WALTHAM, Mass. – DealerRater, the world’s premier car dealer review web site, today announced two key additions to its senior management team, on the heels of the company’s unprecedented growth throughout North America in 2011. The number of consumer reviews posted on DealerRater has more than doubled in the past year to over 550,000, while the number of visitors to the site jumped from 3 million to 5 million per year, and the Certified Dealer count grew from 2,500 to 4,200.
In anticipation of continued growth, DealerRater has recruited highly-regarded automotive industry veteran Brett Lippel to join its executive team as Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development. In this new role, Lippel will direct corporate sales strategy and provide executive-level management to the company’s global sales and business development efforts; spearhead strategic product planning; and secure continued growth for the organization through development of national and international partnerships.
“I am thrilled to join DealerRater at such an exciting time in the company’s 10-year history,” said Lippel. “With over half a million consumer reviews and strong customer loyalty among dealerships across North America, I look forward to evolving our sales strategy and continuing the development of best-in-class leveraging tools for our dealer partners worldwide.”
Previously, Lippel served as Vice-President of Sales and Customer Service for leading automotive CRM provider Peak Performance Marketing Solutions, where he led the company’s large nationwide sales force and was the key driver behind the company’s sales growth. In addition, he served as Vice-President of Dealer Sales and Client Services with Zag.com/Autoland, Inc., where he managed all inside and outside sales teams. Lippel also has significant experience building businesses internationally through his involvement in various executive roles with Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Also joining the DealerRater executive team as Director of Business Development for the U.S. and Canada is Angelica Jeffreys, who holds more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry. Jeffreys has additionally served as a top-performing Regional Account Manager for DealerRater since she joined the company in 2010. Jeffreys will be primarily responsible for identifying and developing potential strategic partnerships as well as expanding current key relationships. Prior to her success at DealerRater, Jeffreys held various sales management roles at Cox Enterprises-Autotrader.com, and also served as General Sales Manager at AutoFair Automotive Group.
“To support our rapid growth, DealerRater is expanding its management team. With our continued push into the Canadian market and extensive partnership opportunities, the addition of senior-level industry leaders with demonstrated expertise in the sales and business development areas is critical for us,” said Chip Grueter, president of DealerRater. “Brett will be a wonderful addition to the team given his leadership skills and demonstrated success at driving market share both at the U.S. and international levels. I am also very excited to promote Angelica to Director of Business Development as she has already proven her outstanding ability to generate new business and growth for the company,” Grueter added.
For more information call 800-266-9455, visit www.dealerrater.com or visit Booth #2993, at the 2012 NADA & ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 4-6, 2012.
DealerRater was founded in 2002 as the first car dealer review website worldwide. DealerRater is the world’s #1 online resource for anyone seeking third-party information on automobile dealerships. DealerRater features more than 41,000 U.S. and Canadian car dealers, 550,000 user reviews and over 1,000,000 cars for sale. DealerRater attracts more than 5 million consumers every year who visit the site to search for car dealerships, read current reviews, write their own descriptive reviews, and find car deals – all for free. Car dealers are rated on the criteria of customer service, quality of work, friendliness, price and overall experience. In addition, DealerRater offers qualified car dealers a Certified Dealer Program as a reputation management tool to help them grow their online presence and achieve higher SEO rankings across the Web. Today, more than 4,200 dealers are members of DealerRater’s Certification Program. For more information, visit www.DealerRater.com or call 800-266-9455.