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October 30, 2009

Watch out for ghosts, goblins and hotel computers?

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — afp @ 6:10 am

Happy Halloween to all from AFP!  As Halloween approaches, many of us are preparing our costumes, getting candy ready to hand out to all of the excited kids and may be doing some decorating around the house or office.   For those of us who have little kids, we are finding ways to make sure they stay safe and secure while trick-or-treating.  As business professionals, we also have to be cautious in keeping our information safe and secure.  Many of us will log into public computers when traveling whether it be at our hotel, a trade show or a coffee shop.  Here is a short article written by Kit Menkin from Leasing News to help keep your information safe when you are traveling and using a public computer:

It is important to remember in using any public computer, particularly in a hotel business center, that you may be leaving important information available. For instance, if you log into an account with your password, more than likely it is saved in the computer.

Most computer history and cookies are active, meaning once you have logged in, it is made convenient for you to log in again, often if you have not hit “save my password.” Many public computers are set up in this manner.

It means the next person, or another person, can look at history, see what was open, and then go to it, often finding your log in and password.

To protect yourself, at the end of using the computer, open up explorer, go to tools, and you will find the first line is “Delete Browsing History.” You can also go into “Internet Options” and in general delete “browsing history.” This is the first category and it spells out “delete temporary files, history, cookies, saved passwords, and web form information.”

Other versions of Explorer have this separated into section of allowing you to keep cache, history, cookies.

In Mozilla/FireFox, go to Options, then Privacy, and clear all, including cache.

In Opera, go to tools, delete data, and then make sure you go to details first to make sure all the items you want to delete are checked.

If not, you may not be deleting the information you left on the public computer.

I wish all of you have a very safe and secure Halloween!

October 28, 2009

The Benefits of a Customer Referral Program

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , — afp @ 9:14 pm

What better way to bring new customers in the door than to have them be referred by a happy customer who just purchased from you?  Customer referral programs are a great way to get your business name out there in a positive way and increase your sales.  A referral program works by rewarding people who send new business to you.  The reward, in turn, encourages them to continue to send you more business.  Everyone likes rewards and rewards motivate people to act.  So when you reward a person with something they really like it motivates them to continue to find ways to get more rewards and that continues to build from one customer to the next.  Some of the advantages of the customer referral program include:

1.      It costs nothing.  As long as you tie the rewards into generating income from the prospect, this will make you money and cost you nothing.

2.      It attracts high value customers.  The customers who are referred to you by your existing customer have a higher chance of being trustworthy and dependable.

3.      It builds brand awareness.  When people tell other people about your business and talk highly about you, it has a positive effect on your business.  It is free marketing.

4.      It allows you to escalate your relationship with your current customer who sent you the referral, especially if you take good care of the person they referred you to.  They will value your relationship even more and continue to refer you to other people.

It is important to make sure your existing customers know about your referral program and that you continue to remind them about it.  You can print flyers and distribute them, email it to your customers or talk to them about it in person.  You should continue to remind them about it on a regular basis.  This not only reminds them about the program, but keeps your name in front of them in case they need to do more business with you in the future.  The referral itself does not need to be extravagant to work.  What matters most is your intention.  If you do not have a referral program today, it is very important that you develop one.  Make it specific to your business and make sure your customers know about it.  It will not cost you anything and can only help increase your sales.

October 27, 2009

What factors are used to calculate credit scores?

Filed under: Credit tips — Tags: , , , , , — afp @ 9:18 am

Although credit scoring models were being developed as early at the 1950’s, their actual widespread use didn’t fully take effect until the early 1990’s. Fair Isaac Inc. or FICO as we all know them were the first to take these mathematical models or algorithm’s as they are sometimes called and begin selling them primarily to the three major bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian).  Since that time Fair Isaac has and continues to develop many different scoring models for different industries. For our purposes here we will go over the basic elements which are factored into your credit score. 

