Science & Technology
Science and TechnologyScience and Technology 
Thu, February 24, 2011
Autobytel Partners with ActivEngage to Offer Auto Dealer and Manufacturer Clients Premium Website Live Chat
IRVINE, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq:ABTL), the company dedicated to helping dealers and car-buyers connect online, today announced the launch of a new service for dealer members and manufacturers: Live Chat by [ ActivEngage ]. Continuing to solidify Autobytela™s commitment to its dealer members by offering useful products and tools, live chat will allow [ car dealers ] and manufacturers the option to add this powerful tool to their website. According to Jeffrey H. Coats, Autobytel President and CEO, aWe want to do everything we can to help our member dealers and manufacturing partners succeed. By offering them easy-to-use products and services that can increase their close ratio, we believe we can do just that. Now, in addition to our WebLeads+ product, we can offer our member dealers and OEM partners another powerful software tool to maximize the performance of their own websites a" all designed to help them sell more cars.a
"We always wanted to add real-time chat to our website, but didna™t have the capabilities or resources. Autobytel is offering us another simple solution and we are looking forward to implementing the new chat feature to our website."
ActivEngage is the automotive industry's premium live chat with business intelligence for dealer websites. ActivConciergea", ActivEngage's full-service offering, engages website visitors with a virtual Meet & Greet and acts as an online sales force, increasing purchase request generation by assisting and qualifying shoppers. This creates a website shopping experience that is similar to the showroom experience, crucial because an average of over 98% of shoppers currently take no action during visits to auto dealer websites.
aWhile live chat is a useful and coveted tool, the logistics and programming are often daunting and overwhelming a" especially for a small business like a dealership,a Coats continued. aBy aggregating our resources and partnering with ActivEngage, we can provide a simple, easy and cost-effective solution for dealerships and OEMs to add live chat to any website. This feature helps our member dealers and OEM partners increase their close ratio by connecting immediately with potential customers.a
aAutobytel is a true partner to us a" in addition to providing us quality purchase requests, the company also offers tools for our own websites to help increase our chance of making a sale,a said Bruce Hartz from Bob Bell Ford Hyundai Kia dealership. aWe always wanted to add real-time chat to our website, but didna™t have the capabilities or resources. Autobytel is offering us another simple solution and we are looking forward to implementing the new chat feature to our website.a
ActivConciergea" impacts dealerships immediately by turning informational websites into conversational websites, thereby multiplying the number of qualified purchase requests generated. Dealerships using ActivEngage have indicated that they experienced increases in the amount of purchase requests they receive from their own websites.
aWe are excited to offer our ActivConciergea" service to Autobytel's dealerships and manufacturers around the nation,a commented Todd Smith, ActivEngage Co-founder and President. "With this new service offering, Autobytel is taking another proactive step to ensure that their dealers generate the most purchase requests possible. Dealerships have indicated that purchase request generation from the dealer's own website has increased on the first day of using our live chat. Autobytel is a clear leader in automotive retail; we look forward to our partnership and serving their dealer and manufacturer body.a
Chat reps continually train on product knowledge and individual store promotions and specials to ensure seamless chat experiences for website shoppers. Further, ActivEngage provides dealers real time user statistics, keyword analysis, powerful reporting and insight to help make their websites more efficient and produce more sales.
About Autobytel Inc.([ www.autobytel.com ])
Autobytel Inc., an online leader offering consumer purchase requests and marketing resources to car dealers and manufacturers and providing consumers with the information they need to purchase new and [ used cars ], pioneered the automotive Internet when it launched autobytel.com in 1995. Today, Autobytel is now the largest provider of U.S. automotive consumer purchase requests for [ new cars ] andcontinues to offer innovative products and services to help consumers buy, and auto dealers and manufacturers sell, more used and new cars. Autobytel has helped tens of millions of automotive consumers research vehicles; connected thousands of dealers nationwide with motivated car buyers; and helped every major automaker market its brand online. Through its flagship website Autobytel.com®, its network of automotive sites, including Autotropolis.com®, DealershipJobs.com, Autoweb.com®, AutoSite.com®, Car.comsm, CarSmart.com®, CarTV.com®, and MyRide.com® and its respected online partners, Autobytel continues its dedication to innovating the industry's highest quality Internet programs to provide consumers with a comprehensive and positive automotive research and purchasing experience, and auto dealers, dealer groups and auto manufacturers with one of the industry's most productive and cost-effective customer referral and marketing programs.
About ActivEngage: ([ www.ActivEngage.com ])
ActivEngagea™s 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 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.