Successful originators in the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry understand the power of structuring a transaction and meeting the cash flow needs of every client.
I recently spoke with a relatively new originator who lost a transaction which she felt her company was highly aggressive with in pricing. However, a competitor had beaten her with a significantly lower monthly payment. She did not understand how her competitor could be so much lower in payment than what she had proposed. I asked her:
- How was her competitor's structure different?
- What was the competitor requiring upfront and in what form (advance payments, security deposits, down payment)?
- What was the competitor's term?
- Was the competitor asking for additional collateral?
- What were the competitor's end of term options?
Unfortunately, the originator had assumed that her competition was proposing the same structure as she had proposed. She assumed that her client was comparing similar structures (apples to apples). Our discussion led the originator to follow up with the end-user (even though the transaction had already been funded through her competitor). The originator discovered that her competitor had won the transaction with more money upfront, a slightly longer term, and a purchase option at the end of the lease. The competitor's structure realized a higher yield than what she had originally proposed by 150 basis points. She had lost the transaction because of structure.
The originator's lessons learned were:
- Structure matters.
- Even slightly different structures can significantly change monthly payments.
- Questions about a competitor's structure need to be asked upfront, not after a transaction has been lost.
- The lowest yield is not always a winning proposition.
- Understanding your customer's cash flow needs and structuring a transaction to meet those needs is a powerful tool in winning more transactions.
Survive - Thrive - Lead
This "Sales Tip" is provided by Wheeler Business Consulting.
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Phone: 410-877-0428
email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com
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