Sales

Driven – KIA Stinger GT

Brad Moules Sales, Sales Manager, Test Drives
Driven – KIA Stinger GT

With the demise of the local car manufacturing industry and with it the large Aussie-built RWD sedan many have questioned “what next?” These types of vehicles have been part of our motoring culture over the last 60 years or so – if not icons. Questions are common like, “If we’re not manufacturing vehicles for this segment of the market – what will be imported as a suitable replacement this side of so-called ‘luxury’ brands, and by whom?” Well, apparently out of nowhere like some kind of wasp – as the name suggests – KIA has stepped up to the plate with its new Stinger.

KIA has been one the most rapidly changing brands in the 21st century automotive market, moving from apparently ‘cheap-and-nasty’ to dead-set quality and reliability (as their massive seven year unlimited kilometre warranty suggests). But can this brand step up to fill this market gap and pull it off? The short answer is YES.

Maneuverability and strength to deliver a powerful driving experience is the definition of a RWD sports sedan, and KIA has hit the mark with the Stinger. The Stinger (which believe it or not is actually a hatchback) is built from solid hardware, on a version of the Genesis G70’s rear-wheel-drive platform.

This was our first drive of a Stinger GT, powered by the twin-turbocharged direct injection 3.3-litre dual CVVT DOHC V6. The boosted donk develops a healthy 272kW and 510Nm of torque and is bolted to a KIA eight-speed ‘shift-by-wire’ automatic with launch control and LSD.

Kick it in the guts and the response is as immediate as a surprise slap in the face. Turbo lag is all but nonexistent, as will be anyone’s licence in this thing if not careful with heavy feet.

Whether the accelerator is stabbed or caressed, the Stinger responds smoothly with the drivetrain working together well. Likewise, stopping is not an issue with the huge factory-standard Brembo brakes front and rear.

The Stinger GT’s standard equipment is impressive. Our test car came with too many worthwhile electronic features to mention, however the front and rear camera and Head Up Display were noteworthy. The powertrain and body are controlled via a driving-mode switch that offers five settings: Comfort, Sport, Smart, Eco, and Custom, the last of which allows you to mix and match suspension firmness, throttle mapping, shift programs, and engine-sound. The aggressive 19” alloy wheels (which can often make or break the look of a car) are spot on.

The design genius of Peter Schreyer has blessed the Stinger with exterior hints of Maserati front and rear, and maybe a hint of Lexus – and it works well, yet remains unmistakably KIA and a little bit intimidating in the rear view mirror. Whilst technically a hatchback, it looks part coupe, part sedan. Little technical touches like the LED lights and indicators, quad exhaust tailpipes, dark chrome side mirrors, and body grilles are treated just right – on the cool side of tacky. The only criticism I can add, is of the fake bonnet vents – they would work well if real.

The black panoramic roof is great and adds to the well thought out leather interior. Surprisingly, my 187cm (6’2”) frame had no complaints getting in or out, and the driving position was good. The instruments are tastefully, clearly and cleverly laid out. A flat bottomed Knight-Rider style steering wheel delivers reasonably directly and is weighted well. Thrown into a hard corner the steering and body responds as a veteran of big Aussie RWD sedans would expect – that is with no nasty surprises, albeit mildly floaty at speed but barely worth a mention. Suddenly backing off and a flick of the wheel in a hard corner is like having a magic hand placing the car where it should be (or at least where you hope it would). A wet weather test may however require one to tread very cautiously.

KIA claims a 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds, yet others claim to have slightly bettered that – and after driving it, I believe it is possible. Still, the Stinger would work well in real-world everyday driving. It’s a quick, pleasant sedan and a comfortable one as well, particularly for back-seat passengers, who have much more room to stretch their legs than they do in a similarly-sized BMW or Mercedes.

