Training is a crucial component of any dealership’s success, often determining the business’s ability to provide competitive service and retain customers. Unfortunately, many dealers rely on outdated educational practices that leave their teams ill-equipped for the customers of today and can even set their employees up for failure.
On this episode of Driving Solutions, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Tony Gomez, president of Quantum⁵, a digital training and coaching platform serving automotive professionals. Gomez’s car business career spans three decades, giving him exceptional insight into the factors that can impact dealerships at all levels, from service to sales. Now, he discusses the key advantages of working with a leadership and training provider such as Quantum⁵ and the strategies necessary to equip employees with the right tools for today’s customers.
Key Takeaways
1. Quantum⁵ is set apart from other training providers by its focus on incorporating feedback into its products and solutions, especially in the early days of its existence. Gomez explains that the Quantum⁵ leadership team, despite already possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience within the industry, made a point to get a boots-on-the-ground view of the retail automotive sector to ensure their educational tools were precisely targeted to dealers’ current needs rather than outdated notions of how the automotive industry should work.
2. Gomez notes that dealers are not competing with larger, digital-only brands such as Carvana but rather with storefronts that have had enough foresight to address consumer pain points ahead of the curve. Improving the customer experience through a sustainable strategy ensures customers return down the road.
3. Fixing the customer experience starts with fixing the employee experience, Gomez continues. One of the first steps in Quantum⁵’s onboarding process is an employee survey, which measures everything from work satisfaction to job loyalty. Gomez notes this has been key to the platform’s high success rate since the data illuminates the specific pain points holding staff members back and allows dealers to begin improving retention, strengthening skillsets, and boosting morale.
4. Quantum⁵’s existence as a third-party educational platform gives dealers a more affordable and more effective alternative to contracting a sales trainer since its services are available 24/7. It also allows Quantum⁵ coaches to form a deeper connection with employees than dealership managers, whom employees may feel less comfortable sharing their struggles with, especially if they are new to the industry.
5. Gomez underlines the importance of remaining flexible and relentless in regard to training. Noting that many dealers are still operating under simple, traditional strategies, he urges managers to recognize that both the customers and employees of today have long since evolved past these old-school ideas, are more complex in their needs, and require more personalized experiences.
"What we say collectively, as a company, is the road to the sale is not the enemy; it's the mandating of its sequencing that's the enemy." — Tony Gomez
