M a r k e t i n g  t i p
Win more vendors by offering the vendor the chance to design his ideal financing program

Sound crazy? It's not; in fact, it's highly effective. Starting your interaction by asking your vendor prospect to describe his or her ideal financing program starts an important shift in the way you acquire vendors.

Imagine you need to buy a dishwasher. You head to the appliance store. You know your criteria: color, price, quietness, etc. The salesperson shows you a dishwasher and starts telling you all about how it saves water and completes a full wash cycle in under an hour. While all of the features he listed are nice benefits, they haven't convinced you to buy that unit. If he would have asked "what features are you looking for?" the process would have gone quite differently. And, the salesperson would have had a chance to actually sell, instead of just verbalizing the brochure and specs. For instance, he could have asked if you had a color preference or if the cycle time is important to you. Then he would have had a chance to sell.

This is analogous to approaching new vendors. New brokers often ask what else they can say besides "we finance start-ups and are app-only to $250 thousand." The answer is say less. Ask the vendor to describe his ideal financing program that would really help him sell more equipment. Listen. Take notes. Ask probing questions and drill deeper.

Suddenly three things have happened. First, he believes you care about helping him sell equipment and will work to make it happen. Second, you know the vendor's hot buttons - what matters and why. Third, you can step away from the conversation to build a solution for him, which allows you time to present your products in a way directly align with his ideal program. Also, if you need to research solutions or augment what you offer, you have time for that too. By asking questions instead of rattling off bullet points, you can present the features and benefits that matter most to the vendor.

Now you can take some time to craft your reply proposal. Remember, you don't need to win all of the business right away; if you can meet some of a prospective vendor's needs, you have gained a foothold to grow the relationship. Analyze the notes you take during this process to adapt which of your selling points you use and how you say them, and if needed, add new selling points to your pitch. As a bonus benefit of this method of acquiring vendors, as you hear vendors making common requests you can move those selling points to the top of the list in your pitch and your other marketing efforts.

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