The Stinger delivers a solid case against smaller, more expensive driver’s sedans from Germany, Japan, and America. Any case for brand-snobbery is unfounded. The Stinger may not be quite ready to steal the ‘king of the mountain’ sports-sedan crown, but it is all that KIA says – ‘the power to surprise’. If this offering by KIA is anything to go by, the future of the punchy mid-sized RWD sedan market in Australia is bright.

Thanks to Harrigan Motor Group for providing the test vehicle.

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Why Is Culture More Important Now Than Ever?

Brad Moules Sales, Sales Manager
Why Is Culture More Important Now Than Ever?

Millennials have changed the way we see the workforce. A career to them is more important than just security. They want to align to a company culture, have meaning and belong to a corporation.

A good company culture is exclusive, and everyone knows what it stands for. Successful businesses come in many forms, and what works for one business may not necessarily work for another – even if they are from the same industry!

Determine what culture is right for your business and stick to it. Be unique and always know your values.

To develop a truly great culture, your leadership team should embrace the strongest cultural fits.

Create a disciplined hiring process and only hire people who fit within your culture. It may seem easier to hire people with impressive résumés or recommendations without considering cultural fit, but that approach may create problems down the track. So develop the discipline to consider the new hire in terms of cultural compatibility and reinforce its importance to all involved in the ‘onboarding’ process.

Get into the habit of recognizing people who fit into your culture, so you instinctively hire the right people.

Working within an organization of values, character and strong culture will make all the difference to you and your company. It’s important to constantly re-evaluate where you are. You need to acknowledge it, don’t sweep it under the carpet. Get yourself back on track and stay true to your values!

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Extract from the book – ‘Sales Manager Reset’. Copyright © MMXVII Allan Lorraine ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author.

Why is a salesperson like a refrigerator?

Brad Moules Sales, Sales Manager
Why is a salesperson like a refrigerator?

Have you heard the joke about the light being on inside the fridge? Top sales professionals are like fridges, that is, they are always “on.” You know, when you open the door of the fridge and voila! – The light is on! Now I know that you realize the light only comes on when you open the door. But the refrigerator is always on! It has to be, to do its job.

Top sales professionals, like fridges, are always ‘on’

This is especially true for those who need to prospect to find new clients.

One of the businessmen I most admire, and who’s also a good friend of mine, Ian Mayer, was the best networker in the automotive industry, if not in Australia. He was the managing director of one of the top three car dealerships in Australia, and also the man who started me on my sales management journey. When he was introduced to someone he had not met before, he used to tell everyone, “He was just a poor car salesman”. He did this because it was a great icebreaker and, within seconds, he knew the person wouldn’t believe him. He still has the best network of business and personal contacts that I know of. By Ian, the managing director of a massive business, telling this to everyone, he was setting an example for all his staff, including me. To be a great sales manager, you need to set a great example for your team by networking and always being ‘on’. Ian didn’t let an opportunity pass and neither should you!

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Extract from the book – ‘Sales Manager Reset’. Copyright © MMXVII Allan Lorraine ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author.

Customer Pain Points

Brad Moules Sales, Sales Manager
Customer Pain Points

While there are many customer pain points, I think it is a good idea to just remind you of a few. The following is good advice for a new sales manager.

The key to pass on to your salespeople is to build such a great relationship with the customer and value in the product that the customer trusts the salesperson to give them a fair price upfront. Other than that, tell your salespeople to hold out their hand and the customers will shake it. It is amazing how often it works!

Everyone has heard the above before, but HOW do you do it?

The most successful way that I found was to ignore the product and talk about the customers’ favourite topic: Themselves!

Once you find common ground, customers tend to drop their salesperson guard and you are seen as less likely to mess them around. The next best spot to further the rapport building is during the product demonstration. If your salespeople can link something the customers said at the start, back to the product and provide a good recommendation to them, they will trust you even further, as it shows that your salespeople are genuinely interested in them.

