The Lease Closer Newsletter

Published BI-monthly by Granieri Associates for the equipment Leasing Industry

 

July/August 2002

 

Inside This Issue

 

η The Lease World

η The Closer’s Corner

η Why Lease

 

The Articles in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of Granieri Associates but the views of the writers themselves. If you would like to comment on a particular article please call Granieri Associates during normal business hours (9:00-6:00 PM)

 

Spotlight

η The Lease World

 

η Customer Frustrations

 

η Objections Connection

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Why Lease…………………………………………………………………………………………………2

Lease World………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Internet Data…………………………………………………………………………………………….6

Top Gun Seminar Schedule…………………………………………………………………………..7

Objection Connection…………………………………………………………………………………8

The Closer’s Corner…………………………………………………………………………………….9

 

 

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 2

 

Why Lease?

 

You have all heard that one before, haven’t you? The fact is that there are more reasons for business entities to lease than are ordinarily published in the brochures of leasing companies.

 

Controlling The Decision Making Level

 

When equipment acquisition costs exceed capital budgets, division managers often must go to a higher authority for the money. Not only is this time consuming , but sales have a way of getting killed in the process.

 

I have found that since leasing payments can come from an operating budget, lower level decision makers can often make the financing decision themselves.

 

Increasing Reported Income

 

Coaches and mangers in professional sports live and die by their win-lose records. Similarly, corporate mangers are evaluated by the numbers they produce. And these numbers are interpreted into a corporate win-lose column by various financial ratios.

 

The important ratios are return on assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). True (not necessarily operating) lease may have the effect of increasing reported earnings because the payments do not lower pre-tax income as much as depreciation and interest expenses. And, Obviously, if you increase net income after taxes, you increase ROA and ROE.

 

 

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 3

 

FASB 13 Operating Lease

 

Most leasing companies today, especially brokers, write some form of capital lease as their  bread and butter. Fine. Still there is a lot of extra income to be made structuring leases that satisfy FASB 13 requirements. Please note that you can structure true lease for tax purposes that do not meet FASB 13 requirements for operating leases. The potential loss of income occurs when you have a buttercup transaction - credit, rates, etc., - but the lessees accountant wants an operating lease that qualifies under FASB 13. In these instances, you are faced with two different alternatives:

 

1.   Structure

2.   Walk

 

Personally, I think you should structure because theses transactions can add a great deal to your annual income.

 

Token Payments During Down Seasons

 

Everyone is familiar with skipped payment programs that meet a prospect’s cash flow needs. A variation of the skip concept that is becoming popular is to have the lessee make token payments during the periods that would ordinarily be skipped,e.g.10% of the regular monthly payment.

 

Example

COE: $45,000            Term: 36 months            Yield: 17%                Option: $1

Adv: 0             Profit: 5pts

 

 

 

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 4

 

NPV of the Known Quantities

 

105+/- in

in         36in

17/12 - I%

NPV: -105 +/- Sto 9

 

NPV of the unknown Quantities

 

The lessee wants token payments of 10% in Jan, Feb, and Mar of each year. The Lease begins in Dec

 

0          in

1          in in

.10       in 3in

1          in 9in

.10       in 3in

1          in 9in

.10       in 3in

1          in 9in

Exit Calc

17/12 = I%

NPV: 21.42635

Sto/9               RCL9            4.90051

.0490051 x $45,000 = $2205.23 or $2205.50 Regular Pmt

$2200.53 or $221.00 during the down season ($220.52 is 10% of the regular payment)

 

 

Lease World

 

In 2001 the leasing industry grew to $114.6 billion in new business volume versus $112.7 billion in the previous year.

 

According to the FDIC, banking industry ROA edged up 1 basis point in 2001 to 1.19%

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 5

 

ELA 2002 Survey Results and Highlights

 

Most new business volume was found in the large ticket market segment, the more than $5 million transaction size category (35%). The $250,00 to $5 million segment represents 26% of the business volume, the $25,000 to $250,000 category shoes 12% of the volume; and transactions less than $25,000, 27%.

 

The most widely used remarketing method to dispose of equipment at the end of the initial lease term was equipment purchased by the original lessee at 54%. (46% was abandoned or returned)

 

71% of applications submitted were approved, 54% booked and funded or brokered.

 

Overall 42% of survey respondents reported being  engaged in e-commerce in some form.

