August 23, 2010 (West Chester, PA) – HomeNet Automotive announced it has again qualified for the prestigious Inc. 5000, its third consecutive appearance on Inc. Magazine's list of the country’s fastest growing companies.

“This year’s list is a testament to the creativity, resilience, and tenacity of America’s top entrepreneurs,” said Jane Berentson, Editor of Inc. Magazine.  “As an Inc. 5000 honoree, HomeNet Automotive shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, Zappos, Under Armor, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Visa, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and scores of other powerhouses.”

“Ranking 1055 out of the country’s 5000 fastest growing companies is a true honor,” said Jesse Biter, HomeNet Automotive President & CEO, “But the fact that this is our third consecutive appearance—and our fourth recognition by Inc. Magazine in four years—demonstrates real stamina and ingenuity on the part of our employees to build products the industry needs.  No doubt about it, this award goes to them.”

HomeNet adds the Inc. 5000 award alongside several other 2010 awards, including being named by AutoSuccess Magazine a "Top 10 in 2010 Companies to Watch," and a "Top Rated Vendor Ratings Award by DrivingSales.com and others.

ABOUT HOMENET:  HomeNet Automotive, LLC helps the automobile industry save time and sell more vehicles.  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 by streamlining the process of converting raw vehicle data into consumer-friendly and emotional online ads. With 135 employees, 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.

]]> http://www.homenetnews.net/2010/homenet-achieves-2010-inc-5000-standings-its-3rd-consecutive-appearance/feed/ http://www.homenetnews.net/2010/homenet-launches-integrated-facebook-marketplace-app-to-help-dealers-reach-facebook%e2%80%99s-500-million-users/ http://www.homenetnews.net/2010/homenet-launches-integrated-facebook-marketplace-app-to-help-dealers-reach-facebook%e2%80%99s-500-million-users/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:15:11 +0000 gkennedy Uncategorized http://www.homenetnews.net/2010/homenet-launches-integrated-facebook-marketplace-app-to-help-dealers-reach-facebook%e2%80%99s-500-million-users/
West Chester, PA (August 3, 2010)  –  HomeNet announced today the launch of IOL Oodle Pro, which directly integrates a dealer’s automotive listings in Facebook’s Marketplace with their Fan Page and website. Facebook reached 500 million users in July, 2010, and the Facebook Marketplace, which draws 11 million unique users each month, grew 354% last year.  

With IOL Oodle Pro, a dealer’s Marketplace listings are able to be posted in bulk and are directly tied back to the dealership fan page.  In contrast, most dealers use a Facebook application that presents their inventory just to their Facebook fan page, and they post vehicles one at a time into the Marktplace.  Now, with IOL Oodle Pro, a dealer can bulk-list unlimited vehicles for sale in the Facebook Marketplace, enjoy premium search results, and gain exposure with millions of Facebook Marketplace users as well as the dealer’s fans. 

“IOL Oodle Pro harnesses the exponential power of social media. There’s never been anything like it,” said Neal Gann, HomeNet’s Vice President of Strategic Relations.  “Every time someone comments on a vehicle, it appears in the news feeds of that person’s 200+ friends and networks as well as back on the dealer’s fan page.  And if one of their friends comments, the vehicle is now visible to that person’s 200+ friends and networks, and on and on…  ”   

HomeNet’s IOL Oodle Pro's Key Features include:

• Integrated Marketplace listings with Dealer Fan Page, My Showroom, and My Listings pages
• Unlimited listings with priority placement in search results included
• Friend-of-a-friend indicator on all listings, adding credibility to inventory and softening every sale
• One-stop syndication to over 250 classified sites included, like Facebook Marketplace, Military.com, and Walmart.com
• Automatically tweet listings
• A professional-looking, dealer-branded Fan Page
• Easy to use reporting monitors the impact and value of social media: conversions, traffic, page views, etc.
• Dealers can save hundreds of dollars through HomeNet’s unlimited listings and premium placement privileges

About HomeNet:
HomeNet Automotive helps the automobile industry save time and sell more vehicles. 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 by streamlining the process of converting raw vehicle data into consumer-friendly and emotional online ads. With 135 employees, HomeNet has garnered numerous awards, including a spot on the "Inc. 1000" for the third year in a row, its fourth 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 email salesteam@homenetauto.com, visit http://www.homenetauto.com, or call (877) 738-3313.

