Business development expert Sarah Vantine on the cost of ineffective employee training

Fixed ops are the focus for many dealers right now as profit continues to increase, but is training being left behind? On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Sarah Vantine, Vice President of Business Development Strategy at Quantum5.

Vantine begins the conversation by discussing her transition from Scott Automotive Group to Quantum5. She says Quantum5 has been an opportunity for her to step out of the dealership retail space. She’s excited to bring the training and best practices to more dealers throughout the country.

Training is important for dealerships to continue, especially during times like this. One of the things Vantine says she saw with dealerships is that they weren’t really looking to invest in their people, especially since times are great with them making record profits with sales. One of the things that are really dangerous with a time like this, is that you can wind up in a situation, where you have untrained people looking for additional opportunities outside of your dealership. As dealerships are looking to attract talent and retain employees, they’re going to have to have a way their staff is meeting the customer in the way, their most comfortable doing business.

Vantine says, dealers have to be aware of adjusting their practices and their pay plans accordingly. Over the past few months, parents had to balance school, taking care of their children and other loved ones. It’s not just men and women, it’s both, that are looking and evaluating, ‘where do I go from here?’ and ‘what job is going to best fit the lifestyle I want for my family?’ Because we have so many opportunities available for people, the automotive industry has to get competitive, if they want to maintain the talent level they have and also track new people to the business. Vantine says, you also have to think about it from the customer’s perspective, and adjust processes to meet what people are expecting today.

Burnout is a real thing for everyone, customers included. One of the biggest pain points for buying a car is just how long it takes at the dealership. That is often the same complaint when servicing a customer’s vehicle as well. Vantine says, if you work with the customer to make sure they are aware of every step in the process, they’re more than likely to be happier with the process.

It’s worrisome when it comes to income, says Vantine. A lot of people lost their job or receive a pay cut within the last year, due to COVID and some of those pay cuts haven’t been reinstated even with record profits.

Vantine ends the conversation by talking about the solutions Quantum5 provides to dealers. Vantine says one of the reasons that she joined the company was the omnichannel approach to customers. They partner with the dealerships and they look to elevating your staff, by making sure they have the tools to understand how people do business. For more information visit Quantum5.ai.

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