 

Independent lessors represent approximately 36% of industry new business volume. Bank lessors represent 38% , and captive leasing companies represent 26%

 

Survey: US Hiring “Cautious”

 

24% of the companies  surveyed expected to hire more people in the fourth quarter, while 9% plan to cut workers, according to Manpower Inc’s quarterly survey of 16,000 businesses.

 

The finance, insurance and real estate sector is the only one surveyed that anticipates improved hiring compared to last quarter a year ago, the survey found.

 

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 6

 

The manufacturing sector, hit hard by the recession, expects to maintain a consistent hiring level , which is a significant improvement over a year ago.

 

The Midwest is leading the nation in the recovery of manufacturing jobs, while the south expects to experience higher demand for workers in the services sector.

 

 

: Internet Data :

 

Granieri Associates Website: www.granieriassociates.com

a wealth of selling information for the firing line leasing salesperson.

 

Michael Granieri e-mail: . Granite63@aol.com

Ph 732-828-8891   Fax 732-828-8887

 

The Financial Services Monitor: www.monitordaily.com

The Wall Street Journal of the equipment leasing industry

 

The Equipment Finance Journal: www.efj.com

An excellent supplement to the monitor.

 

Other Websites worth a visit

www.eael.org

www.naelb.org

www.uael.org

www.elaonline.org

www.leasingnews.org

www.leasingissues.com

www.triad-group.com

www.wildwoodfinancialgroup.com

www.lindakester.com

www.corporatelearn.com

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 7

 

Granieri Associates: Top Gun Seminar Schedule

 

East

( Mon, Sept 23, 2002 - Boston, MA

( Frid, Oct 18, 2002 - Wash, DC

 

South

( Mon, Oct 7, 2002 - Charlotte, NC

( Mon, Nov 11, 2002 - Atlanta, GA

( Tues, Nov 12, 2002 - Birmingham, AL

( Mon, Dec 2, 2002 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

 

Midwest

( Mon, Oct 21, 2002 - Chicago, IL

 

West

( Mon, Nov 4, 2002 - Phoenix, AZ

( Mon, Nov 18, 2002 - San Francisco, CA

( Mon, Dec 9, 2002 - Anaheim, CA

 

Ά Topic: Lease Marketing Strategies

 

· Time: 9:00 - 4:30 PM

 

Έ Cost: $200.00 per person or $175.00 per person for two or more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 8

 

The Objection Connection

 

Bank Financing

 

Capital Lease vs Bank Loan

1.   Purchase option offers flexibility.

2.   Down payment may be lower with a lease

3.   Establish a new line of credit

4.   Terms and conditions are usually more flexible with a lease.

5.   Restrictive covenants

 

Lease vs Loan

1.   Faster write offs in many cases

2.   Tax impact

3.   Option provides more flexibility

4.   More flexible terms and conditions

5.   Possible off-balance sheet financing

 

Rates vs Bank or Cash

1.   Tax impact with True leases

2.   Custom Financing: Compare to lessees product or service - general benefits

3.   Give benefits pertinent to individual lessee i.e., specific benefits

For example: Deferred payment program.

 

Competitive Rates

1.   Six substantive reasons why you’re worth your rates.

2.   Get involved in the sale. Don’t become a benign quote giver.

3.   Know thy competitor’s total proposal in order to make sure your lessee is comparing apples to apples.

4.   “Mr. Prospect: Is getting the lowest monthly payment the most important part of a financing proposal?”

 

July/Aug 2002 The Lease Closer                  Page 9

 

Customer Frustrations

 

39% felt that salespeople were difficult to communicate with

 

Precisely they listed difficulty in getting through to salespeople for post-sale follow up. They felt that there were too many layers of voice mail and red tape between them and their sales representatives.

 

Stress Point: Many salespeople are guilty of the “sell ‘em and forget ‘em” syndrome. After they get the customer’s check they move on to the next prospect and relegate service to the back burner. A dissatisfied customer tells an average of eleven people about his experience  with in twenty-four hours. Also, it costs much more to obtain a new client than it does to maintain an existing one.

 

29% said that salespeople do not take time to learn about their company

 

A few years ago a study revealed that people tend to buy from salespeople whom they perceive as being sincerely interested, trusted advisers, who could help solve their problems. All of theses traits point toward the type of salesperson who takes time to learn about their prospect’s and clients companies