It's Official: MyCarPage.com is in the Black!; Dot-Com Zooms to Profitability
18 December 2000
It's Official: MyCarPage.com is in the Black!; Dot-Com Zooms to Profitability
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--Dec. 18, 2000--When it comes to profits, most dot-coms see only one color: red. However, less than 1 1/2 years since product introduction, MyCarPage.com(TM) is seeing black! Keeping a vow to reach profitability before 2001, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Internet company announced today it turned a profit in November.Interval Inc. (dba MyCarPage.com) produces MyCarPage, a personalized auto Web page that made its debut in June 1999. It provides auto dealers with an online e-mail forum for customer-dealer communications and is designed to create long-term relationships. Five of the top 12 auto dealerships in the U.S. are now MyCarPage.com customers, helping pave a monetary path for the company's profitability.
"Being in the black reflects the positive response from dealers to our products and the total commitment to customer satisfaction from everyone in our organization," said MyCarPage.com CEO C. Bryce Benjamin.
Benjamin cited a yearlong string of company successes that helped MyCarPage.com attain profitability, including a large increase in dealer usage; a second round of financing; major co-op deals with Meineke Discount Mufflers and Precision Tune Auto Care; and the release of two new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products.
"Another real coup was getting Ed Muller, former president and CEO of Edison Mission, to join the board," said Benjamin. "That's been a tremendous plus. His business experience and savvy have been invaluable."
The new CRM products have also been a key to the success of MyCarPage.com, Benjamin said. In 2000, the company released the 3.0 version of the Customer Value Matrix(TM), a data analysis tool that organizes driver and vehicle information, helping supply dealers with target-marketing insights based on customer service frequency, spending patterns, vehicle attributes and demographics. Also making its debut was Prospector(TM), a communications engine that makes a dealer's marketing efforts more effective by enabling them to query their customer database via a template, targeting consumers by vehicle age, make, model, accrued mileage, zip code, last service and the time/mileage remaining on the new car warranty.
Along with the original MyCarPage(TM), which supplies consumers with maintenance reminders, sales and service specials, recall notices, Kelley Blue Book values, traffic and weather reports, Benjamin said he expects the expanded product line to continue attracting new dealers and keeping the company in the black.
"We're constantly looking to improve our products and feature more value-added benefits," he said. "As long as we continue to help our customers make more money by using our products, our future success is assured."
Interval Inc. (dba MyCarPage.com) specializes in the development of Internet-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools aimed at building long-term relationships between consumers, automotive businesses and dealerships. MyCarPage.com and its services, MyCarPage(TM), Prospector(TM) and the Customer Value Matrix(TM), combine to improve customer satisfaction, which results in increased loyalty to automotive-related businesses and dealerships.