It seems like we've had our fair share of quest bloggers in the last two weeks. Starting with Trevor Hoffer from Print Audit, and then Dan Donohue from Polek & Polek .
I'd like to introduce our latest guest blogger as Kevin Clune, President of Clune & Company LLC.
Take a trip to the Clune & Company web site, and see how Clune can help your dealership gain extra margins while retaining the best customer satisfaction in the office equipment leasing industry.
A World of Changes
We have seen incredible changes in our industry (leasing/finance) in the past 6 months. Many leasing companies have shut down and are just collecting their portfolios. They've been racked with record portfolio losses and now have an inability to access the capital needed to fund new deals.
We have not seen so much turmoil in our industry since the early 80’s. The prime borrowing rate peaked at 21.5%, unemployment was almost 11% and 12% was a great fixed rate for a home mortgage.
Leasing will be a larger share of equipment sales this year for at least two reasons: Budgets in almost every company have been tightened down like never before—a lease slips into a budget far more easily than a large capital outlay. Additionally, many companies have had their borrowing abilities greatly reduced by their banks. When banks had plenty of money to lend many would pay cash for equipment……..now it’s a totally different landscape.
We also believe that "leading" with a $1 buyout lease is not in the best interest of the dealer. It's a higher payment for the customer AND since he owns it at the end of the lease it is far more difficult to regularly trade them up into new equipment. The $1 buyout rate of .0246 is frightfully high.
We partner with copier vendors so that they can lead with a unique concept that is a true lease (off balance sheet). One of the essential differences in our arrangement is that the vendor owns the machine at the end of the lease. That gives the vendor total control of what options are given to the customer, and the vendor, not the leasing company profits accordingly.
On a standard FMV or $1 lease the vendor gets nothing at the end of the lease. On our plan the vendor stands to make significant yet ethical profits.
Kevin Clune
Clune & Company LLC
My experience with Clune Leasing began 20 years ago. Never in these years have I had to deal with issues regarding Property Tax, Insurance, forced renewals, unreasonable grace period/late fees or equipment return hassles. I have also never lost a customer due to the practices of my lease company, Clune Leasing.
ReplyDeleteIf you would like a business reference for this company, feel free to email me at jim@cbs-digital.com. I have no relationship with this company other than the loyalty that springs from years of great service that they have provided.
Jim Parker (Old Glory)