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Lease$mart is a sales organization that works closely in support of equipment dealers and
manufacturers across the country. We provide our clients and customers with competitive
lease rates, stable credit policies, and an unparalleled level of professional service. We have
earned the consistent repeat business of more than seven hundred of the nation's finest and most
reputable equipment dealers. We want to continue our growth by earning
your trust and your leasing business.
If you sell capital equipment, software and other qualifying services to businesses anywhere
in America, a working leasing program will have a positive impact on your bottom line.
There are two primary reasons for you to offer a lease program to your customers:
- It's good for your customers, providing valuable tax and capital management benefits; and
- It's good for you, allowing you to keep your customer focused on benefits, rather than
cost or price. It will also help you to make your sales faster,
easier, bigger
and more profitable.
Stop to think about how you - and most of America - pays for its capital purchases. Very
few individuals and very few companies are in a position to pay cash for anything they want any time
they want it. Many can't even pay cash for their NEEDS when they come up. In the
consumer arena, homes and vehicles and even college educations are routinely paid for with the
assistance of financing. In many cases, an attractive financing program makes the difference
between satisfying the wants and needs of America and a whole lot of compromising and "settling
for less."
"Pay as you go" is the American way. If everyone always had to pay cash, it's a safe bet that most would be living in a smaller house and driving a cheaper car. The truth is that since we get the benefits from our homes, cars or business equipment over a period of several years, it usually makes the most sense to pay for these major items as the item is providing benefits to us.
Your business customer is not very different from the rest of America in their preference
of paying for big ticket purchases. Your business customer doesn't want to part with their
cash either! In many cases your customer doesn't really
have the cash to satisfy his business needs.
These are the benefits for you and your customers: |
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Your customers' benefits can be summarized in 6 major areas of value and benefit:
- Tax benefits. Leasing allows our customers to accelerate the write-offs they get from investment in business equipment. For instance, the IRS has established that computers have a "useful life" of 5 years. That is, if a customer acquires a computer and capitalizes and depreciates it, it will be 5 years before all of the tax benefits are realized from that investment. In the case of a lease on that computer, every dollar that is paid out on lease payments this year gets written off as a tax deductible operating expense this year!
- Better use for limited resources. Every business has limited resources, even big
businesses like Chrysler, IBM and Motorola. In the case of small business, the limit on
available resources is just as real, maybe more so. We have leased to some of the largest
and most financially healthy companies in America (including Chrysler and IBM and Motorola), because
those companies recognized that tying up their capital in equipment is usually not where their
capital will work hardest for them. (In the case of a manufacturer or retailer, their capital would typically be working hardest in inventory; for a smaller service business, maybe the best use for their capital would be in additional sales people or a marketing program designed to increase demand.)
- Leasing allows the equipment user to pay for the equipment as it is paying him back in BENEFITS. Rather than using last year's accumulated profits to buy this year's equipment (which will generate profits/savings/benefits over future years), your customers will appreciate the fact that in most cases leased equipment pays its own payments through increased efficiency leading to cost savings and increased profits. This is why we adopted as our slogan "Happiness is... A Positive Cash Flow!"TM
- Ease and speed of approval of their credit. We can approve up to $100,000 without financial statements or tax returns if the applicant has been in business for at least 2 years ($20,000 without financial statements if they are just starting out) ($150,000 for most established medical practitioners). Most importantly, we know how to get the transaction approved. We only get paid if we are successful in getting your customers approved. Our mission is to help your customer obtain the approval they need, and to provide information and options to your customer so they can make the best, most informed decision in their acquisition of your equipment.
- We guarantee your customer's lowest leasing rates, and we back that guarantee up with cash. We promise to beat any competitor's approval or
pay our customer $50.00 for giving us the right to bid on their project. Your customer doesn't have to lose valuable time in
shopping for financing to acquire the equipment they need.
- We go to see your customers whenever possible, giving them an additional opportunity to ask
questions and especially giving us an opportunity to build a
relationship with them for their future needs, as well.
You as the seller of capital equipment for business also benefit by offering and promoting an attractive leasing program. Let's look now at how you and your company will benefit:
- The fact that your customer will enjoy the benefits listed above is of primary
importance. Leasing is a 'value added' option that your customers will appreciate and thank you for.
- Properly implemented, our leasing programs will make your sales easier and faster, bigger and more profitable. Here's how:
- By offering your customer the opportunity to acquire your equipment with low monthly payments, rather than asking them to part with a large lump sum of cash, you will find that your customer "warms up" to the idea of acquiring now, rather than later, and more easily justifies getting the best solution instead of compromising on a "budget" solution.
- Offering the lease to your customer as a "value and benefits added" service enhances your professional presentation and serves to make it easier for the customer to decide to do business with your company, rather than the competitor down the street.
- When you make it easier for your customer to say "yes" to the best solution for their long-term needs, you are going to be making your sales grow and you will find those sales to be easier, bigger and faster.
- Offering your customer a lease program will make your sales more profitable. In most industries, there is a fair amount of competition for the same customers. Your prospects don't become customers until you have differentiated yourself from most of the competition and established yourself as superior to the competition in terms of product, pricing, service or all three. By offering your customer a leasing solution, you immediately set yourself above the rest of the field by making it easy for the customer to say "yes." You also make it considerably tougher for the customer to focus on price as one of their primary deciding factors. If the competition is all quoting within a few percentage points of $10,000, and you quote $382 per month, which supplier do you think is going to stand out in the customer's mind? You are still selling your equipment (to us) for $10,000, but in the customer's mind, the value of your proposal is of greater interest than your competitor's proposal. Leasing allows you to take your customer's mind off of price, and focus instead on quality, features, value and benefits. Isn't that what you want your customer thinking about?
