Selling a car is not always as easy as it looks, especially between dealers.
Dealers regularly auction off used cars to yet other dealers, which means not only cleaning and transporting the cars but hours of auction processing. And then, if the cars don't sell, they must be driven back to the dealership. It's a process that sucks up countless dollars and man hours.
Ann Arbor-based KISS Auto Auction thinks it may have come up with a process that is simpler and more efficient. The KISS website allows dealers to move the auction to the digital world, letting them keep the cars on their dealerships lots until they're officially sold to a customer or another dealership.
The website profiles each car, explaining its positive and negative attributes. It then puts it up for auction in a manner that's similar to eBay; with lots of built-in protection for the buyer and seller. The system allows dealerships to find and buy the car its customer wants even if its sitting on another dealership's lot. Turnaround is expected to shrink from days to hours by eschewing traditional dealer auctions.
Acquiring vehicles through KISS, which stands for Keep It Simple Sir, also lets the dealership's employees spend less time on the road, saving big transportation costs --a must in today's gas-strapped economy.
"It's cost-effective all the way around," says Kathie Doty, the office manager for KISS. "It’s so simple."
Simple enough that its creators, auto-dealer veteran Larry White and website developer Jeff Stanislow, expect KISS to spread across the country quickly after it's initial introduction to dealers on May 16. A full launch takes place in June.
If business expands as the founders predict, look for the jobs to multiply well beyond the 10 people the company employs today.
"If this takes off as anticipated, the office staff will definitely increase," Doty says, adding it could mean at least four new jobs before the end of the year.
For information on KISS' Las Vegas-style poker night kickoff on May 16 for car dealers at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, call (734) 255-6466.
Source: Kathie Doty, the office manager for KISS Auto Auction
Writer: Jon Zemke
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