ActivEngage (www.ActivEngage.com), the automotive industry's premier provider of proactive live chat for dealer websites, today announced the launch of multiple language translation for live chat on auto dealership websites. Now dealers can engage website visitors in their preferred language, without having to employ multi-lingual staff members. The new technology offers dealers a huge competitive advantage through increased personalization for their website visitors' communication preferences. Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) November 4, 2008

ActivEngage, the automotive industry's premier provider of proactive live chat for dealer websites, today announced the launch of multiple language translation for live chat on auto dealership websites. Now dealers can engage website visitors in their preferred language, without having to employ multi-lingual staff members. The new technology offers dealers a huge competitive advantage through increased personalization for their website visitors' communication preferences.

ActivEngage's new service translates live chat text to and from website visitors in real time. When a visitor starts a chat session, ActivEngage detects the visitor's preferred language from their browser settings. The chat operator then asks the visitor if they would like to chat in that language. The expanded service includes the 15 most frequently spoken languages by non-native English speakers in the U.S., including Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese and Korean. In addition, the new service can distinguish between a language as it is spoken in different countries, for example French Canadian versus the French spoken in France, or Spanish as it is spoken in Mexico versus Spain.

Chat operators can enable or disable translation for a portion of the chat session or the entire session, based on the site visitor's preference. Both the original and translated chat text are shown to the visitor and the operator, and the entire chat is stored in the database for future reference. Further, operators can chat with multiple visitors at the same time, using different languages.

"The more personalized communication can be with website visitors, the more successful dealerships will be," commented Todd Smith, ActivEngage co-founder. "

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As a company, our focus is to help dealers engage their site visitors by offering the right message at the right time. And now, they can offer this message in the site visitor's language of choice, the language the visitor is most comfortable using. It's an enhanced level of service that lets shoppers know that the dealer caters to the needs and preferences of their visitors, all without having to hire additional staff."

About ActivEngage: (www.ActivEngage.com)
ActivEngage's proprietary business logic was designed in dealerships to meet the needs of sophisticated automotive shoppers. It laser targets each website visitor with the exact right message at the exact right time to get them to take action. The system has been strenuously tested for every type of dealership. It works because the company founders have over 30 years of retail automotive and technology experience, giving ActivEngage a true 360° understanding of the needs of automotive shoppers. Partnering with ActivEngage increases lead generation and offsets the increasing marketing costs associated with the sale of new and pre-owned automobiles. ActivEngage offers three tiers of service to ensure that all website visitors' experiences are enjoyable and uncomplicated, thereby increasing the value of dealership websites through better lead generation.

Guest Posting by Audrey Knoth

These days, the most believable voices come from individuals, not what your dealers says about itself.

As one who subscribes to Automotive News daily alerts, I’ve come to expect a several-times-a-day dose of once unthinkable news about the auto industry. There may not have been many tears shed over the collapse of the world’s largest Chevrolet dealer, save for those who depended upon it for their livelihoods. We all feel deeply for them. But the fact a giant could topple so suddenly shows how fast change can come, even in the industry long heralded as America’s largest.

Of course, the economy and business are cyclical. After the bad times, the good times inevitably return. However, my firm has handled public relations for auto dealers for more than 15 years and I believe that the industry is facing a watershed moment. Unless dealers embrace the principles of Web 2.0 now, when prosperity comes back, a lot of those who made it through the downturn won’t survive the upswing.

Accompanying the economic crisis is a crisis in consumer trust. People no longer believe what institutions and organizations tell them. I hardly need to detail why; a glance through the headlines about financial executives publicly vaunting their companies right up until their collapse spells it out clearly. But consumer mistrust is not confined to the financial sector. Think about it: who unabashedly believes what any company or entity says about itself anymore?

These days, the most believable voices come from individuals. The recommendation, criticism, or opinion that matters to each of us now is that of a peer – someone else who is “just like me.” In considering a significant purchase, we want to know what someone else “like me” has to say about the product and the experience of buying it. Consumers routinely Google for these comments prior to opening their wallets. What the company selling that product says falls into the category of “information to consider, but not necessarily believe.”

This shift in consumer attitudes has profound significance for the auto industry, which has grappled with decades of public mistrust, anyway. The car business has been struggling to come to terms with Web 2.0. Most executives continue to fear what consumers would say if they opened their sites to dialogue and customer comments. They figure it’s safer not to engage and so the majority of them don’t.

But what may seem safe now is exactly what will prevent many auto dealers from succeeding when the current crisis is over. After the dark economic clouds clear, the sun will be shining on a new era – one in which consumers will be able to spend money, but will only be willing to do so with companies endorsed by “people like me.” Woe betide auto dealers who are not onboard and ready with Web 2.0 then.

Dealers should use this slow period to invest time, resources, and yes, money, into transforming themselves into Web 2.0 operations. Of course, it’s not just a matter of redesigning the dealership’s web site. It’s also a question of training all staff throughout the organization to walk the walk in terms of truly exceptional customer service that builds relationships.

Dealership principals need to give Web 2.0 a seat at the executive table. For dealers who embrace this, the return of the good times will absolutely be great.
About the Author: Audrey Knoth is the Executive Vice President
for Goldman & Associates Public Relations