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A job interview can be a very daunting process. Walking into an unknown situation, with senior business people of which you haven’t met before, the spotlight is turned on you to talk about yourself, your experience and ultimately why that business should employ you for the advertised role. A job interview can take many guises. It may be that your interview is a phone based one. A scenario where a representative from the employing company will call the applicant and ask them some questions...

Big Motoring World, the UK's leading independent, pre-owned prestige car supermarket, continues its rapid expansion by opening a brand new, purpose-built, Retail Centre in Bluebell Hill, Medway.   We are always looking to grow our team and enhance our business.  There are many ways to make our record-breaking team better, and maybe you have the skills to help us do it?   With our new Blue Bell Hill site now open, and our West Malling site being refurbished for a re-launch late...

Have you ever sat next to someone at work who just blows you away with the way that they sell? Or have you ever been the subject of a sales pitch so impressive that you're left wondering how any customer could resist? Here at Big Motoring World we're lucky enough to work with some incredible sales people - and many of these have learned their trade by watching the very best in the business and learning from them. So, here are our thoughts on what some of those lessons are - and how we can all ap...

It's a trick most tourists learn after a while - the realisation that the salesperson you're dealing with will almost inevitably call you back with an improved offer if you show that you're prepared to walk away from negotiations. It's a technique that even President Trump has recently said he might use in his meeting with the North Koreans - but whether that proves to be as effective as it is when you're haggling over a handbag remains to be seen. So, walking away is a negotiating technique th...

Here at Big Motoring World we've always understood that leads are the life blood of sales, and indeed of any business. With hard work and dedication, cold leads turn into warm ones, which turn into customers. Here's our quick guide to how you can hurry that process along a little. Approach every cold lead as an opportunity to help The idea of a cold lead can be intimidating - especially when you think of them as someone who you are approaching out of the blue and whose precious time and attenti...

Over the years, how many great sales people have you been lucky enough to work with? Which team leaders did you find inspiring - and which ones not so? Here at Big Motoring World we're proud to say that we've had - and still have - some fantastic sales professionals working for us and leading our teams. So what do sales people need from these leaders? They need great coaches It's simply the single most important thing that the very best leaders of sales teams do - they train and develop t...

As a sales professional, how far do you take advantage of the opportunities that social networks like LinkedIn can offer you – whether for building your brand, or your network of contacts and prospects? The chances are, it's probably not quite as much as you could be. So, here are Big Motoring World's top tips for making sure you get the most out of LinkedIn. Go Premium You know all those emails LinkedIn keep sending you, offering you free trials of their Premium membership? Click o...

  We've probably all been there before in job interviews - when the interviewer suddenly steps away from the standard script and asks you a question out of left field that really puts you on the spot. It's an uncomfortable - but often liberating - experience. And here at Big Motoring World we'd suggest that it is a feeling that it can be useful to try and replicate in your sales prospects. Be memorable Why? Because by putting them in a situation they might not be expecting, and by asking t...

Thanks to the way that consumers - and businesses - now use technology to buy, sell and search for products and services, there is a huge amount of customer data now available - and plenty of specialist companies offering to help you to analyse it and apply it to your business. But why bother? Well, here at Big Motoring World we'd suggest that it boils down to one simple headline: it's about making better decisions. Here's a quick breakdown of why unlocking the power of data can transform the wa...

Networking is one of those things that some find easy, while others really struggle. But it's an absolutely crucial part of building your business - so here are Big Motoring World's top tips. Don't be afraid to aim for the top Today, thanks to social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, it's easier than ever to directly message people who were previously beyond the reach of most sales people. The key here is not to be generic, or overly-sales focused - keep your message brief, relevant and with a...

First things first - if the content you create to support your products and services isn't compelling, it's not going to help you to sell. Every single word you write - whether it's on marketing materials, emails, blogs or tweets - needs to work for its living. So what are Big Motoring World's tips to make sure your writing is doing just that? Whatever you write needs to make people want to act Your writing needs to be clear and concise, yes, but the most important thing it must do is to ...

It happens to us all - yes, even sometimes here at Big Motoring World. Occasionally, people just say 'no' - prospects who we were pinning our hopes of a sale on, dash those hopes with a single word. It can be disheartening and tough to take - especially if you've been working on converting them for a long time. But is there a better way to handle this kind of rejection, and to try to turn a negative into a positive? Here at Big Motoring World we think there is. Work out what you did wrong, ...