WEST CHESTER, PA (July 21, 2010) – OPENLANE, a leading online auction company in North America for automotive dealers to buy and sell wholesale vehicles, today announced it has collaborated with HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of automotive inventory merchandising, management, and marketing services, to offer dealers an easy and efficient way to list and wholesale their aged inventory.

Dealers using HomeNet’s flagship product, the Inventory Online Internet Marketing Suite (IOL), can publish selected used vehicle inventory on OPENLANE’s Open Auction to sell their available wholesale vehicles to a nationwide audience of more than 25,000 franchise and independent dealers on a 24–hour basis, seven days a week.

Through this partnership, HomeNet users will now have a quick and seamless way to control the distribution of both retail and wholesale units from one convenient tool, saving time and money and providing maximum exposure for vehicles for sale. From within IOL, selling dealers are able to publish their wholesale used vehicle units to OPENLANE’s Open Auction with one simple click and manage their entire online inventory from one centralized location.

“Partnering with OPENLANE provides HomeNet’s dealers with an efficient way to list their wholesale vehicles, any time, any day, while they’re still on the lot,” said Andy McBride, COO at HomeNet Automotive. “By allowing dealers to market their vehicles to both a retail and wholesale market simultaneously, dealers can maximize their alternatives—and their chances of a quick sale while reducing depreciation and transport costs to and from physical auctions.”

In addition, OPENLANE handles the sales from end-to-end including all payments, title transfers, and arbitration, making the process for users effortless. HomeNet users can also utilize a single sign-on so they may transfer vehicle inventory from IOL directly to OPENLANE’s listing with one simple click of a button.

“Integrating the HomeNet Inventory Online suite with the OPENLANE platform helps unite the retail and wholesale sides within auto dealerships, reducing turn-time which has become more and more critical to efficient operations,” said Andrew Iorgulescu, VP, Business Development, OPENLANE. “Partners like HomeNet bring an even fuller set of value-added services to the dealers who rely on OPENLANE on a daily basis to source their inventory.”

Limited Time Partnership Incentive from July 15 through August 31, 2010!
OPENLANE will offer a special incentive to HomeNet Automotive dealers who use the service during the months of July and August. All HomeNet dealers that use IOL to list and sell three vehicles through OPENLANE’s Open Auction from July 15 through August 31, 2010 will receive a $300 AMEX gift card.

About HomeNet Automotive
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 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 +1 (877) 738-3313.

About OPENLANE
OPENLANE, Inc. is a leading online auction company in North America for automotive dealers to buy and sell wholesale vehicles. The company offers end-to-end auto remarketing solutions to auto manufacturers, captive finance companies, lease, and daily rental companies, financial institutions, and wholesale auto auctions throughout the United States and Canada. OPENLANE powers online remarketing programs for American Honda Finance, Audi Financial Services, Avis Budget Group, Chase Auto Finance, Chrysler Financial, Porsche Financial Services, Volkswagen Credit, among others. For more information, please visit http://www.openlane.com or call +1 (866) 969-0321.

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July 12, 2010 (West Chester, PA) – HomeNet Automotive today announced that it has partnered with ActivEngage to bring auto dealers several robust options to engage online customers, understand more about individual website visitors, and significantly increase leads.

ActivEngage offers a series of products that enable the dealer to actively start a chat conversation while the customer is perusing the dealer’s site, routinely a shopper’s last online stop before buying a car.

“When a shopper visits the dealer site, they’re looking at local inventory availability. In other words, they’re ready to buy now. And that’s precisely when a dealer needs to engage them… before they go off and check other area dealers’ inventory,” says HomeNet’s Andy McBride, COO. “ActivEngage gives HomeNet dealers a way to proactively reach the buyer while he’s making up his mind about what dealership to visit. It’s like going to where the fish are rather than waiting for the fish to come to you.”

