I have roughly 17,000 things on my desk today, all of which need my attention. To say businesses are looking to finance equipment in 2020 is an understatement. We, and every other lender out there, are busy.
Overwhelmingly, businesses from coast to coast are buying equipment, and using monthly payments to make their purchases fit into the balance sheet better. The old adage in business is to use other people’s money, and it’s been ringing true in a big way for several years now.
So if you own a business that sells to other businesses, let me ask you a question – are you offering your customers a financing option, and if not, may I ask WHY YOU DON’T?
I’m not really looking for an answer. I mean, we’re not physically in the same room right now, so I can’t hear you anyway. Besides, I’ve heard all the reasons before. And NONE of them make any sense to me.
I’m going to spend this post and the next one talking about the reasons businesses don’t offer financing, and hopefully dispel them.
“I Don’t Want to Take the Risk”
This would be a GREAT reason to not offer financing… if it were true. But it’s not true at all. The finance company (that’s us) takes the risk. You get paid in full right away, like you always do. There’s zero (and I do mean zero) risk to you.
In fact, it’s very likely you’ve already dealt with an equipment finance company or a bank. And how did that go? Just fine, right? Well, it’s no different if you offer the customer our financing.
“My Customers Don’t Want Financing”
Absolutely they do. Overwhelmingly so, in fact. I know this because more than 80% of all business equipment purchases are financed. Whether the customer got a loan from the bank, used a credit card, used a line of credit, or worked with an equipment financing company, you can bet right now you are selling tons of equipment to customers who financed it.
Here’s the disconnect – many times, the customer paid you in full, but they got the funds elsewhere and you simply don’t realize they actually financed the equipment.
So if you OFFERED excellent financing right at the point of sale, doesn’t it seem logical that makes it easier to buy from you?
Think about it, and I’ll be back next time with more.