National Press Release

SEATTLE, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Cobalt, the leading provider of automotive marketing services, announced that it has been chosen as the Stevie(R) Award winner for the Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year category in the third annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Cobalt was also named a finalist in two additional Customer Service categories.

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More than 500 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year's competition. There are 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year. The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world's leading business awards shows including the prestigious American Business Awards.

Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staff selected Stevie Award winners from among the Finalists. Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging.

"Cobalt's auto dealer customers tell us that our service really stands out because of Cobalt's ability to tailor our support services to match their specific business needs," said Mark Dunn, Vice President of Services at Cobalt. "We develop and manage our support services team to not only be responsive to our customers concerns, but to also be trusted experts in Automotive Digital Marketing, helping to guide their marketing operations to be more effective in driving sales and dealership profitability."

Cobalt uses independent survey organizations to conduct satisfaction and loyalty surveys to ensure their employees provide prompt, courteous, and quality support to all Cobalt customers. Cobalt is also a four-time winner of the Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) Award presented by CustomerSat.

"This year's honorees demonstrate that even in challenging economic times, it's possible for organizations to continue to shine in sales and customer service, the two most important functions in business: acquiring and keeping customers," said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of honorees in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/sales.

About Cobalt

Cobalt is North America's leading provider of automotive marketing services. For fourteen years, Cobalt's mission has been to help automobile dealers and manufacturers increase their retailing effectiveness and profitability. Cobalt provides marketing services to half of the automotive dealerships in the United States, as well as automotive dealers in Canada and Mexico. Cobalt's marketing services are endorsed by approximately two-thirds of the world's major automotive manufacturers. For more information, go to www.cobalt.com.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors of the third annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are John Hancock Mutual Funds, Sales Partnerships, and ValueSelling Associates.

    Media Contact:
    Amy Hatch
    Marketing Manager
    Cobalt
    206-219-8132
    ahatch@cobalt.com

SOURCE The Cobalt Group, Inc.