ActivEngage provides much more than instant messaging, however; it offers chat intelligence:
1. Ability to view visitors in real-time and watch as they navigate around the site
2. See the search words a shopper used to find that dealer’s website
3. See the referring website, so you know where they just came from
4. First time visitor or returning visitor indicator, with current and previous click paths
5. GEO/ IP-targeting to identity if the shopper is local, or even a competitor, and their current location
6. Proactive chat engagement offers variable, automated requests to chat and hands off the engaged customer to a live person for chat
7. Add live chat on Facebook, in email signatures, in the dealership newsletter, and other online communications

Incorporating live chat—and chat intelligence—in the overall marketing plan is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways for a dealership to increase website lead generation and sales. According to the company, the majority of dealerships who use ActivEngage experience a doubling of leads in the first month alone.

For more information, please visit www.homenetauto.com.

Press Contact:
Gretchen DeWees Kennedy
Director of Marketing
HomeNet Automotive
610-738-3313, x 882

Dealer Marketing Magazine, April 2010

There is no doubt that the internet is rapidly elevating the savvy of consumers, and dramatically changing this industry as a result. Shoppers and businesses alike are consuming huge amounts of compiled data online. Why? Because the internet has revealed the inequities and monopolies of—not just local marketplaces—individual businesses… your business.

We complain about shoppers who come in armed with their reports and prices and vehicle histories and rankings and ratings, but they’re growing, not only in numbers, but in the depth of their level of intelligence, too. If every consumer were treated equally on buying identical cars there would be no reason for us to protect the details of the transaction, and consumers know this. That’s why they’re so hungry for the data the Internet has made available, aggregated and cross-compiled in ways that lift that veil.

Without geographical boundaries, the internet has shortened and widened the supply chain. Anyone can find anything online and buy it without a middle man at a huge savings.

The internet is forcing greater and greater transparency in every industry, and the online-educated consumer (over 80% of car shoppers, according to Edmunds.com) will reward those businesses who meet them where they’re going with their purchase. And, that needs to be you!

Innovation and progress will naturally crush industries that no longer align to adopted technologies… as it sprouts new ones. The entire retail sector has had to add massive online operations, local warehouses, etc. to meet the savvy consumer online. Remember standing in line at Blockbuster every week? Yet, with a local warehousing/ home delivery business model, Netflix did Blockbuster in.

The auto industry needs to change the way it operates to survive, as well.

Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer looking for a white 2010 WhateverXL. When you can find one 100 miles away for $600 less, what is going to make you buy at home? The same things that did when you bought cars by going from showroom to showroom: somehow, the local dealer has to convey trustworthiness, quality service, and customer care. How does he do that in the age of the Internet?

Transparency. His vehicle display pages show 30 or more photos, including close-ups of any scratches. There’s a video of every car. In fact, there’s a video of the finance manager on the incentives page genuinely saying, “Yes, times are tough, but come on in, and together we’ll see what we can do to get you into the car you want.” There’s a vehicle history report and an extended warranty on every used car. There are testimonials from customers everywhere. They say nice things about the dealership on Facebook. And, yes, there is pricing transparency.

To meet those savvy consumers where they are, growing numbers of savvy dealers are using technologies and data just as wisely. They’re attracting educated shoppers while arming their salespeople with the same—and better—information than those consumers bring to the negotiating table.

You have far more data available to you about every customer who visits your website and enters your showroom than they will ever have on you. Imagine how differently you would negotiate if you could pull up on your screen—as you prepare for an appointment with a buyer—that this individual has a credit score of 790, has visited your website eight times in the last month, you know all the cars they’ve bookmarked—or even looked at, you know what incentives they’ve printed out, you know what trade-in they were quoted by your online appraisal tool, and what other cars are in their driveway. You know how many leads you’ve gotten in the last month on that model that have converted to sales and at what margin. You even know how area dealers are pricing and selling that model.

