We are not all the same.

As I reflect on our experience at NADA 2025, it was clear to me and our team that the dealers and OEMs who visited our booth were in the market to learn, explore, and pick new vendor solutions to help reach their business goals.? The bad weather took away many tire kickers but left us with hundreds of interested dealership managers.?

As I participated in many discussions and presentations about our patented Active Shopper Network?, I was struck by the confusion in the data marketplace. After seeing our solutions, a few dealers commented: “Oh, that’s the same thing that ___________ does!” Now, it’s obvious to everyone, dealers and vendors alike, that automotive vendors are skilled at making their products sound confusingly similar to far more advanced products. ?

It’s the job of the vendors with the advanced solutions to bring clarity which prompted our team to craft a better, clearer way to explain why Client Command??and the Active Shopper Network??are unique in the marketplace, and why we can confidently state:?

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We have the best shopper data in the USA for automotive dealers.?

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Breaking Down the Differences?

I will be sharing a series of new diagrams, workflows, and graphics to help dealers and consultants understand why we are different. Let’s look at the diagram below:?

Deterministic?

Companies who use pure deterministic identity resolution (i.e., Outsell, Fullpath, Orbee), in the left column, track all consumers on a dealer’s website with a digital ID.? When the consumer fills out a form, then the company can connect the digital IDs assigned for their past website shopping sessions to the consumer’s personal information.??

They can also send out an email to existing customers with specially tagged hyperlinks back to the dealer’s website.? If the consumer opens the email, and lands on the dealer’s website, the digital ID can now be connected to the customer’s personal information.?

Deterministic matching of anonymous shoppers to KNOWN customers in the CDP is a slower process than other solutions but is a conservative approach to marketing activation. When customers who filled out a form or clicked on an email come back to the dealer’s website on the same device, the CDP can recognize them as a returning shopper. If the consumer comes back on a different device, the identity resolution may not match them as an existing customer.?

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Deterministic & Probabilistic??

Companies who use a combination of deterministic and probabilistic identity resolution (i.e., Fullthrottle, The AutoMiner), in the middle column, track all consumers on a dealer’s website with a digital ID.? When the consumer fills out a form, then the company can connect the digital IDs assigned for their past website shopping sessions to the consumer’s personal information.??

But what they also can do, is de-anonymize consumers without needing them to fill out a form or click on an email. This is accomplished based on each company’s identity graph. Identity graphs are constructed for each consumer based on thousands of data points each month which are collected as they shop, fill out forms, engage with emails, or search the internet.?

If a consumer is an existing customer, these companies can send in a “data up” to the dealer’s CRM to trigger personalized communications. The number of returning customers on the dealer’s website per month can be small, that is why we call these groups of people “micro audiences.”??

Agencies that can identify returning customers and execute marketing and communications to micro audiences will be the best performers in 2025.?

The strength of each vendor’s identity graphs will vary. Dealers will need to devise a way to test which company in the middle column will work the best for their business use cases.? Some of these companies will share the de-anonymized consumer data for marketing activation in the CDP and others will limit the dealer’s access to only being able to send marketing and communications to these de-anonymized consumers.?

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The Client Command??Advantage?

Client Command??provides all the data insights, identity resolution, and marketing activation which others in the left and middle columns offer. We stand alone in the right column, because we can also alert dealers when their customers are out shopping but have never come to the dealer’s website.?

We help dealers reduce defections and get to consumers as they start their shopping activities. Our patented Active Shopper Network??tracks millions of Active shoppers??each day, and this allows us to help dealers with retention and conquest.?

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Dealers who communicate with consumers when they start their shopping journey, and who are using our technology platform have a 36% increased gross profit per vehicle sold.?

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Dealers can purchase our audiences and activate them with their own CDP. If a dealer does not have a CDP, no problem. Client Command??has been in the CDP business for over 20 years. Unlike other CDPs within automotive which can take upwards of a year to activate, dealers with Client Command’s CDP will see a return on their investment within 30 days.?

Dealers get daily alerts when their customers are back shopping either on their website or on a competing dealer’s website. If the consumers are shopping on a marketplace website, no problem. The Active Shopper Network??picks up that signal and gives dealers a heads up on what their customer was shopping for!?

Client Command??has just recently released new audiences to help dealers with service revenue as well. When consumers are out shopping for tires, parts, oil changes, etc., the Active Shopper Network??will now alert dealers when their customers need a call for service. Marketing audiences can be quickly constructed in real time to help dealers be the first dealer to connect consumers with their service specials and offers.?

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When You Know You Know?

I hope that this diagram and my explanation make it clearer how each vendor can help dealers meet their needs to increase sales and service revenue.? The good news is that our solutions are modular.?

1. If dealers just need the best conquest campaigns based on active shoppers, we can help.?
2. If dealers want to reduce defections and know when their customers are back on the dealer’s website or shopping on competing websites, we can help.?
3. If dealers want a practical Customer Data Platform (CDP) which can be up and running, delivering ROI in 30 days, we can help.?

Not everyone can do what we do. And we know other companies have good products.? Client Command’s Active Shopper Network??is unique and provides the most value to dealers who want to activate their first-party data and leverage the best third-party data in automotive.?

See the difference for yourself: https://clientcommand.com?