RPM Technik: No Excuses

Talking with the team at RPM Technik, it is intriguing to understand how their business has developed from a single founding member of staff to the 23-strong team they run today. Considering they have always been one-marque specialists, this achievement is all the more impressive. Whilst the business is approximately two-thirds technical and engineering focused and one-third sales, a large proportion of new clients to the business end up coming through the sales department. With up to 25 Porsches for sale at any one point, the biggest introducer of new traffic to RPM Technik’s website is via the sales channel. Naturally, these digital enquiries eventually lead to physical meetings where clients come down to meet the team.

More often than not, these new clients are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at what the business does, which often leads to genuine surprise. “I truly believe the diversity of work that our team can undertake is class-leading. There are no other specialists that can offer comprehensive solutions for every aspect of Porsche ownership from both classic to modern”, explains Greig Daly, RPM Technik Sales Director. Greig joined the director team at RPM Technik alongside founding Director Ollie Preston and fellow Director Darren Anderson.

Greig’s introduction to the team a decade ago was key to the evolution of the sales side of the business. “We started back in 2012, with a very focused workshop team and an emerging sales department. With the workshop team setting such exceptionally high standards for preparing sales cars, it was actually really hard at the start. I found buyers didn’t know enough about who we were or how we came to be selling Porsches. Eventually though, with militant consistency for both client service and vehicle quality, our reputation grew”.

RPM Technik now sells around 130 used Porsche models per year, with a strong bias towards the GT model ranges. With the Hertfordshire-based outfit being a market leader in building and setting up Manthey Racing Porsche models, being Europe’s leading supplier of Surface Transforms ceramic brake upgrades and having a prolific reputation for upgrading GT3, GT4 and RS models, it’s a synergy that makes a whole lot of sense.

With owners always interested in sampling different flavours of Porsche, being able to provide their clients with an unbiased opinion on which car may be the best option to go with next totally goes against the grain of the old- fashioned sales techniques of selling what’s in the showroom. It’s a core principle that, whilst offering almost zero short-term benefit to the business, gives new clients the belief that the sales team's actions speak louder than words. We will give you the best advice and eventually we will do business together, whether that is on this sale or on one in eight years’ time!

The RPM Technik sales team was bolstered by the hiring of Alex Cooper three years ago, which is an interesting story in itself. Alex, a lifelong fan of anything Porsche, had always dreamt of working with the brand and approached Greig four years prior to joining the squad. Back then, Alex was one of the UK’s leading sales guys in the Fiat world, learning his craft and proving very successful, however his experience in higher value sales was almost non-existent. Alex reminisced, “When I first met Greig, Darren and later Ollie, I knew straight away I wanted to work with them, and whilst I was desperately disappointed when I didn’t get the job the first time around, their advice was really useful”.

The RPM Technik director team could see the talent Alex had but wanted him to gain some more experience and were impressed when, four years later, after a successful stint working for Mercedes in Bath, Alex returned for a job interview. “Obviously he landed the job on merit, but his commitment to following our advice was refreshing to see in this day and age”, beams Darren Anderson, Commercial Director. “To have such strength in depth across the sales team, just as we have in the workshop team, is essential, especially as we seem to be getting busier month on month”.

RPM Technik’s well-established sales model that provides a safe and secure ‘Sale or Return’ mechanism for clients to sell their Porsche is only becoming more popular. When consigning your car with them, it not only gets advertised and sold at the correct price, but both the owner and buyer can buy or sell with a totally clean conscience that the car has been prepared to RPM Technik’s exacting standards, and can be driven as Porsche intended.

Greig recounts, “A few years back, a lot of the ultra-high-value cars were bought and tucked away
as pure investments which is fair enough, but we have seen a radical change in our clients buying cars to use them. It is fantastic to see, and means the core mantra of prepping the cars properly that we instilled years ago now really comes to the forefront. I can be comfortable that the Porsches we sell are so well prepared that some clients have collected and taken them straight to the Nürburgring from the showroom for three days on track with complete confidence. That place takes no prisoners, so we must make sure our cars not only look pretty on handover, but more importantly, they are mechanically ready to dance all day on track”.