Equipment Leasing Trends?
Frederic St. Laurent
Agency Development Manager @ Farmers Insurance | Helping people identify the essence of their dreams and then facilitating the path to achieving them.
I speak with people in the Equipment Leasing industry from all levels of the business, on a daily basis. None more than sales though.
Many of the sales people who contact me, seeking information about opportunities, have similar stories to tell. There is a pattern I see developing, that surrounds the growing firms. I thought it worthwhile to share this and wonder if anyone else has noticed it?
Vendor reps (mainly small ticket) who work Application Only to $150 M or even $250 M, with an average ticket of $50 to $100 M are telling me that they are submitting twice the volume of deals as are being funded. Now I understand that sales people might tend to see Credit or Syndication as being the problem, however there is another aspect that needs to be considered.
A firm with a small portfolio that needs to be discriminating about what they include in it, can add delays to making decisions or result in an outright turn down for a deal that would have normally been funded. This can be frustrating for the Leasing Rep, as well as for the vendor who may either take the deal elsewhere, because of the delay or turn down, or move their business to another leasing company. After all, the vendor just wants to sell the equipment, right? They want less drama and more deals.
The economy is robust for Equipment Leasing right now. This infuses transactions with a competitive energy. Fund the deals, or get out of the way of vendors who need to close the sales.
There are solutions to this conundrum, and there are people calling me every day, looking for someone to originate or potential candidates seeking an answer to their particular situation. During my time with them, I attempt to explore these issues and more. There has to be a discussion about funding and programs. Now is the time to build sound practices and set realistic expectations for the employee and the employer. Don't you think?
If you would like to discuss this, I am on the other end of an email or phone.
Frederic St. Laurent
[email protected] or call 404-855-3310
