Arkona Inc., an automotive dealership management solutions provider, and Open Technologies, Inc. (OTI), a Tempe, Arizona-based developer of Internet solutions announced October 8th that they will jointly develop and market an advanced package of Web services for automotive dealerships. According to Arkona, this offering gives dealerships the opportunity to implement the most complete, tightly integrated automotive dealership management solution in the industry.

Arkona and OTI say they will provide automotive dealers with industry specific Web site packages designed to increase Web site traffic, simplify navigation, and increase sales of dealership products and services via the Internet. Based on Arkona's Centari dealer management platform, the OTI Web site package will provide dealers with the technology to measure how their Web site is doing and exactly how it is contributing to the organization. Each dealership Web site is developed on a custom basis and can be up and running in as little as two weeks, according to Arkona.

"Our dealership wasn't sure if our Web site was doing us any good," said Nick Bruce, Internet fleet manager for Chapman Chevrolet in Tempe, Arizona. "We learned the hard way with our first foray into Web sites. When our customers went to our old Web site and searched for available inventory, they found the vehicle or service they were looking for but the detailed information was wrong, prices were wrong, or worse, missing entirely. Now, with OTI's Web services, we have noted a 200% increase in leads in less than three months. In fact, more leads are generated through our Web site than through our newspaper advertising. But most importantly, 25% of our Web site leads turned to vehicle sales versus only 8% of our newspaper leads."

Benefits of OTI's Web Services

According to OTI, with its Web services, dealerships are assured of reasonable pricing and timely delivery on a feature rich solution. Dealers can choose from three different Web development and hosting service packages; Compact, Mid-size or Luxury, to ensure their customer and organizational needs are met. Over 40 additional features can be added to a dealer's site to further enhance the customer/dealership experience.

Compact Package

Up to 15 custom Web pages, flash animations and five email accounts are included in this offering. The package includes a graphical statistics capability that provides dealer management with reports on how effective the Web site is.

Mid-Size Package

All of the Compact package features are included along with 15 additional Web pages, Web forms, and 10 email accounts.

Luxury Package

Allows dealers the ability to dialogue real-time with interested clients via the Web. 75 Web pages, 25 email accounts and 3 target sales Web sites are available for dealerships that sell to specific market segments or corporate accounts.

"OTI's Web site solutions give dealers the assurance that Web site dollars spent are invested in building and maintaining their client base," said Richard Holland, president of Arkona. "It also gives dealers a turnkey web solution within a period of a few weeks with performance that is immediately measurable."

"With this collaborative effort, an automobile dealer only has to make one phone call to manage all aspects of their dealership," said Glenn Schulke, president of OTI. "Whether it's a web site, an enterprise wide fax solution, automated data collection system or document imaging, our goal is to provide our clients with hard dollar returns that are measured in months, not years. This allows our customers to do more with the same human resources with better results."

Pricing and Availability

OTI Web development and hosting packages range in price from $1,295 to $5,995, plus monthly maintenance. For more information call 866-478-6364, ext. 119 or visit www.oti.net.