The DES Manifesto
The Operating System for Service-First Dealerships
For 30 years, this industry was sales-first. Every dollar, every system, every innovation went to the showroom floor, the CRM, the lead router, the digital retailing tool. All built to close the first deal.
The service lane got the DMS. It got workarounds. It got silence.
What the Sales-First era missed: Sales sells the first car. Service sells the second, third, fourth, and fifth. The most valuable relationship in automotive doesn't happen on the showroom floor. It happens in the service lane.
The dealerships winning today have made a decision. They've become Service-First - and they've built their operations around a system that makes it real.
Welcome to Kimoby's Dealership Engagement System (DES)™.
What Is a DES?
A Sales-First dealership can survive on a DMS alone. A Service-First dealership cannot.
Your DMS was built for accounting.
It tracks what happened.
But managing real relationships, live repair orders, and real-time customer decisions requires something different. It requires a system built for engagement. Two-way, real-time, ongoing.
Kimoby's DES™ is that system. A centralized platform that powers every customer touchpoint across the service journey - from the first appointment reminder to the final payment and post-service follow-up.
It's not just about better communication. It's about delivering profitable, scalable engagement with less friction so your team can stop feeding the system and start building trust.
DES™ gives you one system for:
- ● Digital MPI & video MPI
- ● Digital estimates with line-by-line approval
- ● Video-to-customer communication
- ● Real-time status updates & notifications
- ● DMS integration & writeback
- ● Mobile payments & financing
- ● Voice AI & call deflection
- ● Loaner fleet management
- ● Marketing & retention campaigns
- ● CSI tracking & reputation management
This is what happens when you control the entire workflow, not just individual touchpoints.
Your Dealership Runs on Two Clocks
To understand why DES™ matters, you need to understand the problem it solves.
🕐 The Slow Clock
Your DMS - System of Record
Precise. Historical. Rigid. It cares about accounting and what happened. Built for the Sales-First era.
⚡ The Fast Clock
The Service Lane OS - System of Action
Real-time. Relationship-driven. It manages the chaotic, human, fast nature of the service lane. It cares about what happens next.
For too long, dealerships have tried to run the fast clock on the slow gears of the System of Record. Advisors manage human relationships using accounting software - workarounds on paper, updates on personal phones. The customer hears silence. Silence breeds anxiety. Anxiety erodes trust. And lost trust costs the relationship.
The fix: let the DMS be the ledger. Let the Service Lane OS drive the work.
"Your DMS knows what happened. Kimoby knows what to do next."
The Architecture of DES™
DES™ isn't a single product. It's a complete operating system built from one core platform and four integrated modules that extend it.
⚙️ Service Lane OS
The core platform. The operating system for your service lane.
Service Lane OS is the foundation of DES™. The System of Action that sits on top of your DMS. It's where digital estimates, video MPI, approvals, status updates, and DMS sync work as one unified flow. Every other module runs on top of it.
What it does:
- ● Techs complete video inspections and flag red/yellow items
- ● Findings auto-generate estimate lines (no duplicate data entry)
- ● Customers receive estimates with embedded video proof
- ● Line-by-line approval - customers approve what they want, decline what they don't
- ● Approved work writes back to your DMS (CDK, PBS, Reynolds) automatically
- ● Real-time status updates keep customers informed without phone calls
Why it matters: This eliminates the handoffs that kill revenue. When MPI findings flow directly into estimates, and customer approvals sync back to the DMS, you remove manual re-entry, reduce errors, and close more ROs faster. One screen. Every touchpoint. 100% advisor adoption - because it was built for their workflow, not data entry.
Modules - Extend the OS into every corner of your service lane
1. Kimoby Pay
Mobile payments and flexible financing that close more ROs.
Kimoby Pay integrates directly into Service Lane OS, so customers can approve estimates and pay, all in one seamless experience. Quote by text. Approve with a tap. Pay from their phone.
What it does:
- ● Mobile payments from any device (no app download required)
- ● Integrated financing options (Affirm, Synchrony, etc.)
- ● Split payments and deposits
- ● In-person payment terminals with interchange++ pricing
- ● Digital invoices with video proof of work completed
- ● DMS writeback for seamless reconciliation
Why it matters: Payment friction kills close rates. When a customer approves an estimate, they can pay immediately, no counter, no hold time, no dropped ROs at the finish line.
2. Kimoby Voice AI
AI-powered call handling that never misses an opportunity.
Kimoby Voice AI answers inbound calls, books appointments, provides service updates, and deflects routine questions 24/7. Not to replace your advisors. To free them to do the one thing AI cannot do: build a human relationship.
What it does:
- ● AI voice assistant handles appointment requests, service status inquiries, and FAQs
- ● Automatically schedules appointments and updates your DMS
- ● Works after hours. Captures every inbound opportunity, not just the ones during your shift
- ● Translates inspection findings into clear language customers actually understand
Why it matters: Every missed call is missed revenue. Voice AI captures every inbound opportunity, reduces hold times, and ensures customers get instant answers so your advisors can focus on the high-value conversations that build loyalty.
