This was my reply to a prospect who is under pressure to fund $99.7m for his project within 30 calendar days. He objects to paying our expense fee.
Lou,
I am not a miracle worker. I do the very best that I can. I have 32 years of financial services experience and have funded hundreds of projects for billions of dollars directly or indirectly from years of running companies. The minimum point of entry with us is to subscribe to our blog: next is to purchase one of our products or services.
Pam “jumped the gun” by scheduling a conference call before acquainting you with the way that we do business. I cannot possibly serve everyone who contacts us. 95% of our business is from referral and the balance is from speaking publicly.
You are under pressure to close within 30 days. According to Pam two lenders gave written commitments and reneged. The materials that Pam provided for your project require a lot of improvement before a lender “will pull the trigger” and fund. It will take me a minimum of 25 hours of pure, uninterrupted time to prepare your package for funding.
The $25,000 is fully earned and non-refundable but if you read the CFSI funding agreement you’ll find that it is credited against the success fee at closing. If you check the blog you’ll find that four clients are being funded this week and in June 2009 for $622 million. They’re not whining or complaining.
Historically the success rate that brokers have in closing commercial loans is 3% so the 40% to 60% that you’ve credited me with is 13 to 20 times what others accomplish which bodes well for you, doesn’t it?
You also receive six months of service which means that you have almost unlimited access to me 50 to 54 hours a week by phone, personal visit here in Concord CA, or by email.
When you are serious and you want to hire a seasoned pro you may consider us. I tell the truth. I provide way more informational content that any competitor. Business is referred by 230 referral partners whom are attorneys, CPA’s, financial planners, insurance agents and brokers, bankers, members of the American Cash Flow Association, note brokers, commercial realtors, people in the business valuation business and more.
I sincerly hope that you succeed in funding your project.
May God bless you exceedingly, abundantly in your endeavors.
On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 7:08 AM, Louis Bexxxx 145@earthlink.net> wrote:
Joe,
I always find it funny when a person tries to sell other products to me while saying send me $25,000 for a 40% to 60% chance to get us financed.
Louis H Bexxxx
One reply on “How Do You Really Feel About Paying Our Business Consultation Fee?”
I work 50 to 54 hours a week and do my very best to serve those who contact us. I cannot serve everyone. Expenses are substantial, phone bills are staggering, trips to visit funding sources are time consuming and costly. We ask prospective clients to pay a nominal fully earned, non-refundable 1% business consultation fee and credit that back against commissions earned on large projects.
The fact is that many prospective clients don’t just approach one potential funding source they contact several and they pit one against the other. The success rate of funding traditionally hovers between 3% to 5% which means that if we don’t collect a capped expense fee that we are wasting our time 95% to 97% of the time.
The expense fee stops prospective clients from “shopping” their project. They get serious. They get committed. They get results. Isn’t that what you want?