As we look to tell the stories about people and the products that support auto dealerships, Digital Dealer is shining the spotlight on companies that help dealers do their job more effectively.
We recently interviewed Quantum5’s David O’Brien to hear about his experiences in the industry, why he sees the buying journey being made easier this year and how Quantum5’s work with OEMs help the reskill and upskill process.
Digital Dealer: What was your first job in the industry, and what did it teach you?
David O’Brien: Having a Dad who was a dealer, I started on the wash rack at an early age and the lesson that came from it was how to drive a car before I was 16. It taught me the dependence sales has on other parts of the dealership team—used cars didn’t sell well if we didn’t do a great job cleaning the cars.
Digital Dealer: What are your proudest accomplishments in the industry?
O’Brien: I have had several special moments from an award from Steve Germain for being their Partner of the Year in 2019 to my ability to speak at NADA on four occasions. The proudest moment would be having two of my sons work in the retail business and now with me at Quantum5.
Digital Dealer: What do you enjoy most about your role, company, and/or the automotive industry?
O’Brien: I’ll answer both what I love about my company and the industry—first my company. I really enjoy seeing us pioneer new ways to engage the learning for the hard working people of automotive. We are finding ways to stop the weaponizing of learning and make it engaging—the result of that for clients is less turnover and better customer experiences.
My joy of working in automotive remains as strong as ever. Automotive employs over two million people in dealerships who make massive contributions to our economy and whatever I can do to help that provide success for employees and better experiences for customers is my greatest joy.
Digital Dealer: What are you most excited for in 2024?
O’Brien: I believe this year will see the changes in sales that forces all dealers to make the buying journey easier. I find that exciting for two reasons: first it will make life simpler and easier for the salesperson and second it will provide what customers want and will pay for. Creating less friction in the selling process will improve employee retention, customer experience and in the end customer loyalty.
Digital Dealer: What trends do you think will have a significant impact on the automotive industry in the coming years?
O’Brien: I see the customer desire for transparency combined with Amazon and the CARS act coming together as a trend that will have continuing impact on the business. The trend toward that transparency will impact price and F&I in ways we have yet to measure. The need for driving value in the overall purchase and service experience will have to be different for dealers who thrive through the changes.
Digital Dealer: Please tell us about your core offerings, any new products or features, and how automotive dealerships are best leveraging those.
O’Brien: Quantum5’s approach has been the same since day one—to provide personalized learning, best in class content delivered through a learning ecosystem that has a human coach on the backside ready to help. We really are learning “reimagined” for people in automotive and beyond.
We added a new resource library to our learners, we have added team chat so dealerships and dealer groups can solve problems together and with our team. We will be adding new reward systems this year and an expansion of our AI technology to personalize learning for each person.
Our process of reskill and upskill teams through fun memory retrieval activities will keep growing.
Digital Dealer: Can you highlight any recent innovations or strategies that set your company apart in the market?
O’Brien: One of the Quantum5 activities has been around the reskill and upskill of learners. Generally speaking, reviewing something you learned is boring. Our latest expansion has taken those reviews and turned them to game, combined quick refreshers for areas that need reinforcement and added our own generative AI behind the scenes to continue the upskill process.
Our work with one OEM helping the reskill and upskill process saw 91% knowledge retention over a group of 150,000 learners working to stay proficient in the EV knowledge. We don’t just do video or animation – we apply science and drive results.
Digital Dealer: What values and principles drive your organization, and how do you ensure they are reflected in the day-to-day operations and interactions within the company?
O’Brien: We abandoned the concepts of mission and vision for what Simon Sinek calls a “Just Cause.” Our just cause is about radically impacting the employee experience in order to drive a better customer experience which will translate to increased customer loyalty.
There is no one on our team who didn’t decide to join that cause and therefore it is how we engage the dealer, the leadership team and for sure the individual learners at the dealership. Everyone on our team is here for that cause and it impacts our every interaction.
Digital Dealer: Looking ahead, what exciting developments or initiatives can dealerships expect from your company in the near future? Are there specific goals or milestones that your team is working towards?
O’Brien: We are focused on expanding our generative AI in order to provide more effective learning to people. What does that mean to our dealership and OEM clients? It means that learning can be personalized and I learn what I need to get better at and not boring things I am already strong at doing. It means that learning can be a progression of skills that impact my dealership profits and my personal income.
Customers in 2024 are demanding a great buying experience from the first email to a phone call to the showroom and a team that is consistently learning how to deliver that will win and those that ignore it will struggle. We will expand the reimagining of learning.
Digital Dealer: What advice would you give to someone entering the field?
O’Brien: The retail auto industry is changing and the next generation must embrace a new and different sales process. My recommendation would be to embrace being a Sherpa for the customer— that person that will help them climb the mountain to finish their buying journey.
The next generation must embrace learning strong consultative skills versus traditional “closing” or “control” skills.
Most of all, the next generation must embrace the idea that when they are a great Sherpa, helping that customer that they will be paid well for making the buying journey easier.