Cars.com Expands Dealer Training Initiatives With New Trainer
July 19 2006 - 12:33PM
PR Newswire (US)
CHICAGO, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com announced today the
expansion of its dealership training program with the addition of a
new training manager, Kathleen Kimmel. Kimmel joins a four-member
training department that this year will facilitate more than 350
training seminars to 4,500 franchise and independent dealers.
Kimmel brings 15 years of automotive industry experience to
Cars.com, her most recent position serving as manager of a business
development center (BDC) for a Mercedes-Benz dealership. With an
MBA in organizational leadership, Kimmel also directed
training/customer satisfaction programs for 27 AutoNation retail
locations. She began her career at DaimlerChrysler, where she
worked as a Five-Star Manager and at the district manager level
supporting sales and service initiatives. Said Mitch Golub,
president at Cars.com: "Kathleen knows the day-to-day business of
selling cars and what it takes to build a successful sales
organization. Beginning her career as a concern resolution
specialist, she worked her way up through the ranks to manage a BDC
and built a record of achievement that speaks to the value she
offers dealers who attend our seminars. For example, Kathleen
helped raise one dealership's customer satisfaction scores from
last place in the country to third. At another, she led her
department to contribute 25 percent to 30 percent of the store's
monthly sales and spearheaded a fleet program to drive incremental
revenue." "Cars.com impressed me with its commitment to provide
ongoing training as an industry resource for franchise and
independent dealers vs. a forum to promote its own products and
services," Kimmel said. "New and used vehicle leads from Cars.com
represent as much as 40 percent of many dealerships' sales. Much of
that success stems from the business practices we helped them put
into place." Cars.com's comprehensive dealer training program
includes in-market and Web-based training workshops and weekly
training calls. Additional resources are available through the
MyDealerCenter customer portal and the free dealeradvantage monthly
e-newsletter, as well as Cars.com's more than 500 sales
professionals and national technical support staff. Cars.com
presents training seminars without charge to interested
dealerships, regardless of whether they are Cars.com customers.
Information on upcoming programs is available by clicking on the
"Training" link at http://dealers.cars.com/ . "Our programs focus
on bottom-line results, helping dealers advertise effectively on
the Internet and establish efficient sales processes to work with
car shoppers throughout the buying cycle," Golub said. "Whether
assisting dealers in how they manage traffic from walk-ins,
phone-ups, email or traffic we drive to their websites, these
seminars share the proven best practices successful dealers around
the country use every day to close more sales." About Cars.com
Partnered with more than 200 leading metro newspapers, television
stations and their websites, Cars.com is the most comprehensive
destination for those looking to buy or sell a new or used car. The
site lists more than 1.5 million vehicles from 11,000 dealer
customers, classified advertisers and private parties to offer
consumers the best selection of new and used cars online, as well
as the content, tools and advice to support their shopping
experience. Recently selected by Forbes.com as a Best of the Web
site for car shopping, Cars.com combines powerful inventory search
tools and new-car configuration with pricing information, photo
galleries, buying guides, side-by-side comparison tools, original
editorial content and reviews to help millions of car shoppers
connect with sellers each month. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is
a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, (
http://classifiedventures.com/ ), which is owned by leading media
companies, including Belo (NYSE:BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI),
The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) and
The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). DATASOURCE: Cars.com
CONTACT: Brian R. Hannan of Cars.com, +1-312-601-5519 (direct),
+1-312-218-0788 (mobile), Web site: http://www.cars.com/
http://dealers.cars.com/ http://classifiedventures.com/
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