Kelley Blue Book Streamlines Vehicle Trade-In and Purchase Process with New Trusted Advisor Program

IRVINE, Calif., March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Car buyers are shopping around less, report being less satisfied with the price paid for a vehicle, and less often trust that the dealership gave them the best deal, according to the 2018 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study. To help alleviate these pain points on both sides of the transaction, Kelley Blue Book today announced the launch of its new Trusted Advisor Program, which, from online to in-showroom, streamlines the vehicle trade-in and purchase process delivering the fast, easy and more enjoyable experience dealers and consumers deserve.

The new Kelley Blue Book® Trusted Advisor Program educates both dealers and car shoppers through a full-suite integration across digital and print marketing platforms, including:

• Dealer Differentiator callouts to set participating dealers classified listings apart on KBB.com and Autotrader.
• Marketing capabilities to announce and support dealers participating in the program in both online and offline advertising communications, in addition to a Marketing Assets Web Portal to support dealers advertising and marketing needs.
• Displaying the Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor and KBB.com Ratings, Reviews and Award content directly on the dealership's website, providing pricing context and transparency, and to enable more site engagement.
• A choice of Kelley Blue Book solutions which include the Kelley Blue Book® LeadDriver, providing a quick view of trade-in valuations while capturing leads, and/or Kelley Blue Book^SM Instant Cash Offer, generating actual offers for vehicles.
• Inventory Pricing Analysis Reports to help dealers understand where dealers are pricing their vehicles compared to the Kelley Blue Book® Fair Market Range.
• The online and printable Kelley Blue Book Price Advisor Report with comprehensive information about vehicles and specific dealer information, to help build consumer trust and confidence in dealers' vehicles, their dealership and the price point of their vehicles.
• Comprehensive training, plus ongoing support, from an Implementation Consultant to help dealers gain full benefit from the Trusted Advisor Program and to help enhance the dealership's business, in the short and long term.

"With the new Trusted Advisor Program, Kelley Blue Book is helping instill confidence at all points in the transaction, so dealers and consumers know they are making the best decision possible during the vehicle selling and buying process," said Mike Sadowski, general manager for Kelley Blue Book. "The Trusted Advisor Program will create a better environment for negotiating a sale through more transparency in the transaction and the availability of trusted valuation information that is backed by more than 90 years in the automotive industry, all to help move inventory faster and deliver a more enjoyable overall experience."

The new Trusted Advisor Program is replacing the Kelley Blue Book Price Advisor Participating Dealer Program. It is now available at different levels of entry based on the dealership's needs, including Lite, Plus and Premier packages, all with different levels of integration. For more information about the Kelley Blue Book Trusted Dealer Program, visit b2b.kbb.com.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kbb_com/ (or @kbb_com), and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides market-reflective values on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor tool, which provides a range for what consumers can reasonably expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. Car owners looking to sell immediately can also get a redeemable, transaction-ready offer with Kelley Blue Book^SM Instant Cash Offer. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling and owning cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader^®, Dealer.com^®, Dealertrack^®, Kelley Blue Book^®, Manheim^®, NextGear Capital^®, VinSolutions^®, vAuto^® and Xtime^®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across 100+ countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book