Payment History-  Approximately 35% of your score is based upon this category.  If you are late with any creditor the most important thing to keep in mind is to get current and stay current. Also, keep in mind that paying off an old collection or charge off will not remove it from your report, since this negative information stays on your report for seven years based upon “date of last activity” you have just “restarted” the seven year clock and now will be legally reflected on your reports for seven more years! The more serious the late payment information the more detrimental effect it will have on your score.  For example one thirty day late is obviously not as serious as a ninety day late regardless of the type of creditor. Another important fact is that different types of late payments decrease your score according to the type of creditor.  In other words, all things being equal one late payment on your home loan is more derogatory then a late payment on your credit card. 

Amounts Owed-  Approximately 30% of your score is based on this category. This is what we call “a debt to credit ratio”.  Simply put, this is the balances divided by the limits on your revolving lines of credit…ie credit cards.  Ideally, the credit scoring system would like to see this ratio below 30%.  If the ratio is 30-50% it will it will slightly lower your score, 50-70% will begin to more significantly lower your score and anything over 70% you may see your score tumble! 

Length of Credit History-  Approximately 15% of your score is based on this category. As a general rule a longer credit history will increase your score, yet, since this category only comprises 15% of your score we regularly see people who only have a couple of years of credit history who are “A” credit borrowers.  This means they have many other positive factors with a greater effect.  Keep in mind when opening new accounts not to open them too rapidly as this will lower your average account age which will thus lower your score. 

New Credit-  Approximately 10% of your score is based on this category. It’s no secret that Americans have more credit (and thus credit debt!) then any country in the world. As established before, all types of accounts are rated differently so it is advisable to shy away from accounts such as department store or secured credit cards as they are rated much lower then most types of credit. Our company for instance, utilizes methods which can expedite better credit with higher rated credit in a much shorter period of time for those people looking to establish new credit. 

Types of Credit – Approximately 10% of your score is based on this category. Again, here is a category without much weight in the overall picture but is still a factor. Since all types of credit is scored with a separate degree of importance it just makes sense to stay away from too much credit and to only open accounts that are needed. 

This article was written by Tom McKee, owner of New West Credit Consultants.  New West Credit Consultants has 24 years combined experience working with credit, credit scoring and knowledge of applicable Federal Trade Commission laws.  Tom can help increase your credit score.  To contact Tom for a free credit analysis, call him at 800-900-7481 or e-mail him at tom@newwestcc.com.

October 26, 2009

Do you have the right people on your bus?

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , — afp @ 4:50 pm

Look at life as if you were a bus driver.  Who do you want to let on your bus and ride with you?  And where do you want to go?  Do they want to go with you, or are you driving them to their destination and not yours?

I read an article this morning on www.leasingnews.org from Steve Chriest that was very appropriate for most businesses in today’s economy.  It talks about making sure you have the right sales people in your organization to succeed in the new economic times.  Here is part of the article:

Most senior executives acknowledge that what has worked in the past for developing profitable revenue is no longer sufficient in an economic climate that has changed the way everyone does business. In some ways, it is a back-to-basics approach that builds on your current capabilities to improve sales performance in a new economic reality.

Get The Right People On The Bus – And Keep Them There

While it is obvious that the old salesman stereotypes, typified by Willie Loman and Sammy Glick, have had no place in B2B sales for many decades, what isn’t so obvious is the real possibility that the characteristics and habits of yesterday’s successful sales professional and sales manager are no longer sufficient to ensure successful leadership and selling in the new economy.

Current sales job success profiles are based on characteristics that resulted in superior sales performance yesterday, in an economic environment that was much different than the one in which we operate today. Why would we allow ourselves to think that yesterday’s success characteristics are predictive of success in this new era?

Measuring job candidates against the performance of yesterday’s proven, successful sales professionals may not be adequate in these new economic times. I think the same logic applies to our current sales professionals and sales leaders.

Today’s sales professionals and sales leaders must learn to cope with and capitalize on new business behaviors. For the foreseeable future, most CEOs and CFOs will no doubt go to great lengths to avoid or mitigate risk. Overall, they will borrow less, preserve cash whenever possible, and spend more efficiently than they have in the recent past.

The most successful sales professionals in the new economy will be highly organized, will carry out their duties with great efficiency, and will be comfortable doing more with less. As companies rush to create efficiencies necessary for survival, the most successful sales professionals will take on even more responsibility for completing the work of managing sales and generating profitable revenue.