3. Kimoby Go
Loaner and fleet management that actually works.
Kimoby Go digitizes loaner vehicle contracts, tracks availability in real time, and turns your high-cost loaner program into a streamlined, profit-positive operation. It can run standalone or integrate seamlessly with the Service Lane OS.
What it does:
- ● Digital loaner contracts (no more paper clipboards)
- ● Real-time vehicle availability tracking
- ● Automated check-in/check-out workflows
- ● OBD2 connectivity for live vehicle location
- ● Integration with Service Lane OS for seamless handoffs
Why it matters: Loaner programs are often chaotic and expensive. Kimoby Go brings visibility and control - reducing wait times, preventing double-bookings, and turning a cost center into a competitive advantage.
4. Marketing & Service Retention
Automated campaigns that bring customers back before they forget you.
Marketing & Service Retention keeps your service bays full with targeted campaigns, recall notices, service reminders, and personalized offers. Right message. Right customer. Right time. All automated and measurable.
What it does:
- ● Automated service reminders based on mileage and time intervals
- ● Recall notifications and follow-ups
- ● Seasonal campaigns and targeted promotions
- ● Post-service surveys and review requests
- ● CSI tracking & Google review management
Why it matters: You can't rely on customers to remember when they need service. Automated retention campaigns fill your schedule proactively reducing no-shows, increasing RO counts, and maximizing customer lifetime value. Full bays = healthy cash flow.
How a DES™ Works in Real Life
DES™ isn't theoretical. It's helping dealerships today increase RO size, automate touchpoints, and eliminate time-draining tasks.
The complete customer journey:
- ● Pre-Service: Marketing & Retention sends an automated service reminder. Voice AI answers the customer's call and books the appointment - after hours, instantly, without hold time.
- ● Drop-Off: Customer checks in via text. Kimoby Go assigns a loaner vehicle digitally - no paperwork, no clipboard.
- ● Inspection: Tech completes a video MPI in Service Lane OS, flags brake wear, and generates an estimate line automatically - no re-entry.
- ● Approval: Customer receives the estimate with embedded video proof. They approve the brakes with one tap and pay a deposit via Kimoby Pay - from their phone.
- ● Work Completion: Approved work writes back to the DMS automatically. Customer receives real-time updates: "We're starting your brake service." "Service is complete."
- ● Checkout: Customer pays the remaining balance via Kimoby Pay and schedules their next appointment before they leave.
- ● Post-Service: Marketing & Retention sends a survey request and a review link. Two months later, an automated tire changeover reminder brings them back.
Every step is connected. Every touchpoint is tracked. Zero manual handoffs.
What Sets DES™ Apart
Every other platform in this space was built to serve the System of Record, the Sales-First infrastructure. They automate data entry. They optimize the ledger.
Nobody built something for the relationship.
DES™ is different, built from the ground up for the realities of the service lane, not retrofitted from a sales CRM or generic messaging tool.
- ● End-to-End Engagement: One system. One journey. Total control from pre-service to post-survey.
- ● Revenue-Focused: Every message, approval, and interaction is engineered to grow profits - not just reduce effort.
- ● Purpose-Built for the Service Lane: Not a DMS add-on. Not a sales CRM. A system built exclusively for fixed ops.
- ● Smart and Human: Blends powerful automation with the flexibility of 1:1 texting and personal touches - AI that multiplies your advisors, not replaces them.
- ● 100% Adoption: The only platform advisors don't fight, because it was designed for their workflow, not data entry. Fast to learn. Easy to use.
Why It Matters (Now More Than Ever)
You can't control sudden recalls. You can't control OEM requirements. You can't control the economy or the labor market.
But you can control engagement.
When customers feel informed in a high-stakes environment, they trust you. When you have trust, you build relationships that withstand the things you can't control.
- ● Because silence is expensive. One customer a day doesn't come back - not because the work was bad, but because nobody told them what was happening. That's $460K/year per rooftop. (Service Lane OS delivers transparency.)
- ● Because every missed call = missed revenue. (Voice AI captures them all - 24/7.)
- ● Because payment friction kills close rates. (Kimoby Pay removes the barriers.)
- ● Because loaner chaos drains time and money. (Kimoby Go brings control.)
- ● Because full bays = healthy cash flow. (Marketing & Retention keeps your schedule full.)
DES™ is the path to higher profits without more people.
This Is the Standard Now
There are Service-First dealerships. And there are dealerships still running their service lane on sales infrastructure.
Service-First dealerships run on a DES. The DES runs on the Service Lane OS. The Service Lane OS is Kimoby.
Welcome to the new standard in dealership engagement.
Book a demo now to get started.
" Before Kimoby, software adoption was a challenge. Kimoby made our operations a lot more seamless and it consolidated all of our data. "
Jennifer Marion Mills
Vice President at Randy Marion Automotive