- If your competitor is offering a lease option and you don't, you will be at a distinct disadvantage in the competition, and you may find yourself having to discount your price to win your customer's business.
Why should you select Lease$mart as your primary leasing resource?
- We provide sales training for you and your sales staff, helping you and them to understand and implement Leasing as a closing tool.
- We provide sales tools for you:
We handle the entire application and approval, documentation and funding process, freeing your to focus on your next sale.
We work with you to help you understand the wants, needs and 'hot buttons' of our mutual customers;
We communicate frequently with you so you always know what is happening in our dealings with your customers.
When we are unable to approve your customer for a lease (yes, it does happen) we try to offer a solution so that you will still make the sale to your customer.
We are professionals. We specialize in equipment leasing and business credit matters.
We are members of the Better Business Bureau and the National Association of Equipment Lease Brokers, and active in our industry's professional associations.
Our General Manager, Gary Greene, has earned the designation of Certified Leasing Professional. This designation indicates that he has the education, experience, knowledge and character to create unique options and solutions which are tailored to you and your customers' individual needs.
We offer a valuable service that won't cost you a cent. In fact, if you will implement even a few of our suggestions, you will notice an increase in both sales and profits.
Who leases?
- Proprietorships
- Partnerships
- Corporations
- Big Companies
- Small Companies
Why do companies lease their capital equipment? These are the reasons cited most often by our customers (percentages are approximate and total to more than 100% due to multiple reasons cited):
- Tax Benefits - Approximately 80% to 90% of our Lessees - All profitable, tax-paying companies that pay taxes are interested in saving on their tax liability.
- "No Money" and/or "No Bank Borrowing Ability" - A very small percentage of our Lessees - perhaps 10% at most.
- Cash available and/or bank credit available but simply have something better to do with their cash and cash equivalents than tie it up in machinery - 75% or more of our Lessee clientele.
- Avoids budget restraints - Replaces one operating expense with another operating expense - without affecting the Capital budget - 25% of our Lessees.
- Leasing is a CAPITAL MANAGEMENT TOOL - virtually all of our clients
We have considerably more information and material on why and how you can use leasing as a sales and closing tool, but here is the digested version:
- Determine up front whether your customer intends to pay cash or lease: "Mr. Customer, would you ordinarily pay cash for this type of acquisition, or would you like for me to help you obtain lease-financing?" -- "Yes" or "Yes" -- either answer is the right answer. If the customer states that they will pay cash, don't force leasing on them! But, if they indicate a desire to lease, you can assume that it is appropriate to quote prices to them in terms of "dollars per month" and upgrades or enhancements are "just a few dollars more" each month.
The best time to ask this question is when you are early in your discussions with your customer, getting to know their needs, timetable and budget. Integrate the "YES" or "YES" question into your survey of the customer's needs and objectives.
- Quote a monthly lease payment in your sales presentation: "Mr. Customer, if I can put this to work for you for just $382 per month, do you want me to do so?"
- Ask your customer for a budgeted amount that he wants to pay for your equipment each month - then work backwards to a sales price. Here is where you can get creative in selecting the term that best fits their budget, yet still retains sufficient margin for you to make a profit from the sale.
The customer wants to lease. How do I get started?
- Quit quoting cash prices. Quote "Dollars per month" instead.
- Quote an approximate monthly payment & obtain agreement. Use 4% of cost to approximate the monthly lease payment. (On a $10,000 transaction, the current 36 month payment factor is a little less than 4% of the equipment cost or less. Bigger ticket transactions - and longer terms - require use of a different approximating factor. 4% is relatively easy to figure in your head and is a good "rough ballpark" 36-month figure for most small ticket transactions.)
- Upgrade your sale by discussing the upgraded equipment in terms of "only another $5 per month..."
- Obtain an emotional commitment by asking their permission for you to have your leasing company call them.
- (Optional) Obtain a financial commitment by obtaining the customer's check for 2 months' payment. The customer stops shopping!
- Call Lease$mart with the customer's name and phone number, basic equipment description and cost. We will contact your customer to complete the application, and follow through to approval, keeping you informed at each step along the way.
What you should expect from us.
- We can generally approve most "application only" requests in one working day or less. (It might take longer if bank or trade references are not cooperative.)
- On transactions where we need to review financial statements to provide approval, we will usually need several (2 - 3) days to review and complete our financial analysis and credit investigation.
- Upon approval, we provide written "NOTICE OF APPROVAL AND INVOICING INSTRUCTIONS." This is a one-page document identifying the customer and their credit limit, and a checklist for preparing your invoice (Sold To: Lease$mart, etc.) We will also list any contingencies that will need to be satisfied. If you referred the customer to us, we typically notify you first, then the customer. Whenever possible, we approve more credit than the customer has indicated as immediate needs. This gives you another opportunity to upgrade the sale!
- WE prepare documents and obtain signatures, usually the same day we receive approval and the final equipment details.
- WE collect your invoice(s) and deliver our check to you.
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