If you are interested in reading the entire article, please visit www.leasingnews.org for Friday, October 23rd.  This article should make all owners and sales managers examine their employee base and especially their sales team to make sure they have the right people on the bus.  Does your sales team share the same vision as you do?  If not, it’s time to reload.

October 23, 2009

Finance your consumables too!

Filed under: Leasing tips — Tags: , — afp @ 10:14 am

Do you use a lot of consumables with your equipment?  There are lease programs available that allow you to finance your consumables along with your piece of equipment.  The bank will usually give you a set monthly amount you can use for your consumables.  The amount of the consumables payment will be wrapped into your monthly lease payment.  This could be a benefit to both the customer/end-user and the vendor supplying the equipment and consumables.  If you have any interest in this program or would like to learn more, please call us at 877-237-7287.

October 22, 2009

This recession is over!

Filed under: General — Tags: — afp @ 4:49 pm

We are all looking for facts and statistics from economic experts that the economy is on the mend.  We want to see the sales trends going up and proof that the recession is ending.  Well, I found the proof.  His name is Garth Brooks and he has been labeled as one of the greatest Entertainers of all times.  Yep, Garth Brooks is coming out of retirement.  Since I did not get to see him in concert when I was younger, now is the time to get my plane ticket to Las Vegas and hit one of his shows coming up at the Wynn Las Vegas resort’s Encore theater.  All America needs is one big push to get us going back in the right direction and there we have it folks, Garth Brooks came out of retirement.  Thank you Garth Brooks for coming out of retirement to play for us all once more and for being the person to bring this economy out of the slump it has been in.  And… if you need any musical instruments or production equipment financed, give me a ring.

October 20, 2009

Master Lease and Lease Supplement

Filed under: Leasing tips — Tags: , — afp @ 4:06 pm

There are many benefits to writing a Master Lease with your lease professional when you decide to lease equipment for your business.  When you have a piece of equipment you want to lease, think about any other future equipment lease needs you will have throughout the year.  Ask your lease professional to approve you for a Master Lease for the full amount you will need through that quarter or year.  You will have to sign the full lease agreement and all schedules for your first equipment takedown, but each takedown after that is a simple one-page Lease Supplement.  The Lease Supplement refers to the terms, conditions and personal guarantees of the Master Lease. 

The second main benefit is that you can take advantage of better pricing on a Master Lease.  For example, let’s say you get approved for a Master Lease of $350,000.  You can the $350,000 rate on each equipment schedule or takedown allowing a lower payment.  Some banks will have minimum takedown sizes, so make sure you ask that question upfront so you can take advantage of this benefit.  As an example, let’s say you have a $75,000 piece of equipment you want to lease.  If you do this as a separate lease, your payments could be $1675 a month.  But if you take advantage of the Master Lease, you could take advantage of the $350,000 Master Lease rate and that could bring your $75,000 payments with the same company down to $1525 a month.  This could be a significant difference in payments and interest paid directly affecting your bottom line cash flow and income.  Along with the financial benefits, you have the ability to develop a relationship with a lease company when you work with them for all  of your lease needs creating a more efficient process for everyone.  When it is time for another equipment lease, they already know your story and have your credit file and know how you pay your bills.  They may need a couple of updated items from you, but it will be an easier process than starting over again with a new company.

A Master Lease gives you the benefits of an easy and efficient documentation process, can lower your lease payments and allows you to spend more time working on and growing your business.

October 19, 2009

One page lease agreement

Filed under: Leasing tips — Tags: , — afp @ 10:45 pm

Ever go to a bank and think you will end up signing the loan documents for the next four hours?  How do they really expect us to read all of the documents when there are 30 pages of legal sized paper in size 5 font?  As a professional in the leasing business, I always tell my customers to read the documents they are signing.  But I have to be honest, I do not read my loan documents at a bank because they are too darn long!  Signing loads of documents doesn’t make me a happy camper and I can’t imagine any of you like it either.  The leasing industry created the one-page lease agreement to try to make it simple and easy for the customer.  Many leasing companies have a simple one-page document they will use, especially when your equipment purchases are under $35,000 to $50,000.  Next time you are financing or leasing equipment, ask your finance professional if they offer a one-page lease so you can sign once and get your equipment.  After all, you have more important things to do like a run a business.