What do you think of when you hear the word 'courage'? Physical bravery in the face of danger? The lion from the Wizard of Oz? The venerable British brewery? Whatever associations you might have with it, it's a word that here at Big Motoring World we feel is sometimes overlooked in the world of sales. But we believe that courage is absolutely crucial to being a successful salesperson. A quick definition first though - what do we mean by ‘courage’ in this context? Well, in this sense...

We'll come right out and say it: in this day and age, there really is no excuse for prospective customers to not know every thing they need to know about you and whatever it is you're selling. Why? Because the digital revolution has dramatically transformed the number of channels available for you to use in order to get your message across, allowing you to reach prospective customers in new ways, and at a relatively low cost. Think back to the expense of taking out a television commercial or a ...

What do your customers actually need? It's a really basic question, but it's one that is worth re-visiting from time to time, especially when you're developing new products and services. It's all to easy to fall into the trap of creating something you passionately want to sell, rather than creating something that people passionately need and want to buy. Here's Big Motoring World's thoughts on how to avoid these mistakes. Never start with the product Creating an incredible product and then tryin...

What objectives will you set yourself in the coming 12 months? We're not talking sales targets here - but rather the kind of personal challenges that many of us give ourselves every new year. Here at Big Motoring World we know how hard it can be to stick to resolutions sometimes - but it's always a useful exercise to try, and these particular ones could have a fundamentally positive effect on your sales performance. So, just as many people detox every January, we're recommending a sales detox p...

We've all been there. You've wandered into a shop, or a market stall, and idly picked something up to have a look. Ten minutes later you're walking away with a bag full of things you had no idea you wanted, let alone knew you needed in your life. It's the same with gadgets - who knew that we needed the latest piece of kit until someone showed us just how it can make your life easier, more efficient or just more fun. The common thread in all of these experiences is often people - it's one of the ...

It's a question that gets right to the heart of the whole sales process - what is the real value of your product? It might seem like an incredibly obvious question too – the answer is that it does x, y and z, and it's better than anything else on the market at doing it. But thinking carefully about what that actually means is a really useful process to go through - not least because it helps to put you inside the heads of your prospective customers and on the path towards better understan...

Sometimes in sales, as in life, things just don't get off to a good start. For whatever reason, there will some situations where you begin to realise that things just aren't going well. It could be a personal relationship issue - where you and your prospect have just failed to hit it off, or it could be any one of a number of complicated business reasons that mean that they feel now just isn't a good time for them to be talking to a sales person. Whatever the reason, here at Big Motoring World w...

We've talked before here about whether salespeople are born or made, and to what extent the essential skills you need to be an effective seller are innate. And while it seems clear that there are some people who are just born to sell (we've got more than a few of them here at Big Motoring World!), we also know that there are plenty of people out there who find themselves having to sell, when frankly they don't really feel comfortable doing it. We're thinking here of people who maybe run their o...

There's no place in business for emotion, right? Well, here at Big Motoring World we couldn't disagree more - managing and understanding how emotions work is absolutely central to being an effective business person. This is particularly true in sales, where so much of the success of what we do is founded on our relationships with other people - how we connect with them, listen to them, empathise with their problems, and build mutual trust. We are emotional creatures, and so are the people we de...

Here at Big Motoring World, it's a question we've debated many times - is it really possible to train absolutely anyone to become a great sales person? To what extent are the skills you require to sell learned, and how much are they simply innate - essentially, talents that you're born with? This is an industry where personality is so crucial - and your ability to make people like you enough to want to buy from you so fundamentally important - that it's critical to understand the extent to which...

What’s your story? How do you explain how your product or service will improve your customers’ lives? One of the most powerful ways to do this is with a powerful sales narrative - a story that goes beyond your usual pitch and engages your prospects with a compelling argument. Explain why people need to change If you’re a parent, you may know how difficult changing the status quo can be sometimes. Encouraging a child to move from one state (for example sitting and playing) to an...

Is there really such a thing as a ‘perfect pitch’? Maybe not completely - but here at Big Motoring World we think there are a number of basic guiding principles that will serve you well in most sales situations you’ll find yourself in. Here a few of our top tips. Know what you’re talking about An obvious one maybe, but you really need to know whatever it is you’re selling, absolutely inside out. Not just in a ‘it has this feature and that feature’ way, b...

