IRVINE, Calif. -- Autobytel Inc., an automotive Internet marketing services company, has appointed automotive Internet veteran Lenny McGinley as vice president of dealer sales.

McGinley has played a major role in advancing Autobytel’s dealers relations over the years, most recently serving as director of sales for the western region. In this position, McGinley worked side-by-side with dealers, coaching and training them on process implementation, CRM tutoring, and building customer relationships.

"With a shaky economy and lagging auto sales, Lenny’s extensive experience assisting dealers in improving their processes and increasing lead conversion is a tremendous asset to Autobytel and our network of dealers," said Mark Garms, Autobytel’s senior vice president dealer operations and strategy. "Over his ten years working with dealers to maximize their Internet sales, Lenny and his team have been instrumental in helping Autobytel’s member dealerships not only survive in the competitive marketplace, but to thrive and grow by using our game-changing catalog of dealer services in the most effective ways."

Autobytel’s commitment to deliver innovation and real-world value to its dealer base is backed by its quality customer referrals and pioneering lead notification programs, which will be a particular focus for McGinley and his team. They will concentrate on helping dealerships further evolve their online lead processes with Autobytel’s recently launched Email Manager and LeadCall services which help ease the follow up burden for dealers by providing automated email and live call programs to follow up on leads and set in-dealership appointments.

McGinley joined Autoweb.com (acquired by Autobytel Inc. in 2001) in 1998. As national dealer trainer for Autoweb, McGinley ran Internet best practices seminars across the country just as consumer adoption of the automotive Internet was ramping up. These early seminars demonstrated that dealerships needed "hands on" help analyzing and improving their Internet sales practices, so McGinley inaugurated a new department at Autoweb, dedicated to training and helping struggling dealerships become successful with the Internet.

In 2003, he became sales director at Autobytel Inc., with a mission to refocus account management on training and certifying each of the company’s nationwide field teams to help the company’s thousands of member dealers with process implementation, CRM tutoring, and building that all important customer relationship.

"In this climate, it is critical that we not only continue to provide dealers with high quality leads, but also the tools, training and support they need to be successful with those leads. With products ranging from our Rapid Response program to our newly-launched LeadCall ‘live call’ solution, our dealers know they can rely on our support to help them make it through these tough times," said McGinley. "Autobytel has always led the way in providing the most innovative Internet-based solutions for dealers, and I pledge to continue this mission as I take on this new role."