Orange County, CA – January 21, 2009 – Leading automotive CRM provider DealerSocket, honored as the Best Overall Company globally in the 2008 International Business Awards, has been named a Finalist in the 2009 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  The company is in the running for Sales Department of the Year – Computer Software.  More than 500 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year’s competition. 

While the current economic conditions continue to be problematic for most auto-related businesses, DealerSocket has kept up its award-winning pace, which, over the course of 2008, earned the company numerous awards and industry accolades.

2008 Milestones included:

• 5 year revenue growth of 768%
• Completed 24 consecutive profitable quarters
• Completed build out of national sales team
• Surpassed 30,000 DealerSocket CRM system users
• Averaged 1 new dealer client per day
• Expanded Internationally
• Named Best Overall Company globally in the 2008 International Business Awards
• Named 11th Fastest Growing Private Company in Orange County for 2008 by Deloitte & Touche, (#1 in '06 and #2 in ‘07)
• Named one of the fastest companies by Inc. Magazine for the 3rd consecutive year

“It’s an honor to have the achievements of our sales team recognized alongside some of the largest and most respected companies in the world,” said Matt Redden, VP of Sales for DealerSocket.  “We greatly appreciate this acknowledgement and would like to share the recognition with our valued customers.”

Under Redden’s leadership, DealerSocket’s sales team signed an average of one new dealer per day in 2008. 

“The achievement of our sales team during these rough economic times is a true testament to the dedication and deep understanding each member has of linking our product to actual value delivered to the dealership – Dealers are only buying products that provide a significant return,” said Jonathan Ord, DealerSocket Co-Founder and CEO.  “We are committed to providing dealers with a comprehensive, cost-effective CRM solution that will enable them to not only survive, but also continue to thrive and take market share.  I am extremely proud of the team’s accomplishments and the momentum they are carrying into 2009.  DealerSocket’s continued growth and success is a direct result of their efforts and the efforts of our support teams that deliver on what is sold.”

2009 is already shaping up to be a good year for the company.  Although dealers are cutting expenses wherever possible, they continue to implement DealerSocket CRM at a record pace.  One component that has proven invaluable to financially strapped dealers is the company’s recently introduced MoneyMaker, a powerful yet extremely cost-effective data mining software tool enabling dealers to quickly increase profits by utilizing their existing customer data for “hot” leads, rather than having to spend money on additional marketing efforts or staff.

“Being named a Finalist in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is an important achievement,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards.  “It means that independent business executives have agreed that the nominee is worthy of international recognition.  We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement and wish them well in the competition.”

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word “crowned,” winners will be announced on Monday, February 9 during an awards gala at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  Nominated customer service and sales executives from the U.S.A. and several other countries are expected to attend.  Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service and the list of finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/sales.