There is a software assistant in your phone that answers your questions. Websites seem to read your mind from the minute you land on them. Some cars parallel park for you – or even drive you around. This is the kind of thing that might come to mind when people think of technology innovation.
The commercial truck industry is requiring everyone to upgrade to more emissions-friendly engines. Many industries are upgrading equipment to include GPS asset-tracking technologies. IT equipment needs to be upgraded seemingly every hour and a half. Whether part of a regulatory move, a push for greater efficiency or the requirement to keep up with the competition, the word “upgrade” has a big impact on business owners’ lives. And a bigger impact on their cash position.
To say the copier industry is competitive is like saying Steve Jobs had a knack for marketing. Couple that with customer demand for single source, integrated solutions and it makes perfect sense that copier dealers everywhere are diversifying revenue streams and driving profits by expanding their lineups to include business technology, software, water purification and other office essentials.
In a recent survey of 114 private equity firms with at least one office products company in the portfolio, 82% said that a differentiated business model was the key to management teams obtaining higher EBITDA multiples and business valuations.
“Cash flow is not just a thing. It’s the only thing.” – Principal of a $114 Million Office Products Dealer. Over time, you’ll hear finance companies speak ad nauseum of the importance of selling a payment for your equipment – even leading with one. And motives aside, businesses will generally buy more things if they have more cash to do it. Financing is critical to achieving success here. But what about YOUR cash flow? As a dealer principal, cash flows are the life blood of success just like it is for your customers. So, how does your finance offering impact YOUR cash flows?
Conserving cash is one of the most important aspects of running any business. Since cash is the most precious of all business resources, it only makes sense to manage it closely and commit it wisely. Even when a business has more than sufficient cash to cover working capital requirements, surplus cash is typically placed in reserve for critical and unexpected business emergencies. Cash not only provides the points for the scorecard of business, but it is the lifeblood of business as well.
The pandemic’s last days are in sight. The economy is revving its engines, and industries from entertainment to electric vehicles are seeking to capitalize on explosive growth opportunities. But many businesses are coming off a challenging year and capex budgets may still be constrained. The solution might be a creative approach to competitive and flexible financing. Here are three growth problems you can solve with financing right now.
So you’ve won the new bid or have the latest production contract in place. Or maybe you’ve decided to upgrade your IT infrastructure to create new efficiencies. Either way, equipment purchases that require a healthy chunk of capital are a central component of those strategies.
Today’s equipment customers shop online. And they’re financing equipment more than ever before. So they expect your website to feature not only your products and services, but also a way to finance them. Going the DIY route to add financing to your site can be a big challenge, though. Before you invest in a lot of expensive and time-consuming custom programming, check with your financing company to see if there’s a faster, easier way. At LEAF, we make it simple with a variety of pre-made financing assets you can paste right into your site. You can literally go from zero to financing-ready online in just a few days, with no programming!
The last several months may have you looking for new ideas to stimulate and restore sales. Here are a few simple tips to find opportunities now, even in an uncertain environment.
The uncertainty of an equipment buyer is something that every successful equipment salesperson must deal with. It goes with the territory—nobody ever suggested that being a salesperson was easy. Competitive pressure, solutions suitability, price, and buyer’s remorse top the list of the thousand or so things can derail an equipment transaction before it happens. The very act of selling is almost by definition an uncertain undertaking.
Why creative financing boosts ticket average and helps to close more sales. One of the best ways to sell more equipment is to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to pay for it. In fact, price becomes much less of an issue if payment terms are offered and particularly when the transaction doesn’t require a large outlay of cash up front. Creative financing is one of the most powerful closing tools that a sales person can deploy, while at the same time adding significant value to the customer who takes advantage of it.
