Several months ago I had a call from a prospect that wanted purchase order financing. During the first 5 minutes of conversation, it became clear that the prospect was not up to speed on their own business. Their introduction went reasonably well until I started asking questions. Even the most basic question required that they stop and think for a while, only to produce an unacceptable answer.
Basically:
1. They could not tell me their line of business with any clarity. They could also not articulate how they got started in their business or what their level of experience was
2. They were not able to tell me if they had won the orders that needed financing, or if they were only bidding
3. Although they needed financing for two simple orders, it took him two minutes to ruffle through the orders to tell me what they were for. (By the way, they were simple, as in, the client wanted 100 widgets)
4. He had no idea of the size or expected gross margins on the orders
Although we spoke for 20 minutes, the prospect was not able to give me a single piece of actionable information. Ultimately I excused myself because I had a meeting to attend to and ended the call.
It was clear to me that the prospect had not prepared themselves, even in the slightest most basic way, to present their business for financing. How can they expect to land business financing if they can't answer the most simple questions about their company? Factoring and purchase order financing can be easier to obtain than a conventional business loan - but they still require that you prepare yourself to answer questions about your business.
By the way, the world of business financing is not different from other types of venues where first impressions can be last impressions.
Note: this post does not depict a real call or real prospect - but rather a collage made from several experiences.
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Looking for information on purchase order financing? Read the purchase order finance blog
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