New kids on the block
Talk about salvage and it conjures up images of scrapyards with piles of old broken, dirty pieces of car parts.
Then mention salvage auctioning and one immediately visualises an antiquated environment with basic, unwelcoming facilities and little to no customer service. However, a new initiative is proving this is not always the case.
Bluespec Holdings, a service provider of outsourced procurement solutions for major South African Insurance Companies, has launched Auction Nation. Months of planning and preparation went in to the automation of the salvage auctioneering process.
One of the company’s technical innovations can be seen when the vehicle is purchased from the insurance house. Each registered insurance company has access to the Auction Nation dashboard. The vehicle information is loaded on to this dashboard triggering a notification to the logistics department. Trucks are dispatched to collect the vehicles and deliver them to one of 17 stock storage yards until the claim is finalised and all the necessary paperwork is processed. The vehicle is then taken to the closest Auction Nation site ready for the next Auction. Every point of the process is reflected on the dashboard for all parties to view.
“This is an extremely transparent system. All parties can view the dashboard, from the loading of the vehicles to the price achieved at auction,” says Errol Levin, COO of Auction Nation. “There is no tweaking of information or figures; we are extremely passionate about providing the best possible service and outcome to all parties involved.”
Auction Nation has made it their goal to simplify the auctioneering process and ensure the registration and purchasing processes are as effortless as possible. A loyalty system has been created and every customer’s details are loaded on to the CRM system.
“This system is truly incredible in terms of recording client history, building recommendations based off vehicles purchased and searches carried out on the website,” says Levin. “Even our invoices are sent through to the client via this system.”
Every registered client has to provide their Fica documents, which are then loaded on to the system and hosted in the cloud, together with a signature sample and photograph taken on site. If there are any documents missing, an auction number will not be generated for that customer and therefore they will be unable to bid. In future, customers will be given a unique PIN to be able to swipe their card to obtain their auction number. Furthermore, once they have completed their purchase at the auction they can swipe their card in order to receive their proforma invoices.
“The future is paperless and we are definitely part of that future. People who think salvage was antiquated definitely haven’t been to one of our auctions,” Levin says proudly. At the physical auction, every vehicle on the block that day is loaded on to dollies specially designed for Auction Nation.
“This was an extremely time-consuming process whereby eight prototypes were made before finding a solution that would hold any type of vehicle and would be easy to load and tow. The financial and physical investment was high,” states Levin. “But we were not prepared to compromise on this, as it is an integral part of the auction process, developed to allow the bidders to see each and every vehicle at the exact time it is being auctioned off.”
After six short weeks of being in operation, Auction Nation is currently testing the online auction system to allow online bidders to view and bid on the auction live, while it is in progress. This system is designed to facilitate bidding for clients who wish to place bids but are unable to attend the auction.
Info:
> Contact the Auction Nation call centre on 086-102-8948 or visit auctionnation.co.za
