In a highly competitive environment, how can equipment manufacturers, vendors and dealers ensure they are consistently delivering a superior service experience? Often customers are happy with the “front-end” part of the sale, but it’s the “back-end” processes of documentation, payment and financing that become challenging. In a recent survey, 61% of recent purchasers of commercial equipment site the “deal closing”…
Payment terms can be a struggle. We all have to offer them, but let’s face it, it’s actually an extension of credit to your customers. An extension of time where your money is at risk and cash flow is depleted. In the equipment sales business, payment terms of net 15 or 30 can easily turn into 45 days and beyond…
Most business owners have applied for a loan and faced rejection or an insufficient solution. Often they don’t know why they are being successful or unsuccessful in the endeavor to borrow money. While many make the process feel like rocket science, the fundamentals of commercial credit are actually quite simple. Lenders call it the five “C’s” of credit. Character Admittedly,…
What’s the interest rate? It’s like buying a new lawn mower and asking who manufactured the spark plug. Don’t get us wrong, the mower doesn’t run without it so the importance is obvious, but are you really concerned with it? When acquiring new commercial equipment, interest rate is important…just not as important as many business owners make it. Revenue growth…
Most business owners find mystery in the process of acquiring financing for your business. One year everything goes smooth as silk. The next year the process feels cumbersome and difficult even though your good credit is still good. While the reasons for these wild swings in the experience of borrowing money are many, there is one that surprises most business…
Manufacturers, dealers and distributors find themselves in a highly competitive market. With margins are under pressure and differentiation a necessity, finding real opportunities for growth are challenging. Most opportunities for growth require injections of capital or significant training to evolve the way you do business. But there is one way grow way without having to learn anything new or tap…
For years, the software business has charged big bucks. As technology continued to speed up, they saw sales drop as other, cheaper solutions were born. Take MS Office. $499 per seat for Office 2010. Sales were…well…not great. But in 2013 they introduce a program where you can pay $8 per month per seat and always have the new version of…
In a recent survey: 77% of small business owners will choose the equipment sales organization that prominently features a finance option over an organization that does not—regardless of the brand. 64% would prefer NOT to use their bank for equipment financing 68% of small business owners look for payment over price. 83% of small business owners will not negotiate purchase…
“Just fill in the simple form and in anywhere from an hour to a day we’ll hand you $150,000 for commercial equipment.” The increasingly technology-driven world of small business credit decisions is a wonderful thing. Right? Well, it can be. It can also be riddled with problems. As you look to “application only” lending for your commercial equipment, here are…
Many small business owners spend significant time going back and forth with equipment specs and spend virtually no time preparing the financing. Unfortunately, knowing how and where to get the money should be a first step and not an afterthought. The lack of up-front preparation for the finance process can lead to frustration on both ends of a transaction and…