A Sure-fire Recipe for Success
Efficient Customized Solutions
Leasing has established itself as a financing tool in just about every field of commerce. It is used by the self-employed, medium-sized companies, multinationals, service companies, high-tech specialists, heavy-industry concerns, freelance professionals, private individuals, and even public authorities. But it is probably medium-sized manufacturing companies that have come to rely most on leasing as a means of making investments.
Customized Investment Solutions
The leasing sector in Germany is as broad and diverse as the customer base it serves. Major concerns – more often than not with operations outside Germany, and not infrequently affiliated with banks or manufacturers – compete alongside a host of medium-sized leasing companies, many of whom specialize in the leasing of one particular type of investment, or in serving one specific regional market. Real-estate and “big-ticket” specialists are just as much a part of the scene as “small-ticket” companies that serve niche markets. All leasing companies, however, have one thing in common:they have set themselves the goal of providing solutions tailored to their customers’ individual requirements and aspirations.
Central Strategic Role
Leasing has come to play a central role in many companies’ corporate planning strategies, regardless of the prevailing macroeconomic climate. A much more important consideration than the ups and downs of the economic cycle is the dizzying rate at which technological innovation nowadays reduces the length of product cycles. Leasing provides companies with a flexible investment tool that allows them to keep up with the latest developments in the marketplace, and thus to sustain their own competitiveness.
Specialists with Investment Expertise and a Feel for the Market
As professional investors, leasing companies have an in-depth understanding of capital-goods markets and the advisability or otherwise of specific types of investment. By maintaining close contact with their customers, they have developed something of a sixth sense for trends on both the supply and the demand side. That means they have the flexibility to come up at short notice with solutions tailored exactly to the requirements of specific companies or industrial sectors. Increasingly they are assuming the role of consultative partners who help their customers to identify cost-saving potentials, and, through their provision of flexible leasing facilities, to optimize their cost structures.
Value-Added Services Enhance the All-Round Efficiency of Leasing Products
Over the 50 years that leasing services have been available in Germany, demand-side expectations of the product on offer have changed radically. Whereas in earlier decades the financing of a particular investment was the sole focus of attention, present-day leasing customers – in particular, those who lease vehicles, IT equipment, or property – expect to be provided with comprehensive back-up and support services. Leasing companies have responded by developing innovative, bundled products that provide the customer with genuine added value. Today leasing is as much about offering a full range of follow-up services as it is about the initial financing of an investment.
Guidance and Support in Germany and Abroad
The investment and capital-market expertise of the German leasing sector is not restricted to domestic markets. More and more German leasing companies are setting up operations in neighbouring European countries, where they are represented by subsidiaries, local branch offices, or co-operation partners. This is enabling them to support company customers wishing to expand their international sales and production activities. The consultative support and the wide-ranging practical solutions offered by the German leasing sector are enabling internationally active companies to develop effective investment and financing strategies on both sides of the German border.