Analyst report touts Guidepoint

Here's an interesting post by an analyst at a company called Strategy Analytics.   He really seems to "get" where our industry is going, and he's pretty much right on target about how we're trying to compete against Lojack.

We've never made it a secret that we compete with Lojack.   While they've been around for more than a quarter century -- compared to about a decade for us -- we believed that we've "built a better mousetrap" with Guidepoint.  Our technology is better (in our humble opinion) and we have spent a lot of time and energy developing our service by working with law enforcement around the country.   Take a quick read of the report...it's pretty insightful.

GPS helping car dealers locate new profit centers

Over the past decade, Guidepoint has established itself as a leader in consumer services for vehicle owners, including stolen vehicle recovery, tracking and convenience services. We've won awards from global firms that track the industry and have gotten plenty of media write-ups about recovering stolen cars and helping out our customers.

While recognition from analysts and reporters is nice, we know that the opinions that matter most are those of our customers and, to be perfectly frank, the car dealers who sell our products. Since our launch in 2002, we've worked with thousands of car dealerships across the country to sell, install and service Guidepoint units in customer vehicles around the U.S. They make a fair profit and are never shy about giving us feedback on the product and our services. In fact, many of them end up using Guidepoint on their dealership vehicles (e.g., parts trucks, loaner cars, etc.)

That's what's lead us to expand the range of services we can offer from "consumer" to "business-to-business" services. Today, Guidepoint offers a complete suite of services to assist car dealership and automotive finance companies enhance their profitability, including payment assurance devices, lot protection, loaner car protection and more. Dealers and finance companies can learn more at www.gpsdealersolutions.com or by calling 1-877-477-3463 for more information.

Sales team expands with NY, NJ rep

We're announcing another addition to the team today: Ralph V. Castronuovo, who's joining the company as sales manager for the New York and New Jersey markets.

Ralph has been around the car biz for a number of years, working both in the aftermarket parts business and the auto loan industry. At Guidepint, he's going to be responsible for developing our business among new vehicle dealerships as well as dealerships and finance companies specializing in pre-owned vehicles.

Prior to joining Guidepoint, Castronuovo was Eastern Regional Account Manager for El-Segundo, Calif.-based National Payment Network, Inc. He brings considerable sales experience in both aftermarket products and automotive financial services, including work with several top-tier dealer groups in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Previously, he was a senior account executive at Union, N.J.-based Auto Action Group, Inc.

Rich Zeichner, our veep of sales, had this to say: “We’re very pleased to have Ralph join the Guidepoint team. His background in automotive financial services and aftermarket products is a perfect combination for helping dealerships understand the solutions Guidepoint offers, including stolen vehicle, tracking, payment assurance and fleet management. As dealerships look for ways to increase their profitability, Guidepoint offers them a unique solution that is easy to sell, easy to install and easy to administer.”

Welcome aboard, Ralph!

Growth = opportunity

One of the great rewards of working at an emerging growth company is watching people develop - and being able to give them new opportunities. Today's blog is about one such opportunity because we're getting ready for a growth spurt at Guidepoint.

The next few months ought to be pretty interesting at our primary call center in Fort Worth, Texas. The addition of new products and services for two new automotive OEMs is going to cause a significant uptick in activation, tech service and service calls for Guidepoint.

Fortunately, the guy in charge of our services, Clyde Landis, is way ahead of the curve in terms of planning, hiring and execution. He's in the process of hiring more activation specialists to handle increased volume that we should see throughout the summer and fall months. In order to properly hire, train and manage a larger team, he's promoted Pam Bilbrey to the post of Inside Sales Manager, effective June 14. Pam's been with the company for a couple of years and has proven herself in a variety of roles.

Here's what Clyde says about his new inside sales manager: "Pam brings a wealth of sales experience to the table; we all have seen that. But, she also has great judgment and a unique ability to train and develop talent regardless of skill set. Take a few minutes to congratulate her now while she can appreciate it; as of June 14, she won’t have the time."

Congrats Pam!

Global research firm honors Guidepoint

Later today, the global research firm Frost & Sullivan will be announcing that Guidepoint has been given the 2010 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement. The award recognizes our work to establish Guidepoint as a preferred vehicle tracking solutions supplier to both OEMs and the aftermarket in North America.

We're pretty stoked to receive this honor, especially when we were selected from others in the industry -- including some much larger and much older competitors, as well as the plethora of small companies that sell black boxes and pings.

“While there are some aftermarket suppliers for vehicle tracking systems, they are either too small to offer comparable benefits to those offered by GuidePoint or are geographically limited,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst, Ratika Garg. “Besides end users, GuidePoint offers benefits to distributors and installers as well since the system is easy to install and can be reconfigured quickly and cost-effectively based on customer demand.”

Frost & Sullivan found a number of noteworthy features in Guidepoint's technology, including the fact that it's easily programmable, our new Smartphone apps and our power management. The report on the research award note: "The GuidePoint device is easily programmable and new features can easily be rolled out to existing customers by making changes to the software through wireless downloads to the unit. The configuration is such that functionalities and services can be adapted to customer needs, making the system highly customizable.

The company offers applications for users of smartphones such as the Droid®, iPhone®, and the Blackberry®. An innovative element of the GuidePoint system is that all antennas are embedded within the device, which makes the installation process robust and simple. Another innovative element is power management. The GuidePoint device draws minimal power from the vehicle, resulting in a highly energy efficient product. Further, focus on quality remains strong. The GuidePoint system is EMC-tested and is expected to last virtually the entire life of a vehicle. GuidePoint installers are trained directly by the company and accredited. Master technicians are brought into GuidePoint, trained and given certifications, ensuring a consistency in service delivery."

Our CTO, Tom Gafford will be receiving the actual award, but we all know that the trophy is just really a symbol of the hard work by our research, product development, marketing and customer services teams.  To everyone on the Guidepoint team, take a bow.