Chip Perry, an auto retail veteran who steered vehicle listings sites AutoTrader and TrueCar, is jumping back into the dealership technology world.
Perry, 66, has been named president and CEO of A2Z Sync, which helps dealerships transition to a one-person sales process. He took over the role in late June.
The company was founded by Colorado dealer Aaron Wallace initially to help his seven-store Schomp Automotive Group transition away from a full-time F&I office. A2Z Sync provides dealerships with a customer-facing digital menu so the sales employee and the customer can walk through options together, as well as training and support to help retailers reorganize their sales teams and processes around the single-person concept.
Under the model, also known as single point of contact, a customer works with one sales employee throughout the transaction, rather than interacting with several employees on the sales floor and in the F&I office.
“I wanted to do something that would … address the biggest opportunity in this industry,” which is improving the in-store buying experience, Perry told Automotive News. “I felt that A2Z [Sync] is in a great position to have a positive impact over the next few years.”
Perry said his role will be to help the company grow and bring more dealerships onto its platform. Today, 25 rooftops are using A2Z Sync, including Schomp’s stores. The company plans to hire more employees, with an emphasis on increasing training and support staff who can help dealerships restructure their organizations, job descriptions and other processes around the one-person sales model.
Natalia Giner, who had led A2Z Sync as CEO prior to Perry’s arrival, will stay on with the company as its head of product, Perry said.
In 1997, Perry was AutoTrader’s first employee and led the vehicle shopping site as CEO for 16 years, until 2013. While there, he steered the acquisition of brands including vAuto and Kelley Blue Book, which now are part of Cox Automotive. He led TrueCar from 2015 until 2019.