“Your expertise in your line of work helped my client come to closure on all the financing needs for their sites across the United States. When I turn my clients over to you for equipment financing I know they are in good hands and can trust First Star Capital to streamline whatever financing is best for my end users. I am extremely happy with your professionalism and helping my company reach our goals. I look forward to our business relationship for years to come.”
- President, Waste Management & Recycling
Equipment Vendor (Dallas, TX.)

The quote above was transcribed from an actual testimonial letter that we received from a long time business partner.  First Star Capital has been the preferred equipment financing / equipment leasing partner for this equipment supplier for a number of years.  Although this is the case, First Star prides itself on not being complacent as we continue to add new tools for our business partners to be able to close more sales and grow their annual sales volume.  Even in a down economy we have continued to invest back into our business, refining our processes, streamlining our procedures and strengthening our platform.  Our vendor partners appreciate the fact that we stay focused on ways to shorten their sales cycle and increase their average transaction size.  We feel that this is one of the attributes of a good business partner – a company that is continually enhancing their value proposition by offering timely and effective resources that help others achieve and exceed their goals or quotas.

We receive a fair amount of these testimonial letters from both equipment vendors and end users – when they are mailed on company letterhead we frame them and proudly display them in the lobby of our office (we have a pretty impressive collection compiled so far).  When they are received by e-mail we proudly display them on our main website's testimonial page. We will continue to use an actual vendor / customer testimonial as the intro to the monthly newsletter from Vendor Financing 101.

As an example of First Star continually rolling out new tools to help our business partners we have recently implemented an online payment calculator.  It can be accessed anytime on the web at: www.vendorfinancing101.com/paymentcalc.php.  This new tool has been well received thus far and is especially useful for equipment vendors with multiple locations and sales staff in different parts of the country.  Anytime you would like to include a monthly payment option in an outgoing quote or proposal, you can easily calculate the figures online any time of the day.  Over the years we have come to realize that it is common for sales people to compile their quotes / proposals outside of normal business hours.  Even though this is now available online, I am always available to discuss financing opportunities or to quote monthly payments over the phone but this tool will allow equipment vendors immediate access to the relevant monthly payment options anytime so they can issue customer proposals / quotes that include a financing or leasing option any time of day or over the weekends. 

Additionally, this online payment calculator can be customized in a number of ways so that it is as relevant to your business as possible (can be implemented into your company’s website and have the same look and feel that your company currently has – colors, graphics, logo’s, fonts, etc.).  Below are some examples:

http://www.firststarcapital.com/vendors/service-partners/
http://www.firststarcapital.com/vendors/rscrental/
http://www.firststarcapital.com/vendors/cpi/

We will discuss some of the attributes of an effective customer financing program and reasons to consider implementing a formal / structured vendor financing program complete with some recent real world examples in next month’s newsletter.  Stay tuned!

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About Vendor Financing 101

Vendor Financing 101 is a strategic tool box for top performing equipment vendors nationally.  Businesses that sell equipment experience an immediate jump in sales when they implement an effective equipment financing or equipment leasing program.  Business owners and sales people constantly report sizeable increases in their sales volume after implementing an equipment finance program for their customers.  The vendor finance group is the fastest growing division within First Star Capital. Read More »

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March 2010

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