DAYTON, Ohio — Reynolds and Reynolds and R. L. Polk & Co. last week detailed an agreement for Reynolds to utilize Polk's information and data services.

Executives highlighted that the deal includes services for data enhancement, list hygiene and data suppression. They specifically mentioned do-not-call lists as an example.

Furthermore, company officials shared that the deal means Reynolds will make available Polk Cross Sell reports to its dealership customers. They pointed out that the reports can provide individual dealers with sell ratios compared to all dealers within a given region.

"These services will help us serve our customers more effectively and enable them to operate with even more confidence in their dealership's customer data," commented Trey Hiers, vice president of corporate marketing at Reynolds.

"Whether the dealership is using customer data for digital marketing programs or service reminders, the ability to target customers accurately, using reliable data that eliminates duplicate and out-of-date addresses, is a critical step," Hiers added.

Andrew Price, vice president of Polk Automotive Retail Solutions, also weighed in about how this agreement would be beneficial to dealers.

"We are very excited to be working with Reynolds and Reynolds to help their customers more effectively leverage their information to extend their reach though traditional and digital marketing campaigns," Price emphasized.

"List enhancement, hygiene and data suppression services, along with the Polk Cross Sell reports allow Reynolds' dealers to utilize the most comprehensive information available to maximize their market opportunities," he added.

Reynolds, CAR Research Partner

In other company news, Reynolds executives also revealed that CAR Research XRM is now participating in their third-party access program. The initiative provides a platform for handling dealership data in a safe, secure, and verifiable manner. 

Reynolds mentioned that CAR Research XRM is a full service CRM and solutions provider focused on helping dealerships fill their sales funnel and streamline their sales processes.

This latest partnership is what Reynolds described as an extension of its work with dealerships and OEMs on the safe, secure, and verifiable exchange of dealership data from a Reynolds dealership management system, a process that's evolved since 2005. 

Craig Finnigan, chief information officer at CAR Research, highlighted what his company brings to Reynolds and its clients.

"The benefit of standardized access through Reynolds is that it takes a huge amount of custom programming and support costs off of our task list in trying to access a DMS," Finnigan explained. 

"This, in turn, enables us to bring more resources to bear on developing the products and services that will help our customers operate more effectively," Finnigan added

Hiers elaborated on Reynolds' stance about service.

"At Reynolds, we have been addressing data access and security consistently for a number of years, as have other major DMS providers in the industry," Hiers stressed.

"Ultimately, dealers want to know that their data is safe and secure; that it is accessible by third parties, with appropriate safeguards and verification; and, that it will stay that way," Hiers added.