Many dealers are finding it increasingly difficult to find funding due to a criteria clampdown, says Dealer Sales Director, Tom Maxwell. “Schools who used to have first class credit have suddenly become harder to work with due to local authorities insisting they have an operating lease agreement. This is where the end user only pays back 90% of the value of the lease in their rentals - so someone has to take a residual value risk, which makes the lease cheaper. Many funders have pulled out of this area of the market but we can offer these leases over seven years.”
To enthuse resellers to boost their confidence and knowledge, Nimans runs regular training courses and webinars that focus on effective ways to maximise revenue from leasing.
Nimans has grown leasing by 200% in the last two years and expects these trends to continue. But despite these impressive results Tom concedes that too many resellers are still missing out. “Not everyone is aware of leasing. A lot of resellers should be using leasing but they don’t understand the benefits to them and are frightened to broach the subject with their customers. A reseller offering credit is crucial because if they are not then someone else will be. We are aware of resellers capturing deals because they offered leasing even though their original cash price was higher than a rival.”
He emphasised: “It’s a lot more palatable for an end user to buy equipment at hundreds of pounds each month instead of a one-off payment of say £10,000. Generally a reseller will be talking to an IT or comms manager who is really not that interested how equipment gets paid. It’s the Financial Director. What the reseller needs to do is make it as easy as possible for their contact to sell it to their finance boss. He is far more likely to succeed with leasing especially when additional equipment can be added in further down the line at no extra rental cost.”
Tom concluded: “We make leasing simple and quick. Resellers just send us an e-mail with some basic background details which we can generally approve within five or 10 minutes in most cases. We prepare the documentation and arrange for the transaction to take place within 24 hours. It’s that simple.”