Marketing to private equity
Let’s face it, having a few great private equity firms in your stable of lending relationships is beyond fantastic. In fact, many of the larger ABL players are originating half of their business or more from sponsors and really carries the load for them. And this trend is likely to increase with private equity coming […]
Creating value vs. quoting on stuff
We just finished a case study driven marketing campaign and it felt a little like tooth extraction. No, it wasn’t getting client consent or approval that was the problem, it was pulling the story out of our beloved commercial finance salespeople. Let me explain. Our process starts with a conference call where we pull the […]
Real things salespeople have crafted as written marketing content. Laugh and be afraid.
Over the last 6 years we have been collecting little nuggets of our dearly beloved sales pros and their attempts at written marketing content. These examples are all from $5MM to multi-billion dollar companies. Salespeople are terrific, but…well…somethings are just…forget it…enjoy. “We are the best lender in the country.” Of course you are. “Nobody beats our […]
Why don’t you sell your funding process?
For years we have noticed that not only do many commercial finance companies not sell the borrowing process with the market, they almost hide it. We’ve heard the ABL Due Diligence audit described as a financial enema and the equipment finance process for titled vehicles as finger nail extraction. That said, you might really be […]
3 rarely used best practices of running an industry vertical
Whether its technology, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation or northeastern sausage distributors, telling an industry’s story…solving an industry problem…is a critical way to differentiate yourself. And maybe the best way. Over the years we have observed some best practices of vertical business development that might get your motor running. Put your opinions out there. Saying you know […]
Strategies to compete against cash
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INDUSTRY VERTICAL BEST PRACTICES In a recent messaging blueprint session with a new client, we had a long discussion about their competition in the marketplace. The client spent the significant majority of the time talking about “Somebody” Bank or “Soandso” capital. But little mention of their largest competitor by […]
Why don’t you sell your funding process?
For years we have noticed that not only do many commercial finance companies not sell the borrowing process with the market, they almost hide it. We’ve heard the ABL Due Diligence audit described as a financial enema and the equipment finance process for titled vehicles as finger nail extraction. That said, you might really be […]
Selling success: An idea guide for simple marketing with success stories
It takes a big effort to establish yourself as a thought leader with the articles, insights and ideas that show your targets how smart you are, and it works. But how can you easily bring prospects from knowing you’re smart…to knowing you’re good. Telling them you’re good is silly, everyone says that…so show them. Nothing […]
Man, you guys are old: How the “graying” of the commercial finance business is impacting business development.
In our recent joint survey of 3,540 Financial Decision makers and more than 500 Commercial finance companies we found: The average age of a financial decision maker is 48 and has been reducing by 3 months per year, every year since 2006 while the average age of a commercial finance senior sales leader is 55 […]
65% of the sales process is over before prospects talk to one of your salespeople.
Actually depending on your B2B market and the survey it could be as high as 72%. This should make you think pretty hard about the state of business development affairs in your company. It forces you to ask some pretty important questions “What is the market doing to get that far along in the decision […]