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Brian Cox, President
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Do you remember when you were growing up and your feet would grow so fast that your toes
would poke through the front of your shoes? That’s a good analogy for the growth of Dealer
Impact Systems in the last year. First, let me thank all of you because you are the reason
we’re outgrowing our shoes. And by “shoes” I mean our servers—the ones that power your
websites and all the tools within. As we launch into 2004, we’re busy fortifying our
“technical foundation” to support the new programs and products that have been added to
our repertoire along with the additional customers we’ve gained. “The server upgrades will
affect our customers in several ways,” says Laurie Harper, Senior Systems Analyst at Dealer
Impact. “First, websites and virtual office access will be significantly faster. Second,
since we will have independent dedicated machines for each of our primary services: web
sites, virtual office, and email, each will better optimized for its particular function,
and more scalable, and more secure. Finally, these upgrades will lay the technical
foundation to allow us to put exciting new functionality in place to make our customer's
online presence even more effective. Most of the upgrades will be accomplished completely
behind the scenes and will be virtually seamless to our customers.” Our goals for 2004
make this upgrade necessary as we look to offer products in line with what consumers expect
during their online experience.
Brian Cox, President, Dealer Impact Systems
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"LARGEST FORD DEALER IN IOWA"
- High-end multimedia website
- Build-A-Ford link to manufacturer without leaving dealer website
- Feedback feature (mouse lights features on website)
“It’s a site that is active and loads quickly,” says Jim Christensen, of Gabus Ford.
“We’re able to incorporate our radio jingle, show the dealership and a featured car or
truck that rotates in all of the available color options.”
- Live update of number of vehicles in stock
- Banners (specials) automatically removed upon expiration
- All brands on home page; individual sites for each brand
“Our goal was to get away from the template we had with Cobalt and create a more
functional site,” explains Rob Armstrong, of Chezik Sayers. “We have several brands
and the new site lets us incorporate all of these into the site and gives us more
control.”
We did it again! Another Cobalt customer bites the dust!
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More and More Dealerships Are Choosing Dealer Impact Over The Cobalt Group
Several different brands, separate locations, a plan to grow. Co’s Auto Group in
Colorado picked Dealer Impact Systems over the Cobalt Group to maximize the power of their brands. That meant
creating a new central site for the auto group while maintaining an identity for each
brand through new customized websites. “We had a site that was stale and very hard to
update,” says Rosalie VanHerwaarden, of Co’s Chrysler Jeep. “Dealer Impact gave us the
ability to customize our brands as well as the resources for a more active, changeable
site.” Image was important to Co’s BMW in Fort Collins. “Our websites make us look
bigger with more to offer, which we’re able to do even though we are a smaller store,”
said Christina Dawkins, of Co’s BMW. She says Co’s is looking to compete with dealers
in nearby Denver and is using ePowerGuestbook!!™ to collect more information from visitors
to their site to spur sales outside of their traditional customer base.
www.cosautogroup.com
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“First Microsoft set out to put a computer in every home. Now the software giant hopes
to put one in every vehicle, too. “We’d like to have one of our operating systems in
every car on Earth,” said Dick Brass, vice-president of Microsoft’s automotive business
unit. “It’s a lofty goal.” Cars with the Microsoft software will speak up when it’s
time for an oil change. They’ll warn drivers about wrecks on the road ahead and scout
alternative routes. They’ll pay freeway tolls automatically. The software running their
brakes will upgrade itself wirelessly. The Microsoft platform already is in 23 different
car models, including the BMW 7 series, Citroen, Daimler, Fiat, Volvo, Hyundai, Mitsubishi,
Subaru and Toyota.”
- Associated Press
“As Ford Motor Co. celebrates its 100 years in business, the world’s second largest car
company, along with the other Detroit auto giants, is facing a tough future. American
consumers have become addicted to incentives and heavy discounting, leading to an out-of-
control price war that analysts say is causing a brand breakdown in Motown.”
- MSNBC
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