhancements with no interruption in service. It is compatible with all major websites, including Reynolds and Reynolds, Cobalt, ADP, Dealerskins and others.
About Veretech
Veretech, Inc. is a privately-held technology and Internet marketing company based in Boca Raton, Fla. Veretech developed and provides the Internet-based trade-in appraisal services Intelliprice(TM) and Black Book(R) Online. It licenses data from Hearst Business Media Corporation, which publishes the Black Book family of vehicle appraisal guides. For additional information, visit http://www.blackbookonline.com/ .
Considered to be the industry's most timely and accurate source of vehicle pricing data, the Black Book(R) family of vehicle appraisal guides is published by National AutoResearch, a division of the Hearst Business Media Corporation. New and used car dealers, lenders, manufacturers, and government agencies have relied on Black Book since 1955. Black Book provides values for both new and used vehicles, exotics and collectables, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and heavy duty commercial trucks and trailers. Black Book data is published weekly in multiple formats including printed guides, electronic data feeds, Internet-based real time applications, hand-held PDAs, and a variety of other custom products. Please visit http://www.blackbookusa.com/ for more information.
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