Put in the EFFORT!
EFFORT Marketing
Introduction:
The most valuable Strategy that Lease One has uncovered over the past couple of decades is that the amount of EFFORT you put into your business directly correlates to the profitability of your brokerage. This is a true return on EFFORT business (ROE). The following is an acronym of EFFORT and what it can do for you if it is implemented properly.
This is not a program you can put in place overnight but a solid plan to use as a strategy to build the business you are starting. From the ground up, in any venture, EFFORT needs to be present in order for you to succeed.
I have broken down the word and have instituted an acronym to help you understand the kind of EFFORT necessary.
Educate: Teach them why leasing is a better option
Facilitate: Help them implement your unique programs
Focus: Have a plan and execute it properly
Organize: Become an expert in Time Management and create unique portfolios
Relate: Know your Customer and give them what they need
Teamwork: Utilize all of your tools; Marketing, Network, Back Office
Effort: n. A conscious exertion of power: hard work. The total work done to achieve a particular end.
E – Educate:
Leasing is a valuable tool for all business to utilize in making acquisitions for their companies. The problem is that not all businesses understand what those benefits are, or why it would be beneficial to that company. The challenge here is enlightening the business owners to the benefits of the service and ensuring they understand exactly how it can help them on a personal basis. Use specific examples to exemplify cash flow benefits or a chart to show how leasing can decrease total cost of ownership. Understanding how this business works is the key to success. As you gain the knowledge you need to become a specialist, your expertise will strengthen your foothold on the market.
Keep in touch with your accounts on a regular basis. Make sure that they understand any new programs available and ensure that you have something new to offer each time you call. Give your program a name. “QualityCare”
Become an educator among your peers. Join a networking group and make sure the people and friends you know and trust understand what it is you do and can provide for their business. Teach them how you can save their company money or how you can help them increase sales by offering your service. Gain their trust by becoming a faithful advisor.
F – Facilitate:
Utilizing your service is only as complicated as you make it out to be. If you want to be successful in this business you have to put the EFFORT in facilitating the lease process for you customers from start to finish. That means you help your customers from the time someone walks into their facility to purchase equipment right up to the delivery of the equipment. Doing whatever it takes to make their process easier, will make your service more attractive.
What you have to keep in mind is that there are two sides of this coin. On the one hand you have an end user, someone who is going to be using your service to acquire a new piece of equipment. These customers are easier to find and just as easy to please, especially if you know exactly what they want and how exactly it will be beneficial to their company. Make their choice easy by understanding their business, asking the right questions, and knowing what will help them out. Be readily available to answer questions for them or utilize the back office to support you if you don’t know what the answer is.
The other side of the coin involves the vendors and distributors who are selling the equipment to the end users. If they have to advertise that they have leasing they are going to be less prone to use your service. If they find that using leasing only causes them a headache, they are going to be less likely to use your service. You have to make sure that these clients of yours are entirely satisfied and convinced that this service is easy and beneficial. Show them you are dedicated to making their company better and you will gain their trust and on-going business.
Some ideas to help you facilitate the leasing process with vendors are to create unique brochures that they can display around the sales floors and hand out to potential customers. This gives you the ability to market to them as well. Tell your vendor that you are available for them and that they can tell their customers that “we have a specialist available if you have any unique questions.” By doing this it inlays a sense of confidence in your program and makes their job easier. Not only are you helping them educate the end users looking for equipment, you are making their business more money by increasing sales that could have been otherwise lost due to lack of capital or budgeting conflicts.
Make it a priority to provide the best service to your customers and prove you can make their lives a lot easier with leasing and you will experience phenomenal results.
F – Focus:
So what do you do to engage your customer’s attention and ensure that they are retaining the information you are conveying? Is mass marketing the answer? NO! If you send out 42,000 postcards today to different industries you may find that only 10 businesses respond, one deal might come of that… That is not good focus of EFFORT on your part. Instead you want to make sure you are reaching these customers on their level.
I have found that our most successful brokers rarely engage in mass marketing. They use contacts they have established over time, people who trust in their advice, and convert them into loyal advocates of the leasing process. From those relationships spurs new opportunity in people that they do business with.
Do your research and LISTEN to what your customers needs are. When engaged in communication ask them specific questions that are going to conjure answers that will help you deliver exactly what their business needs. Take a moment and think about the last appointment you went on or the last phone conversation you had with a customer. Did you adequately prepare yourself to handle the call? Did you do the necessary research to find out what their business was? Were you focused during the conversation and take notes? Did you ask closing questions? All of these questions need to be answered after every call to better your ability. If you are not seeing the results you want to be seeing than something has to be adjusted. Let the professionals here at Lease One work with you to help you prepare better for your calls and keep you focused on the goals you want to achieve.
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