The Cobalt Group, a provider of customer relationship management and e-business software and services to the automotive retail market, on Jan. 29 announced its new F&I Web Services integration initiative for Cobalt Prospector.

Cobalt said the F&I Web Services initiative establishes an interface built on open standards that enables dealers to integrate their F&I (finance and insurance) data from any partner F&I application with Prospector, Cobalt's customer relationship management solution.

Cobalt has partnered with Automotive Computer Technology (ACT) and The Cardone Group to be the first F&I providers to integrate their F&I products with Prospector based on industry-standard XML Web services. ACT and Cardone will update their applications to interface with Cobalt's F&I Web Services. This flow of data allows Prospector opportunity records to be populated in ACT's ProDesk and Cardone's ePencil desking solutions. This integration, according to the companies, will enable a salesperson to simply click one button to push a customer's information to the sales desk.

"Cobalt's F&I Web Services for Prospector makes it possible for dealers to seamlessly flow F&I data from Prospector to any F&I application, greatly increasing dealership productivity and CSI," said Mike Martinez, Cobalt's vice president of sales and marketing. "The F&I integration greatly reduces double entry and manual input errors, allowing dealers to serve customers more quickly with fewer mistakes during the deal process. This time savings will translate into more sales dollars and improved customer satisfaction on high-volume selling days."

"As a large dealer group, we have a variety of F&I applications at different stores," said Brenda Morgan, e-commerce director for Kuni Automotive Group in Vancouver, Wash. "Cobalt's F&I Web Services initiative will enable us to easily integrate Prospector with the F&I solutions in all of our dealerships."

Prospector, which Cobalt bills as "the automotive industry's most comprehensive CRM (customer relationship management) solution," is designed to help dealers enhance their prospect handling skills, boost sales closing rates, and better market to their customers and prospects throughout the customer lifecycle. Cobalt says Prospector enables dealers to automate their sales force and manage their showroom floor with convenient sales desk management tools and accurate enterprise reports to analyze and improve performance. By giving dealers the ability to integrate with any F&I solution through Cobalt F&I Web Services, Prospector gives dealers unprecedented flexibility and control of their showroom, according to the Cobalt Group.

To sign up or get more information about Cobalt Prospector, telephone Cobalt toll-free at (866) 439-2258 or e-mail sales@cobaltgroup.com.

About The Cobalt Group

The Cobalt Group (www.cobaltgroup.com) works exclusively in the automotive retail market developing integrated e-business programs designed to help manufacturers and dealers increase their profits and operational efficiencies.

Cobalt offers products and services including enterprise software; customer relationship management (CRM) applications; e-commerce applications; an OEM parts locating and marketing service; and e-business best practices training and consultation.

Cobalt's network includes 12,000 franchised dealers and more than 70 of the 100 largest dealer groups. Cobalt says it is the only software technology provider ever endorsed by 18 manufacturers and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).

About Automotive Computer Technology (ACT)

Designed by car dealers for car dealers, ACT has specialized in desking software since 1984.

Through years of personal dealership experience and commitment to quality, ACT says it has worked continually to meet the needs of its customers.

ACT's ProDesk product combines technology and expandability with a timesaving sales process to provide automobile dealerships the ability to maximize profits while ensuring professionalism with customer satisfaction. ACT says this professional desking/F&I system provides customizable lease, balloon, and retail options that work with dealership personnel and customers during the negotiation process.

ACT says its flagship product, ProDesk, "is like having an assistant to your sales manager."

For more information, contact ACT toll-free by phone at (800) 367-8806 or visit www.actlink.com.

About the Cardone Group

The Cardone Group says it has developed "a non-confrontational selling process that challenges the traditional selling process with technologies that are more appropriate for the 21st century dealership."

According to the company, hundreds of dealers have come to rely on the Cardone Group's ePencil desking software to provide a consistent and credible negotiation process that allows dealers to present every buyer with the same opportunity to purchase and to maximize the dealer's return on every transaction.

The Cardone Group is based in Orlando, Fla., and can be reached toll-free at (800) 551-9020. For more information, visit www.cardonegroup.com.