Auto Dealer Monthly, Q4 2020

Group Publisher and Editorial Director David Gesualdo 727 947 4027 david gesualdo@ bobit com Associate Publisher and Managing Editor Kate Spatafora 631 561 7586 kate spatafora@ bobit com Art Director Denise Baker National Sales Manager Eric Gesualdo 727 612 8826 egesualdo@ mgigusa com Great Lakes Sales Manager Robert Brown Jr 248 601 2005 robert brown@ bobit com Vice President of Media Operations Brian Peach 310 533 2496 brian peach@ bobit com Media Operations Coordinator Heidi Dimaya 310 533 2542 heidi dimaya@ bobit com Audience Marketing Manager Becky Fenton BOBIT BUSINESS MEDIA 3520 Challenger St Torrance CA 90503 Corporate Officers Chief Executive Officer Paras Maniar Chief Revenue Officer Eric Bearly Chief Financial Officer Paul Hausback Change Service Requested Return Address Bobit Business Media PO Box 2703 Torrance CA 90509 Subscription Inquiries 888 239 2455 BobitPubs@ Halldata com Printed in U S A O p e n i n g O b s e r v a t i o n s 2 auto dealer today Q4 2020 dealers choice awards rule book The annual DCA program is run in a way that highlights leading companies in the dealer space and voting is done in a calculated and rule based manner By Kate Spatafora T his issue of Auto Dealer Today is dedicated to the 2020 Dealers Choice Awards designed to recognize vendors suppliers and finance sources all elected and voted for by the dealers and dealership personnel that they do business with Before we showcase the 2020 winners I want to shed some light on the voting process and how winners are calculated The Dealers Choice Awards are based on a survey that allowed dealers and dealership personnel to vote for providers in 35 separate categories Survey respondents are asked to cast votes only for providers in which they have firsthand knowledge and experience In addition to identifying their primary providers in each category respondents must rate their providers in four areas 1 The product or service provided 2 Customer support and service 3 Overall value for dollars spent 4 Whether the voter would recommend the provider to another dealer The 2020 Dealers Choice Awards survey program was open online from June 30 2020 to August 14 2020 Those participants who voted in at least five categories were entered to win one of two 200 Amazon gift cards When the awards program was first launched in 2005 the survey was set up in a multiple choice format with the option to write in a vote for a company that was not listed Starting in 2012 every voter has had to manually enter the name of each company they wish to honor in each category In the auditing process all votes were reviewed scrutinized and cleansed for companies that received votes in the wrong categories Voter registrations were spotchecked for validity As always the sheer number of votes is not the deciding factor Quality is more important than quantity Scores were totaled averaged and weighted for each provider A value of 100 was then assigned to the overall average vote across all categories Then the scores including group averages and company scores were adjusted relative to their position above or below the overall average Final placement is determined by raw scores Ties are rare but can occur if two winners earn the exact same raw score The provider with the highest above group average score receives the Diamond award followed by the Platinum award and the Gold award it is possible for fewer than three providers to earn an award in a given category The Dealers Choice Awards are designed to recognize vendors suppliers and finance sources that go above and beyond