The next part is the price. You need to give the customer a fair discount, as they may still shop with you (depending on the product). As long as the price you gave them is reasonable, in comparison to the price they got elsewhere, they will still come back to you because they like you. You also need to throw in a couple of non-tangible benefits related to your product which no one else will offer.

At the end of the meeting/presentation, they should ask the customer when they would like to be followed up. Whatever they say, it is imperative that you do the follow-up when you say you will because:
1. The customer will be blown away that you have actually done what was agreed (as most salespeople don’t). The customer will probably not remember the arrangement, until you remind them, and then they will be impressed.
2. It shows them that you value them as a customer – that they are not just another sale and that they matter. Salespeople typically invest a lot of time with a customer at the start, but then don’t follow up as the customer has asked – and that always amazes me.

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Extract from the book – ‘Sales Manager Reset’. Copyright © MMXVII Allan Lorraine ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author.

Don’t Think Objections Are Necessarily Bad

Brad Moules Sales
Don’t Think Objections Are Necessarily Bad

Many salespeople perceive prospects’ objections negatively. When these salespeople hear objections, they simply see them as obstacles in the way of closing a sale. However, there are more positive ways you and your salespeople can view objections.

Begin by examining the positive aspects of a prospect’s objections to see them as challenges.  Any salesperson who wants a job without difficult questions should go to the supermarket checkout and sell groceries! The point is, without the challenges of selling, you would simply be an order-taker, and sales is certainly not that!

In terms of personal satisfaction, the number of objections you meet on a daily basis in your particular marketplace tends to indicate the amount of money and prestige that is assigned to your particular position. In general, people are rewarded for the amount of difficulty that goes with what they do. Going back to the supermarket example, common knowledge tells us that those who work at the counter definitely do not generate as much income as those who experience objections regularly in their sales positions. Where would you prefer to be on the financial ladder? Would you rather be on top, facing numerous objections throughout your sales day, or on the bottom, facing no objections or adversity but making little money?

You should be optimistic when you are faced with an objection or tough question. You should see this objection as an indicator that you are moving in some sort of direction:  either successfully completing the sale or failing to make the sale. In either case you know where you are and what you need to do in order to move ahead, take corrective action, or break off the relationship.

When a prospect voices his or her concern over a certain aspect of your product or service, a chance has arisen for you to redirect your sales presentation.

You now have the chance to move away from things that the prospect sees as undesirable in favour of moving towards those things that the prospect wants from you, your organization, or your product or service. Unless the prospect’s objections completely blow away your product’s benefits, you still have the opportunity to save the sale.

Objections also give you the opportunity to hone your sales skills. The more objections that you face and successfully conquer, the better salesperson you become. As you start to notice patterns in the ways prospects present their objections as well as the consistent themes in these objections, you will be able to almost predict what kinds of objections your prospects will present. You’ll learn how to ask questions that help you flush them out or even eliminate them. Knowledge leads to improvement, so knowledge involving the ways you deal with prospects’ objections can only lead to improvement in your sales record, and, in turn, improvement in your income.

While objections obviously present salespeople with barriers to actually finalising transactions, viewing these objections and tough questions in a positive light can only help you make more sales. Objections can be seen as challenging aspects of your sales job and mastering objections can lead to an improvement in your sales performance as well as your income. Objections may also be seen as a guide that points you in the right direction toward closing the sale. Finally, these questions and objections help the salesperson become skilled in dealing with objections. Remember, “Practice does make perfect,” and the case of conquering objections is no different.

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Being aggressive won’t get you sales

Brad Moules Sales
Being aggressive won’t get you sales

Being an aggressive salesperson in terms of hunger or enthusiasm is one thing, but being aggressive in the interactions with customers is another altogether. When people are asked to think of less than successful salespeople, one of the unpleasant characteristics that springs to mind is them being pushy or aggressive.

The usual memory is of looking for a new car or used car! We have all had experiences when the salesperson hasn’t stopped talking and you sense yourself being pushed to say ‘yes’. You find yourself signing on the dotted line!