Stop imagining and start taking advantage of it.

Jesse Biter is President & CEO of HomeNet Automotive, which makes the Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite of solutions that helps tens of thousands of dealers sell more cars and save time in the process. He can be reached at 877-738-3313.

The 2009 DrivingSales Vendor Ratings Awards, presented at the 2010 NADA Convention and Expo, measure satisfaction with vendors by allowing dealers to rate and review their vendors online at DrivingSales.com. Only vendors who achieved top rankings in dealer satisfaction in each category, as determined by the thousands of dealers who are part of the DrivingSales.com community, received awards.

"There is no greater honor than to have HomeNet's customers validate our total market solutions and services with this top rating," said Jesse Biter, CEO of HomeNet Automotive.  "We continue to be blessed with loyal customers, innovative partners, and dedicated and enthusiastic employees, allowing us to deliver best-in-class solutions to help the industry save time and sell more cars."

“We are proud to present this award to HomeNet Automotive which has achieved a standard of excellence that is clearly resonating with dealers,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “This year’s award winners have won recognition in one of the most challenging years on record for our industry.  We salute them for their ongoing commitment to provide value to their dealer clients.”

About HomeNet Automotive
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, call 877-738-3313, or email salesteam@homenetauto.com.

About DrivingSales Vendor Ratings and Awards
DrivingSales Vendor Ratings are the industry’s first and only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum, featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons – searchable by category, company or rating – and are one of the most popular features of DrivingSales.com, which is the auto industry’s leading social media platform and largest online community. Vendor Ratings Awards are awarded to the vendors who receive the top rankings in their category.   For the awards, dealers are asked to rate their vendors on a 1-5 star scale, including whether they would recommend the vendor product to colleagues, and why they would or would not recommend the product.  All survey-takers are verified to ensure that they are actual dealership employees.

A standout among many notable achievements in her 16 years in the automotive industry, Ms. Burke was part of the team that conceived, defined, and launched the first automotive, internet shopping site, Autoconnect.com.

In addition to other key marketing roles where she successfully launched products to global markets, Ms. Burke brings many years of Product Management experience with Accenture, formerly known as Anderson Consulting, ADP Dealer Services, and Sun Microsystems.

“Having Susan’s depth of strategic, analytical, and business process experience will be critical to manage HomeNet’s explosive growth,” said Jesse Biter, President of HomeNet Automotive. “In 2010, we are delivering several game-changing and best-in-class solutions to the marketplace. Susan is essential to ensure we most effectively manage every step—from conception through development to launch and beyond.”

A former board member of the American Marketing Association, Ms. Burke holds a Computer Science and Math degree from Michigan State University, and an MBA from DePaul University. In her spare time, Ms. Burke enjoys spending time with her two children and husband in Michigan and is an active volunteer with The Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW) and the American Cancer Society.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to lead Homenet’s product strategy, taking advantage of new technologies and exploiting gaps that currently exist in the market to produce new products and services for dealers,” adds Ms. Burke. “The next few years are very important for the retail automotive marketplace, and Homenet will be there supporting our clients with inventory management and marketing solutions that will help them succeed in selling more vehicles to more customers.”

About HomeNet Automotive: 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.

February 11, 2010 (West Chester, PA) – HomeNet today announced the release of its 3rd generation, Automatic Comment Builder into the Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite, which now allows IOL users to auto-generate descriptive dealer comments for their online inventory. The new, “intelligent” Comment Builder augments vehicle-specific data down to the trim level, effortlessly elevating the quality of each vehicle display page as well as speeding its creation. It is included in HomeNet’s IOL Pro free of charge.

“We have released numerous studies which indicate that dealer vehicle ads that include price, a minimum of 12 photos, and descriptive vehicle comments turn their inventory up to 38% faster than those that do not,” said HomeNet’s Director of Sales, Tim James. “The key is listing inventory with all that rich content… but doing so quickly. Our new Automatic Comment Builder is a big step in helping dealers close the gap from the time a car is front-line ready to when it is being properly marketed on the Internet.”

