What Do Your Customers Want? The Money to Pay for Your Products? What a ridiculous concept. Why would I possibly give my customer the money to buy my own product? If I gave the customer the money to buy my products, then I wouldn’t have any money left. What kind of business advisor are you? As crazy as it seems, the concept of giving your customer the money to buy your product is actually one of the most fundamental financial concepts that exist in the market today. How many products are in the marketplace that the customer simply does not have the money to buy; but that customer wants those products very badly? Left to his or her own devices, the customer would never be able to accumulate the resources to be able to buy the product or service that the vendor or supplier is selling. Consequently it has become very commonplace in our consumer-driven world for the seller to provide the financial resources to the customers as a necessary accommodation to them. Now this doesn’t mean that we reach into our pocket, give the customer the money, and then ask the customer for the money back. Giving the customer the money means that we help to facilitate the financial side of the transaction so that the customer can make it possible to make the purchase from us. Think about all of the industries where this happens. Take cars for example. If a customer walks into a car dealership and picks out the car of their dreams, how many of them would actually be able to take out their checkbook and buy that car – right on the spot? If the car dealerships had to rely on people paying cash for every item that is purchased from them, they wouldn’t sell very many vehicles. So in response, the car dealerships have built financing right into their selling program: the last step in the purchase process includes a visit to the finance department. When the customer enters the finance department, he or she knows what to expect. Sure, there will be a few upsell attempts, but for the most part, the purpose of the finance department is so that the car dealership can help the customer get the money they need to buy the car. The dealership evaluates the credit of the buyer and then attempts to secure offers for financing from the various financial institutions, all on behalf of the customer.

The customer expends very little effort beyond filling out a simple credit application. A few minutes later the car dealership comes back to the customer and informs them where they will be mailing their monthly check and how much that check will be for. Other industries do it as well. How often do we see appliance companies that offer a “zero interest” credit card on the spot for the customer to make the purchase? The seller gives you the money and sometimes you don’t have to make any payments for a long time. It is very common in our consumer environment that we operate this way. If the money were not available, and if it were not easy for the consumer to acquire the money, how many sales would these businesses be generating? Why doesn’t the information world operate this way? Why is it that so few of us know the tricks of the trade as it relates to securing financing for our customers? Lets take a look at another business where financing is critical to the success of the marketplace. The housing market is all together different than the vehicle marketplace and as information marketers, we don’t want to follow the example of that business. Imagine a prospective homebuyer that walks into a home that they love and prepares to make an offer. It is incumbent on the buyers to get their own financing from their own source. Sure there are mortgage brokers, and the real estate agent might have a suggestion or two, but at the end of the day, it is incumbent on the home buyer to secure the financing. If they can’t get it, they can’t buy the house. The seller has no influence and no control, and they really have no way of helping the buyer to purchase the house unless the seller himself wants to extend financing, which most cannot do.

The point for an information marketer is this: don’t leave the buyer to his own devices to figure out how to pay you. The best way to immediately increase revenue if you are an information product seller, a professional speaker, an author, or someone who is moving high-priced intellectual property, is to provide the financing to your prospective customers yourself. You will need to arrange for the financing in advance so that when the customers show up and are ready to buy, you can offer them a cash or credit option. There aren’t very many sources for financing of information products, but if you want to move forward and offer a credit solution, be prepared to package your services in a manner that is both understandable by the lender and desirable to the lender. The basic issues and parameters that you must understand are as follows: # Generally, financing for information products is only offered by specialty finance companies. # Financing sources will normally only finance something that is complete. If you offer a work in process, such as a coaching service that promises a certain outcome, then there can be a dispute by the customer who says that the work was never fully delivered, the product was never thoroughly built, or there was some defect in the service or product they bought. The financing source needs to be able to verify that in fact the product was fully delivered, that the services were rendered according to the agreement, and that the buyer of those services received what they expected. Once that happens, the buyer of the services can then advise the financing company that the terms of the agreement have been met and that they agree to assume the responsibilities of the finance contract in full. # The seller of the information services usually receives his or her money after the services have been rendered. Although it is possible to arrange for an earlier release of funds in some cases, most of the cash will be paid out at the end. Again, how you package your services and present it to the lender will make a giant difference in how you are paid by the lender. # The lender will probably hold back a reserve account for people who do not pay so you won’t get all of your money right away. #

Finally, be prepared for the cost of the program. Making money costs money and although most of the burden will be carried by the customer, you as the information seller will still incur some of it. Therefore, you may want to adjust the price of your program for people to take the credit option. The bottom line is this, as you are working everyday to grow your business, it may be incumbent upon you to find a source of financing for your customers so that they can buy your products. Especially if you sell high-priced products, it is even more important that you help your customers find a way to acquire the financing or the capital so that they can buy the excellent products and services you sell. You must “give them the money.” Otherwise, how can they benefit from what you