Knowing how to suggest financing is an important skill for sales people, especially in the analytical chemistry industry.

Why should a sales representative care about financing?

Plain and simple, by offering financing you will sell more units. On average, sales reps close an additional 2 to 3 orders per year by proactively discussing financing. See our previous article on the benefits of offering financing to your clients.

When should sales representatives discuss financing?

Most sales reps discuss financing as a last resort.  I suggest discussing financing at the time you discuss discounts. In most cases the sales process starts off with several technical conversations on the instrumentation itself. Once the proof of concept is conveyed, the pricing/discounts discussion begins. This is the time to ask your client if they are planning on purchasing or financing.

Listen for the financing buzzwords!

Check out our previous article on our top six financing buzzwords heard from clients and how to respond.

How about a clever way to re-engage previous deals?

Every sales representative has quoted clients who have then become unresponsive.  Reaching out to introduce financing is great way to re-engage with these clients.  Re-Engaging… It’s been a while since we last spoke and I want to reconnect to let you know that we have a new financing partner.  Would you be interested in making monthly payments on the instrumentation we quoted?

Include the option of financing on purchase quotes.

If you have the ability to add text to your purchase quote, I suggest adding the following sentence on selected quotes “Need Financing? Contact your sales engineer for more information.”

Normally, purchasing quotes are provided to the lab manager. From there, they move to the finance department for approval. Every person who touches that quote will now understand that they have the option to finance. This simple statement can lead to many won opportunities.

On the flip side, if your client has a history of purchasing, and submitting purchase orders quickly, I would not muddy the waters by discussing financing. As a sales representative you understand your clientele and when it makes sense to add a sentence about financing on your purchasing quotes.

Contact us to learn how your organization can increase revenue through our vendor financing programs.