Do I Look Like a Therapist?
I almost feel like the Lease Whisperer after recently hearing two lease experience stories from two chance encounters. One concerned automatic renewals and the other topic was inflexible lease contracts.
These two potential customers recently connected with our business in two most unconventional methods. The first was on an airplane and the other was a drive-by sighting. Let me explain.
After squeezing past a man in an aisle seat and settling into our seats, my wife & I exchanged greetings with the gentleman in our row. When the conversation turned to questions about what each of us did for a living, our new acquaintance said that he had a good story for us.
He was a business owner from Kentucky whose company failed to notify a lessor of their desire to purchase their leased equipment at the end of the contract. We were secretly hoping for an inside tip on the upcoming Kentucky Derby; but I digress.
When his CEO noticed this oversight, their company had already been auto-renewed without notice for another 12 months at the same price per month. They had already paid 3 payments that totaled over 300% of the residual.
Fortunately, his company had the potential to do more business with this Lessor and they were able to leverage future lease contracts in exchange for a favorable resolution of the problem. However, he did ask for a business card from us.
The other encounter started with a phone call. “I noticed the sign outside your office building this morning and I wonder if you could help me with a lease for one of my customers?” asked the caller.
He was a principal in a local manufacturing business that had been referring their customers to a lease provider with strict contract requirements. They had some customers who had unique needs, he explained, and their leasing partner was unable to adequately serve them.
After I recovered from the shock of learning that a customer had found us due to our outdoor signage and hearing the details, I responded that Clune is able to modify contracts in the special circumstances he described. He was relieved to learn that Independent lease providers, such as Clune & Company, typically have more flexibility than some of our competitors in the leasing industry.
I suppose the moral of both of these stories is that social media is overrated and I just need to travel more often and invest in a larger outdoor sign.
Seriously, however, our staff will gladly accept the role of “lease whisperer” if anyone needs to share their lease experience story. In some cases, we may even be able to offer a solution.
It’s the lease we could do,
Kevin F. Clune, CLFP
Clune & Company
