Technology Financing: 3 Tips for Creating your IT Leasing Payment Options

June 22, 2018

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Leading with payments is a win-win

It used to be that only cash strapped companies needed flexible payment options. Technology Sales Reps would save it for an end of the sales cycle Hail Mary play, when customers revealed they didn’t have budget.

But times have changed. Today, according to industry research firm IDC, 92% of all IT decisions involve payments. As such, it has become a business strategy for companies to stay competitive. In fact, the industry’s largest technology companies are now bringing payment options to the table early on in discussions with potential customers.

Knowing that customers want to preserve capital while still getting the latest and greatest technology, it is time to make sure your business is using payment options as a strategy rather than an afterthought.

To avoid common customer objections such as: “I don’t have enough budget,” or “I won’t have budget until summer,” or, “I’m locked into another technology product for the next six months,” consider these key points:

1. Sell to the need, not the budget.

Focus the conversation around the customer’s technology needs rather than on what they think they can afford. For example, if a customer thinks they can get by with a certain amount of storage but in reality, will max it out immediately, show them how payment options can allow them to get more storage and have room to grow. This helps the customer get what they really need, and helps you get out of the ‘land and expand’ trap to sell bigger deals today.

2. Lead with payment options.

This approach eliminates all the common objections right away. Beginning, rather than ending the conversation with payment options, your customers will be much more open to considering the ideal solution rather than defaulting to the base level. Breaking it down into manageable chunks makes talking about money a much more relaxed topic. For example, a $500,000 deal can be described as five payments of $100,000 or 60 months of $8,333 payments. This may help you not only sell your product but also related services like maintenance. Payment options that include maintenance bridge this gap. And after you have lead with the idea of payments, be sure to include them on each quote because 70% of IT decisions are based on the availability of payment options, and quotes that take this into consideration will make their way to the CFO or decision maker faster.

3. Be creative.

Be open to more than one standard monthly payment option. A popular type of creative payment option is deferred payments. This is particularly useful when a customer really likes your product but is contractually committed to a competing product or will not have budget until a later date. This helps you control the sales cycle and meet the customer’s time requirements.

The reality is that whoever brings financing to the table controls the sales cycle. Getting out in front with flexible payment options opens the door to more success for both you and your customers.

 

Contact us today to learn more about IFS’ flexible financing solutions and creative payment options. Contact info@ifsleasing.com. 

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