|
|
Equipment Leasing Book Review “Selling
Leasing in a Tough Economy” by Jeffrey Taylor A "must read" for anyone
who wants to get into the equipment leasing business---or
as important--- "stay"--- in the equipment leasing business---be
they sales, administration, operations, collection, or accounting. Page 31---“Our industry
is in trouble. We may be down, but we are
not out. We are just going through another phase
of leasing evolution. Good times are always followed
by bad times, which are followed by good times. The question is, how
long do the bad times last? History indicates
7-10 years.” Page 11---“Let me give you
some advice. I’ve been consulting to the
leasing industry for more than twenty years. I’ve seen the good
years and I’ve seen the bad. Believe me, things are going to get
worse before they get better. Why? Because there
are thousands of lessors chasing too few deals and not enough good credits
to go around. Some lessors will eventually give up, shut their doors
and sell their existing dealers for cash to pay off their creditors. “How do I know that this
is the future? Let me go back to 1961.” The reader certainly gets more
than their money's worth in this 151-page book. It is a jewel. The material is
both pithy and profound. You understand it the
first time, and when you re-read, in context with the chapter, you learn
even more. I particularly enjoyed the autobiographical
approach. Page 45—“ I believe
there is one core skill which will define the most successful
individuals. It’s the ability and propensity
to engage in self-directed learning. The only sustainable effective
response to a rapidly changing world is cultivating the ability to positively
transform ourselves and our organizations. And that’s the definition of self-directed learning. “The individuals who become
disciplined, systematic self-directed learners will be the success stories
of this new era. Likewise, those organizations
that become learning organizations have the best chance of surviving
and prospering. “In a nutshell, the only
competitive advantage the leasing company of the future will have is
its manager’s ability to learn faster than their competitor. In fact, I would argue that the rate at which individuals and
organizations learn may become the only sustainable competitive advantage.” Page 49--- “In summary, your learning
goals should incorporate the following challenges: --Increase your emotional intelligence --Live with and enjoy a world
of constant change --Avoid activities which disrupt
learning --Destroy all achievement blockers “It is not enough to just
want to learn. One has to prioritize it and incorporate
it into daily life.”
Who is Jeff Taylor? A man who has failed and appears
proud of it, as it has made him tougher, smarter, and wiser.
In addition to being “street smart,” he is a brain. He earned his MBA in Operations from the University of Chicago,
and his BA in Finance from Washington University. He studied music and
composition in France at the University of Strasbourg and the University
of Grenoble in France. He is a licensed CPA in Utah, California and New York and is
currently a member of many finance and leasing associations, plus publishes
a semi-monthly newsletter called Lease Accounting, Tax and Politics,
which is read by more than 13,000 readers in 110 countries. Page 13 (1981)---“At the
time I was living in San Francisco (I got transferred there by Citibank
to work for their foreign exchange operations---I quit when they tried
to send me back to New York) and working for Peat Marwick’s consulting
group. There was a bank in Seattle, called SeaFirst Bank, who had a
leasing division that could not get a clean audit from Arthur Andersen.
SeaFirst hated AA and wanted another CPA firm to come in and help them
clean up their operations. Their accounting systems were in disarray
and no one could prove the numbers. The only problem---no one on the
auditing side knew COBOL. And I did. “Over the years, I combined
my COBOL and CPA skills to fix systems for all Peat’s major leasing
clients---GE, Barclays, GATX, New England Merchant Leasing Security
Pacific, BankAmerica and First Union, to name a few. I lived on the road and learned everything I could about how
all leasing departments worked. “While I learned the business
and began to see how all of the pieces fit together, I got to meet some
of the industry’s best sales people. I listened
to every word of advice that I was fortunate to receive and started
to keep journals of ideas, methods, and tricks of the trade. “I developed a reputation
for getting the job done and on time, I was treated well and started
to make a lot of money...One day, in 1984, I browsed the local newsstand
and fixated on a magazine called “Entrepreneur.” It was
their first edition and I threw my entire accounting career away to
develop my first PC-based training business ( The Leasing Coach.) I
mortgaged the house with a 2nd, made a lot of money for a
couple of years, misread the market in 1987, and lost all of my material
assets and marriage in the process.” Page 15---“As it would pass,
I got to meet Sudhir Amembal, the founder of the lease training industry.
Sudhir told me that he is expanding his business and that he thinks
I would be great as a full-time classroom instructor...I worked for
Sudhir, Shawn Hallady and John Deane for five years. In return for writing material for senior management and other
instructors, developing new courses, running leasing conferences and
creating PC-based software models, they agreed to teach me the leasing
training business.” Page 17---“the primary
purpose for me sharing with you these travails is simple. I want to: --Share with you my own experiences --Show you that it is possible
to succeed with impossible odds --Guide you to be the best person
you can be --Help you improve your own selling
capabilities. Page 69—Chapter 7 “
Twenty Ways to Stand Out in a Crowd.” “Selling is an art not a
science. Great salespeople create relationships
and breathe life into them. They deliver unique services that create
value that cannot be achieved anywhere else in the world. They communicate potential benefits to others without making
them feel that they have to give up something to get something.
In any words, great salespeople deliver win-win solutions.” Chapter 7 is worth the price of
the book alone. The theme of “Selling Leasing
in a Tough Economy” is one of the items mentioned in Chapter 12.
Here is a quote: Page 125---“Know every
aspect of leasing. “As I mentioned throughout
the book, you need to read as much as you can. Find some time every
week to read at least one leasing journal, one leasing newsletter, check
out one leasing website and one major newspaper. “In addition, learn as much
as you can about the other operations in your company. Acquire as much
detail as you can. It is the details that you
will prevent, or at a minimum, minimize
mistakes from destroying your relationships.” “Selling Leasing in a
Tough Economy” Chapter 1—Welcome to the
Equipment Leasing Industry Chapter 2---Will Leasing Survive? Chapter 3—Where are the
Leaders? Chapter 4---Are you Ready to Learn? Chapter 5---Why Companies Lease? Chapter 6---The Lifecycle of a
Lease Chapter 7---Twenty Ways to Stand
Out in a Crowd Chapter 8---Identify Marketing
Opportunities Chapter 9-Eighteen Ways to Win
More Business Chapter 10---Work the Network Chapter 11—When you Feel
Like Quitting Chapter 12---Advanced Marketing
Concepts Chapter 13---Quit Complaining Chapter 14---Thank God Chapter 15---Success Comes in
Many Packages Let me add, the cover of the book
is also very attractive. It looks like something you would want to put on the coffee
table in your den or office. You can carry it with you on the plane
or put on your bedroom nightstand. Jeff dedicated the book to his
wife Toby:
To buy the book: http://two.leasingnews.org/Books_Direct.htm#selling My suggestion is to send Mr. Taylor
an e-mail --and ask him to autograph the book to you. This is a classic you will want to keep: $65 plus shipping Christopher Menkin
|
|
