The Cobalt Group Selected to Provide All U.S. Volkswagen Dealers With Online Customer Relationship Management Application.Business Editors/High Tech & Automotive Writers SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2001 Cobalt's Lead Manager Helps Volkswagen Dealers Efficiently Manage All Leads and Measure Online Success The Cobalt Group (Nasdaq:CBLT CBLT Contract Bridge League of Thailand CBLT Cheese Bacon Lettuce Tomato (sandwich) ), a leading provider of e-business products and services to the automotive industry The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. , announced today that Volkswagen of America Volkswagen of America (VWoA) is the U.S. subsidiary of the Volkswagen automobile company in Germany. Formed in April 1955 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize dealership service in the United States, it grew to 909 Volkswagen dealers in the United States by 1965 under the has selected Cobalt's Lead Manager application for use by all Volkswagen dealers in the U.S. Cobalt's Lead Manager is designed to help dealers efficiently manage all communications with their customers and prospects through a single Web-based application See Web application. . "Volkswagen dealers who use Cobalt's Lead Manager can respond to their online leads more frequently, gaining a tremendous competitive advantage and increasing customer satisfaction," said John Holt John Holt can be any one of:
Cobalt's Lead Manager utilizes Java technology to create a powerful, easy-to-use tool that allows auto dealers to manage sales inquiries, evaluate return on investment on lead sources, and measure salesperson effectiveness through statistical reporting. Leads coming into the dealership over the Internet, by phone, or in person can be instantly assigned using powerful rules-based and round robin lead distribution features. Floor sales personnel, Internet managers and parts and service staff can all utilize Lead Manager through the Internet interface or have customer and prospect requests routed directly to their cell phone or other wireless devices, or e-mail. Dealership personnel can use Lead Manager as their daily work planner to prioritize and handle sales opportunities quickly. Next action prompts, alerts to management and help functions ensure that leads don't fall through the cracks. Lead Manager maintains an in-depth database of customer leads, allowing for easy follow-up communications throughout the sale and following the sale. "Auto manufacturers like Volkswagen that value superior response and service to Internet customers will outperform their competition," said Terry Smail, executive vice president of sales and account services for The Cobalt Group. "By arming its entire dealer network with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. tools such as Cobalt's Lead Manager, Volkswagen is validating its dealers as the primary link to consumers and ensuring that the Volkswagen Internet shopping and buying experience is efficient and professional." About the Cobalt Group The Cobalt Group(TM) (Nasdaq:CBLT), headquartered in Seattle, is a leading provider of e-business products and services that help automotive dealers and manufacturers effectively manage their businesses online. Cobalt's suite of e-business solutions includes Web services (1) Loosely, any online service delivered over the Web. Such usage appears in articles from non-technical sources, but not in IT-oriented publications, because definition #2 below describes the correct use of the term. , Web site hosting, e-commerce applications, Internet-based customer relationship management applications, data management, and best practices training and consulting. Nearly half of the nation's auto dealers use Cobalt's technology, including 8,900 Web services clients, and approximately 8,700 PartsVoice(R) (www.partsvoice.com) clients. Cobalt's e-business products and services are endorsed by 14 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Cobalt is the only e-business provider endorsed by the National Automobile Dealers Association. Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com(TM) (www.MotorPlace.com), an online business management and industry information resource for auto dealers. At MotorPlace.com, dealers utilize Cobalt tools to manage their Web sites, buy wholesale used vehicles through MotorPlace Auto Exchange, locate and market OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and parts through PartsVoice, purchase leads through Pick-or-Pass, and access industry information, news, events, and stock quotes. Cobalt also operates DealerNet(R) (www.dealernet.com), one of the most widely visited consumer automotive information portals on the Web. IntegraLink Corporation, a Cobalt company, is the auto industry's premier provider of automotive data collection and reporting services. Cobalt has offices in Portland, Ore.; Detroit, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the American state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. ; and Austin, Texas For more information, please visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call 800/909-8244. |
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