Too many business owners, when presenting their sales pitch don’t think about whether their style could be perceived as pushy or aggressive, and don’t realise what they could be losing. In this article we are going to look at exactly what being pushy or aggressive looks like and how it can damage building long term relationships (which is what selling should be about).

 

Being pushy, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can be the ruin of a salesperson. Luckily we are all individuals, so we have a different ‘pain’ threshold where pushy salesmen are concerned; some people will shrug it off, others will feel intimidated or even angry. But what defines ‘pushy’?

To ‘push’ something is the act of exerting force on one object in order to move it from one place to another. When you push an object, its weight responds as resistance and to overcome this you have to push harder. To fulfill the act of pushing you have to expend effort, but when strong enough, resistance can prevent you from moving forward.

Looking at the preceding words again, but re-framing them in a sales context, you can quickly see what being pushy is – forcing your will onto the buyer, countering resistance with more force, using effort to get a result. This is not how to make a sale or encourage someone to buy from you again! You must always remember that a customer is with you because he wants to be there – he can quickly change his mind.

What are the actions you take in your sales process, which could be perceived as aggressive?

  • Not taking ‘no’ for answer
  • Not actively listening or watching for body language hints which are telling you to stop, that your message is not getting across
  • Being overly familiar with the customer too early in the sales process
  • Despite having been told that he is not interested, within a few days you are back on the phone, following up the previous meeting

These actions could be taken in all innocence but the outcome is the same – the customer feels pressurised. So what’s the impact of these actions? Here are some of the possible outcomes if you take things too far:

  • You may be lucky and hit upon a customer who is too meek to fight back or walk away. Great, you made a sale! However, they will never buy from you again. Missing out on repeat business means you are missing on the real profit. The next deal can be completed without all the preliminary talk so the true profit is higher. Be pushy and you miss out on all of this
  • If the customer is a strong personality, he may dig his heels in and an argument quickly develops. You can never conclude a sale under these circumstances. Worse still, if you are in the retail trade, potential customers wandering around your shop may pick up on the tense atmosphere and be out of the door with their money still in their pocket. The result? More than one lost sale
  • Even if your product or service is ideal for them and satisfies all their requirements, if they feel uncomfortable with your style, they’ll buy elsewhere
  • Word-of-mouth can be a great way to boost sales but it can also be a destructive force. A dissatisfied customer will tell many more people about their bad experience than a satisfied customer will about a good experience. So, not only have you missed out on one sale but also a bucket-load more

What steps can you take to avoid being too pushy or aggressive and possibly end up losing a sale? Early on in the relationship or presentation, don’t be overly familiar. Ask if you can call them by their first name. Seeking permission may sound a bit cheesy but at least you have their permission.

Having established this ground rule, actively listen to what the customer is saying, is he dropping clear hints that he is not comfortable with what you are saying? Conversely, if he’s not responding at all, ask him if he’s OK with what he has heard so far. Asking questions is a great way of finding out what the customer is really thinking and so an opportunity to put things right.

As well as listening, watch their body language. Do they appear happy or are their eyes constantly looking around (probably looking for the exit!) and not at you. If so, again step back and use questions to check their mood. Slow the pace down and clarify any concerns. Listening to what the customer has to say is the key and then respond by addressing the issues.

If, after taking on board what the customer is saying, you still get a ‘no’, don’t argue; back off and leave the door open for another day. Once the customer has verbally said no, the chances of you getting a sale after that is dramatically reduced. And whatever you do, don’t follow up a few days later with a telephone call! Leave the customer alone and he may come back of their own free will. The memory of your pushy style will linger for some time and the chances of you getting a quick re-match are slim, so don’t try and encourage one!

Next time you are making a sales pitch, make sure you don’t go too far and push the client so hard that he falls off a cliff. You want them alive so they can come and see you another day!

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