How Financing Drives Stronger High-End Equipment Sales

By talking financing early, salespeople can help customers move past the perceived affordability gap.

Are your high-end equipment sales conversations ending up like this more often lately?

You: So, as we’ve discussed, this solution delivers far greater productivity and efficiency than the base and mid-range models, as well as a stronger guest experience.
Customer: Yes, I agree.
You: And while it does cost more upfront, would you agree that the increased revenue, lower lifetime operating costs and higher guest satisfaction you get from this solution actually make it a smarter, more economical choice?
Customer: Sure, I can’t argue that.
You: Do you have any other questions or concerns?
Customer: No, I don’t think so. You’ve been super helpful, and it does look like the best choice.
You: Great! When would you like the equipment delivered?
Customer: Actually, umm, yeah, about that … I think we’ll go with the base model.

What? You’ve demonstrated all the value, answered all the questions and countered all the objections around your high-end equipment. You’ve made it clear that it really doesn’t make sense to buy anything else. Yet, the customer did.

Why Customers Get Stuck on Affordability and What to Do About It

Selling equipment can be a little like walking alongside a customer on a path that not only climbs upward but also has sinkholes here and there. The bigger the financial investment the customer is being asked to make, the farther you must walk along the path and the more sinkholes you have to help the customer cross.

The perceived affordability gap might be the biggest of those sinkholes. When a customer gets stuck on concerns about affordability, even the best case for going with high-end equipment usually won’t get far. If you can help your customer across that chasm, great — you could be headed toward a sale. But if not? With your customer stuck on the wrong side of the affordability gap, you’re stuck too. Fortunately, equipment financing can act as the bridge that keeps customers on the path to a high-end sale, particularly when deployed at the beginning of the sales conversation.

Here are three ways proactive use of equipment financing can keep high-end sales conversations moving.

Financing Can Take the Focus off Price and Put It on Value

In an ideal world, customers would consider the total value — tangible and intangible — they’ll get from equipment before considering the cost. In the real world, though, it’s almost always the other way around. With those cost concerns foremost in their minds, many customers can’t justify the short-term cash and budget impact of a solution that would deliver much greater value over the long term. But financing — particularly with terms that help spread out costs in a way that better paces revenue generated by the equipment — allows customers to give long-term considerations, well, more consideration. By starting the sales conversation with financing that addresses cash and budget concerns upfront, the benefits of high-end equipment go from an abstract, wouldn’t-it-be-nice concept to a concrete, this-could-really-make-a-difference-for-us reality in the customer’s mind.

Financing Can Help Customers Think Bigger

Many customers probably come to you with a pretty good idea of what’s reasonable to pay for a given piece of equipment. The problem is that they may have an outdated idea of what the equipment should be capable of, especially if they haven’t added or replaced their kitchen gear in a while. Of course, you’re happy to show them how today’s machines, particularly on the high end, give them more than they might have expected, at a cost that’s very reasonable when you consider it in context.

But what about that figure the customer had in mind when they came to you? Because that’s all they gave themselves permission to spend, it can be hard to budge them, no matter how much more the customer could get by spending a little bit more. However, when you introduce customizable financing — and the additional buying power it brings — into the conversation early on, customers are more likely to give themselves permission to think bigger.

Financing Can Change the Customer’s Perception of What Affordability Means

For many customers, the primary question on their minds when they start the sales process is, “What can I afford to buy?” But with the added flexibility and buying power financing offers them, the question often becomes, “Can I really afford to skimp on my investment and save in the short term when the high-end model gives me so much more in the long run?” In other words, the focus shifts from what the customer stands to lose (the cost of the equipment) to what they stand to gain (the added capability, efficiency, productivity, etc. of a high-end solution). That change in mindset can make all the difference when it comes to smoothly guiding the customer along the path to a successful high-end equipment sale.

Get Bigger Sales (and Deeper Relationships) With Equipment Financing

Shepherding customers over the affordability gap is key for capturing any sales opportunity, but it’s especially important for sales of high-end foodservice equipment, where even the most compelling long-term value can quickly take a backseat to short-term cash and budget considerations.

That’s a trade-off your customers shouldn’t have to make. By offering customized equipment financing that aligns with their needs and goals, you’re going beyond winning the sale. You’re also proving that you’re more than just another transactional, interchangeable equipment vendor. Rather, you’re a trusted resource they can come to anytime they need help getting equipped to go after new opportunities and position their businesses for greater competitive strength.

With the right equipment finance program and a creative, resourceful finance team that knows your industry, markets, opportunities, and challenges, financing isn’t just a way to pay. It’s a strategic tool for solving problems, building deeper relationships and accelerating growth — for your customers and for your own business.

About the Author

Matt Diehl is the vice president of business development and program management for LEAF Commercial Capital. Since 2002, more than 312,000 businesses have worked with LEAF to provide creative and affordable equipment financing and capital solutions that solve problems and power growth. Diehl can be reached at mdiehl@leafnow.com.