This year’s Diamond Award winner, ELEAD One, is trying to buck that trend by making it two in a row. The company earned the top score for a second consecutive year and achieved Double Diamond status. “It is our extreme honor to be recognized in the CRM category for the second consecutive year … We recognize that dealers have many choices in this space and we take a tremendous amount of pride in receiving such a prestigious award,” said Hugh Hathcock, owner of ELEAD One. “Over the past year, ELEAD One well exceeded our goal of providing dealers new monthly enhancements to improve overall retail operations. These enhancements include a new SMS texting solution, more robust digital and service marketing platforms and a faster, newly designed Web-based interface.”

ProMax Unlimited, which has always been known for desking software, became a first-time winner in the CRM category this year with the Platinum Award. “We are extremely excited about this honor!” said ProMax Unlimited Chief Operating Officer Shane Born. “About two years ago, we really listened to our customer base and started aggressively focusing on CRM/ILM. In return, we’ve been rewarded with our highest gains in retention and new business over the last six months. In 2012, you will see a continued focus along these lines, and we look forward to attaining Diamond Status next year.”

After a two-year absence, the Higher Gear Group returned to claim this year’s Gold Award. Achieving an above-average score in fourth place was DealerSocket; the company is also only one of two winners from last year to score above average.