Making sales calls is an art. They are something that all of us as salespeople will have to do at some point in our careers, but they can be devastatingly easy to get wrong. Here are the Big Motoring World tips for getting that crucial call right. Be prepared There really is no excuse for any sales call now to be completely ‘cold’ - there are so many ways to reach people to prepare the ground first - from a quick email to an InMail message on LinkedIn - that they should be primed for...

As sales people, it’s the word we all fear - that final ‘no’ from a customer that means that they don’t want to close the sale. It can represent the end point of a process that may have involved months of investment on your part - and it can be hugely disheartening. But, it happens to all of us (although not here at Big Motoring World, obviously!). Here’s why: You haven’t sold it to them Bear with us - don’t take that statement on face value. What w...

It’s one of the oldest truths in the sales business (coming in just after ‘you should always sell benefits, not features’): people buy from people they like. It’s something that we’ve seen proven time and time again here at Big Motoring World - having a nice personality matters, because it allows you to build strong, lasting relationships with prospective customers, and ultimately sell to them successfully. Our very best sales people are likeable, approachable peopl...

You may have come across people talking about ‘game theory’ before – it’s a set of ideas that have been around since at least the 1940s. The basic concept is this: that is possible to determine the outcomes of certain situations and interactions simply by looking at the mathematical models that underpin them. Plan your moves As sales professionals, we’re in the business of personal interactions – it is the bread and butter of pretty much everything we do. The ...

Remarkably, keeping things simple is a skill that seems in fairly short supply in the business world. Whether it’s people falling prey to the temptation to use too much jargon, or the over complication of processes or procedures, we seem to be addicted to complexity. Maybe it’s just a matter of self-justification - the more complicated you can make your role or the service you provide sound, the more some people think they can claim to be an expert. Or, perhaps  in the end maki...

We probably don’t need to tell you how important making a great first impression is - but we will, because it’s so vital to get it right. It’s the foundation stone upon which your whole relationship with the person you’re meeting is built - get it wrong, and they can be left with an idea of you that will do you no favours at all. So, here are Big Motoring World’s top tips for getting off on the right foot. Put your phone away Use the five minutes spare that you&rsq...

There can be few feelings more disappointing than walking out of a job interview, and knowing already that you haven’t got the job (believe it or not, it’s even happened to some of us here at Big Motoring World in the past). That feeling of having let yourself down is particularly hard to take, especially if you’ve put a lot of work in to prepare for the interview. So, here are few pointers on some of the commonest mistakes that candidates make when they come in for interview. ...

It’s a simple question – but a surprisingly complex one to answer. It’s  an issue that goes to the very heart of how to be an effective sales person. So, why do people buy? They buy because they’re not happy with what they currently have. Dissatisfaction is the oil that makes any market work. So, ask your potential customers about it. What is causing this dissatisfaction? What isn’t right about their current situation? And most importantly - why have they...

Sales people work alone, right? It’s all about an individual’s sales skills, about building personal relationships and hitting your targets. Well, not quite. Here at Big Motoring World we know that creating a successful sales team - one that truly works, and that achieves the goals that the business sets it - is about a bit more than that. So how do you make yourself an indispensable part of your sales team? Here are a few tips. Share Open communication with the rest of your sales co...

So, you’ve closed the deal, shaken hands and everyone is happy. What next? One of the key differences between companies that actually grow, and those that simply stand still, is what happens after a sale. Here at Big Motoring World, the after sales care we give is absolutely critical to retaining customers and giving them the great service we think they deserve. Here are a few tips. Be personal, be available It’s more than likely that your new customer finally decided to buy from you...

Sometimes, to get ahead in any industry, it helps to look beyond the borders of your own specialism. Looking at how successful companies in different sectors treat their customers can help you to develop new strategies and techniques within your own - so here at Big Motoring World we thought it might be useful to share just a few tips that we’ve picked in the world of sales beyond motoring. Creating brand loyalty Starbucks and Apple are great examples of this - companies who are great...

We’ve all been there – maybe on our way to another meeting, or even just at a social event. We suddenly and unexpectedly find ourselves with a few precious moments standing in front of someone who could be a potential client, or maybe even a future employer. “So, what do you do?” they say. Here are our tips for getting the most of the critical moments that follow that all-important question. First of all, keep it brief… It sounds obvious, but you don’t have ...