First Annual WomenCertified® Vision Award Recipients
Announced at NADA Convention
 
Delia Passi to present awards and special sales session at partner Crowe Horwath’s booth

[Hollywood FL] (January 24, 2009) - WomenCertified® today announced that it is honoring Annette Sykora and John Lyboldt, both of the National Automobile Dealers Association, with the first annual WomenCertified Vision Award.

According to WomenCertified, its Vision Award is given to industry leaders who advocate and drive change to better meet the needs of women consumers. Vision Award winners are influential in raising the standards of service in their industry and are actively involved in promoting initiatives that accomplish this important goal.

Recipient Annette Sykora is the current chair of the NADA and the first woman to hold the position, while co-recipient John Lyboldt serves as the NADA’s Vice President of Dealership Operations.

WomenCertified founder Delia Passi stated, “We chose to honor Annette and John because they are strong supporters of the movement to change the way women experience the car buying process. Women influence 85% of all auto purchases, but 8 in 10 women are not satisfied with the service they receive. It’s time for dealers to make a change and really examine what their customers really want when they walk into a car dealership.”

Passi will present the award to the co-recipients on Saturday, January 24 at the NADA Convention and Expo to be held in New Orleans. The awards ceremony will be conducted at convention exhibitor Crowe Horwath’s booth, and footage will air on a special upcoming segment on the Lifetime Network’s morning show The Balancing Act.

As a partner to Crowe Horwath, Passi will also be hosting four special sessions titled, Let Her Drive Your Sales: 5 Must-Do’s for Winning with Women. The sessions will be held on Saturday, January 24 at 10am and 1:30am as well as Sunday, January 25 at 10:30am and 2pm.

In these sessions, Passi will share her ideas for selling to women in turbulent times, focusing on her proven techniques to increase sales and customer satisfaction among women, who tend to have less favorable opinions of the car buying experience.

WomenCertified is a certification program and accolade for sales and service teams who complete a specialized training on gender communications and women friendly sales and service practices. Passi stated, “WomenCertified is creating a customer service revolution for women by setting the standard for excellence in service.” For more information, visit www.womencertified.com