October 16, 2009

Ins and Outs of Prefunding

Filed under: Leasing tips — Tags: — afp @ 2:17 pm

Prefunding has become increasingly popular in the finance world.  Back in the financial “glory days” as I like to call them, banks offered prefunding to everyone with virtually no questions asked.  With all of the changes we’ve seen in the credit markets, banks have also cut back on prefunding requests.  Prefunding affects all parties to a lease agreement, the bank, vendor and customer. 

Let’s start with the bank loaning the money.  There are a few banks left who will still offer 100% prefunding to a vendor.  They will require vendor profiles and possibly financial information or personal credit to do it.   Many banks do not offer any prefunding or if they do, they limit it to 25% or 50%.  If a bank does offer prefunding they have the ability to earn business from those vendors who require that as part of their sale.  The reason why some banks limit prefunding or don’t offer prefunding at all is because they have been burned in the past.  I worked at one of the largest banks in America for 10 years and I’ve seen vendors go out of business after they’ve been paid by the bank leaving the customer to pay their lease agreement without any equipment.  I’ve seen vendors and customers fight over the end result of the equipment where the vendor says it is manufacturer right and the customer says it is not which puts the bank in the middle of something they don’t want any part of.  I’ve seen fraudulent vendors/customers leave the bank stuck with money paid out and no one to collect from.  Banks are asking for more and more information from vendors today to approve them for prefunding.  Vendors ask me on a regular basis why I need all of this information from them, they are not the ones looking for the equipment lease.  Well, banks are doing their due diligence times two in today’s world to insure that if they do pay the vendor before the equipment is delivered that the equipment actually will be delivered and the lease will go just as it should.

Vendors like to have their money upfront especially when they have to order the equipment, order the parts from another manufacturer or experience costs of manufacturing it themselves.  Vendors have been burned by bad banks as well, banks who never pay them their money or banks who takes weeks or months to pay them their money.  Vendors are nervous about waiting for their money from banks after they’ve spent the money to order or manufacture the equipment, ship it to the customer, not to mention all of the time and energy it took during the sale to the customer.  As a vendor, it is important to check out the finance company and bank you are working with and make sure they do have a good reputation and pay their vendors in a timely manner.  Don’t be afraid to ask for other vendor references from your finance company.  References are common in today’s business world and any good finance company will be happy to give you references.

As a customer, the best advice I can give you is to check out your vendor very well if they are asking for prefunding to make sure you will get your equipment and to your satisfaction.   Ask for references from the vendor if you haven’t worked with them before.   Make sure you trust the vendor you are purchasing from.

If prefunding is required by the vendor but the bank will not prefund, there are finance companies out there that will finance the prefunding to a vendor.   Your finance professional should be able to refer you to a bank who offers this service.   Prefunding can be very good and prefunding also runs a lot of risks.  Make sure you know who you are working with to insure you have positive results from prefunding.  Feel free to call us if you have any questions.

October 15, 2009

Do you wash your hands?

Filed under: General — afp @ 10:08 pm

Today’s blog has nothing to do with leasing or financing but I couldn’t pass it up.  I read an article on www.msnbc.msn.com today about people not washing their hands after they use the toilet.  Here is the article:

People are more likely to wash their hands properly after using the toilet if they are shamed into it or think they are being watched, scientists said on Thursday.

Hand-washing is the cheapest way of controlling disease but less than one-third of men and two-thirds of women wash their hands with soap after going to the toilet, a British study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine showed.

But when prompted by an electronic message flashing up on a board asking: “Is the person next to you washing with soap?,” around 12 percent more men and 11 percent more women used soap.

Seriously?  Well, we finance to a lot of sign companies and I just thought of a great new marketing idea for them… sell your electronic message boards to anyplace that has restrooms!  Let’s all help clean up this world… starting with one hand washing at a time.

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