Comment Builder is seamlessly integrated within IOL Pro and its suite of online vehicle marketing solutions such as Video Online, IOL Hosting, and IOL goText, allowing for quicker creation and (often real-time) display of the comments on a dealer’s inventory ads across the Internet. For instance, comments generated here are incorporated into automatically-generated TTS voiceovers in Video Online and automatically used in IOL goText mobile display pages.

The user has a choice of 3 different “voice style” libraries, or templates (Sophisticated, Conversational, and Just The Facts), to generate expressive comments appropriate for each vehicle’s target audience, which the user may then edit and save, if desired.

In addition to building upon the default templates, users may create their own templates to tailor the vocabulary, tone, excitement level, and color of any comments, while still automating the process of entering the comments for each vehicle. Users may also string together “snippets,” or partial comments, to make a full sentence.

“You need to appeal to a pickup driver a lot differently than you do the luxury sedan owner, and Comment Builder allows each dealer ad to speak most appropriately to the audience of that particular vehicle,” said Andy McBride, HomeNet’s VP of Business Development. “A good salesman certainly does that on the lot; now, you can do it online, too.”

The ability for the dealer to piece together snippets is a significant advantage because he can easily craft a targeted message for each vehicle without writing it all from scratch, saving time while increasing the appeal of each vehicle with its target market.

Comment Builder also automates the inclusion of detailed information about the vehicle as well as geographical and dealership information in each dealer comment section, which helps with SEO as well as legitimizes that page in the eyes of web crawlers to boost search engine results rankings.

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.

“It’s clear that the public loves having access to Carfax reports,” said Andy McBride, VP of Business Development for HomeNet Automotive. “For shoppers who express concerns about pre-owned vehicle histories, the dealer can easily find all the cars on the lot with 1-Owner reports and eliminate that objection.”

HomeNet and Carfax-subscribing dealers add vehicle history highlights from Carfax – including the Carfax 1-Owner designation – to window stickers to improve consumer confidence and sell more cars. In addition, visitors to dealer Web sites powered by HomeNet can narrow their used car search to include only vehicles that are Carfax 1-Owner and come with a free Carfax Report. The enhancements help dealers to more effectively market their Carfax 1-Owner inventory and put wary shoppers at ease.

"HomeNet and Carfax are powerful tools for our used car operations,” said Will Green, General Sales Manager at Peach Motors in Roswell, Ga. “We know at a glance which vehicles in our inventory are Carfax 1-Owner and take advantage of all the valuable marketing tools HomeNet provides. The result is more sales, lower carrying costs and ultimately, higher profit for our store.”

"Dealers can now know–at a glance–which vehicles in their inventory are Carfax 1-Owner," adds HomeNet's McBride. "The result is more sales, lower carrying costs, and ultimately, higher profits.”

“Studies prove that Carfax 1-Owner cars sell faster and for more money,” said Larry Gamache, communications director at Carfax. “On average, more than half of a dealer’s inventory consists of Carfax 1-Owner cars. HomeNet’s enhanced IOL inventory management tool helps dealers easily identify these premium units and put more of them in their customers’ garages.”

About HomeNet (www.HomeNetAuto.com):
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, call 877-738-3313, or email salesteam@homenetauto.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 helps used car buyers and sellers make better decisions. For more information, visit www.carfaxonline.com.

February 5, 2010 (West Chester, PA) — HomeNet Automotive earned a coveted spot in the prestigious "Top 10 in 2010 Companies To Watch" from AutoSuccess Magazine.  HomeNet CEO, Jesse Biter, will accept the trophy at the AutoSuccess Cocktail Reception (Booth #2307) at the 2010 NADA conference in Orlando, on Saturday, February 13.

"The winners are high growth organizations who have helped dealers dramatically improve their profitability during a difficult time in the automotive industry," according to the magazine.

HomeNet’s newly expanded Inventory Online (IOL) Marketing Suite brings automobile dealers the first total market solution, combining the power of HomeNet’s webIOL with best-in-class strategies and tools which, from one centralized location, allow the dealer to: