Klassify declassified

Walking through the door as a new employee of The Compliance Guys on 2 August, and being told that the development of the company’s prize possession was in my hands, was a bit daunting.

With experience of working with poor compliance systems in a previous role, I had ideas, but knew it would take time to find out how the system worked, how it could be improved, and who exactly was meant to be using it - and why they were not.

My first impression of Klassify was that it looked the business. There were a few bugs, but nothing that could not be sorted. The main thing I noticed was that only two motor dealers out of the twelve enrolled were using it, and they were not using it the way they should have been.

Once I established that the main reason was that dealers could not remember their logins, I sent out their details and set about finding out what they wanted from the system.

One thing stood out. Everyone wanted something simple that kept them compliant without interfering with a sales process that keeps customers and staff engaged. Once I had shown each dealer the process from setting a customer up to sending the invoice, they all remarked on how easy it was.

Result

With each dealer there was new feedback, but only small details - search bars on the dashboard showing sales, commission and average APR over a given period, and the layout of the invoice.

Dealers have been impressed by the video-based compliance training built into Klassify for their staff, and by the volume of compliance documents available at the click of a mouse.

While I was providing support and advice to users, the system developer was working on the main showpiece: the test drive app.

It lets dealers start the sales process with a picture of the customer’s driving licence, helps with test drive logs, and transfers the information into Klassify ready for a sale or finance application to be processed.

An application of that size did not arrive without teething problems, but after trialling it between colleagues and some early adopter dealers it was ready to launch. The feedback has been strong, with users impressed by the scanning function and the speed of the process.

These businesses now have a tool that complements the customer journey and adds value, rather than putting up barriers to a sale.

Where things stand

As at December 2021, 40 dealers have been added to the system, with nearly 100 individual users and over 350 customers served through it. This is the start of the Klassify journey, and we are continuing to listen to what dealers need.

Finance processing integrations and broker, retailer and contract hire versions are on the horizon for the new year.