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• 12 Jul

  Do You Need An Invoice Finance Sales Visit?

  Times have changed, when I worked for the invoice financing arm of Barclays, our sales people always visited new prospective clients, and these visits were the conduit to acquiring new business.

  The titles of the sales team vary between organisations, for example, "Business Development Manager", "Business Development Director" and "Sales Manager/Director" are often used interchangeably - but the role was generally always the same. Visit the customer, at least once, build a relationship and smooth the transition to becoming a client.

  Do You Need An Invoice Finance Sales Visit?

  Now there are some invoice finance companies that do not always insist upon a salesperson visiting the prospects. This can have positive and negative consequences.

  The Benefits Of Using The Phone

  One of the key reasons cited for not visiting prospects is the additional speed of delivery which can be achieved. The idea is that the salesperson gathers all the information they need over the phone. This gives them a first mover advantage over their competitors that have to book meetings, sometimes several days in advance.

  A phone based service also gets over the geographic constraints of visiting prospects all over the UK. Many providers have satellite offices around the country, but some of the smaller providers operate from just one or two locations. This can make the geography difficult.

  Convenience for a busy client is another factor that should not be overlooked. Booking meetings can be difficult, so the phone can be a quicker, more efficient option.

  The Argument For Visiting

  The downside to not having a sales visit is the greater difficulty of building a relationship with a prospect, over the phone rather than in person. When much of our communication is non-verbal, this is lost if you don't have a face-to-face meeting.

  Optional Visits?

  As with so many things in our industry sector, different parties take a different approach. Perhaps having the ability to make some visits, whilst not having to visit every customer, could be a reasonable compromise the position.

  Even within the invoice finance broker market, there are some brokers that still insist upon a personal visit. Again this may be used to in "add value" and build the relationship, but it can also lead to delays. Our approach has always been that as far as the broker service goes, whilst we would love to have a face-to-face meeting with customers, it is the sales people from the invoice finance companies that are best placed to progress the customers enquiry. Therefore, our service tends to be telephone based, but with the emphasis on introducing a salesperson from an invoice finance provider as soon as possible.

  Whether or not the salesperson visits should perhaps be driven by the needs of the client, rather than organisational efficiencies. Both options are available, so the choice is in the hands of our clients. Please call Sean on: 03330 113622 for help arranging a meeting, or a call with a saleperson from an invoice finance company that can provide the funding you need.

  By Glenn Blackman