IBC and PLASA always indicate we have reached the busy time of the year, and 2018 is no different.
Returning from my 23rd IBC, I had several conversations ringing in my ears. Notably because they repeated the same familiar (and frustrating) comments that I have heard from the same people for a quarter of a century. Please take note, this really could change your lives!
On two separate occasions over IBC weekend, and on two different stands with two different suppliers, they each mentioned recent sales of their respective products to a major media group who had been upgrading its TV studio facilities. Both salesmen uttered the same words to me: “But they’ve got plenty of money, so they won’t need leasing”.
Leasing, Hire Purchase, Sales-Aid-Finance, however you think of it, is not for those customers who don’t have any money. Certainly, when you are seeking a point-of-sale solution for a freelancer or a small two-man business, you probably recognise that a finance option may be just the thing to get a deal over the line.
But what about where the customer is a much larger company, possibly even a listed multi-national with a household name and turnover of £billions? In those circumstances so many of you won’t even consider discussing payment terms or finance, or even enquire how the customer wishes to pay. There are many salespeople in the broadcast industry who appear to believe that “budget” means “cash”, and that the procurement team arrives with a piggy-bank full of savings to smash open whenever a £million order is to be placed. Seriously?
Let me offer an alternative perspective. The moment you complete a £million sale you have created a problem for your customer, who now has to determine the best way to allocate their funds. Why not instead offer them an alternative solution with a payment plan or funding option as part of the deal? Having the option to spread the cost across more than one budgetary cycle presented at the point of sale may even encourage the customer to increase the order – which is surely a win/win!
If you want to learn more about the dark arts of this wizardry, we would be happy to walk you through the published accounts of some large well-known companies who, you may be surprised to discover, are only too happy to employ the solutions that we can offer.
Broadcasters; Production-Companies; Universities; Multi-nationals; Household Brands; there are plenty of very big companies with lots of money who still use finance when making capital purchases. And many of them are already working with us, discovering that the art is not so dark after all. We are just an email or phone-call away.