• GENERAL/PROCESS
• EQUIPMENT FINANCING & SERVICES BASED
• VENDOR AND PARTNER ALLIANCE BASED
• CAREER BASED

GENERAL/PROCESS:

Q Does using the LFI website cost my business or company anything?

A No, using the resources and information available on the LFI website does not cost your company anything.  LFI revenue is derived from both commissions paid to LFI from alliance partners for closed financing and/or service based client transactions, and from business clients who engage LFI on a wide variety of consulting services and outsourcing programs.

Q Do I have to become a member to utilize or engage LFI for equipment financing or services?

A No, LFI does not require prospective or existing business customers to become members of any kind of program or affiliation in order to utilize or engage LFI for equipment financing or related services.  Your company is freely able to engage LFI for any equipment financing or services, and at any point in time.

Q Is my company’s proprietary information secure and confidential?

A Yes, your company’s proprietary information is highly secure and confidential, both from a secure and encrypted technology capable platform, and from stringent internal operational procedures and guidelines in dealing with our business clients’ proprietary information (Refer to Security/Privacy Section for more information).

Q Does LFI engage in a lease bid or lease auction process?

A No, LFI does not engage in a traditional lease bid or auction process, but instead utilizes the broad and in-depth expertise of its highly skilled leasing and service based professionals in its Virtual Trade Center "VTC". LFI combines years of industry specific experience with a vast global network of reliable equipment funding sources and service providers to bring our clients custom tailored and seamless financing and/or service based solutions (Refer to Services Offered and Strategic Differentiators Sections for more information).

Q What do I do if I don’t understand certain leasing, financing or business terminology?

A LFI has developed the “In The Know” Global Lease/Finance Industry Dictionary of leasing, finance and business terminology.  The dictionary of terminology was specifically developed to provide our business customers with most of the industry specific terminology they are likely to encounter.  After review of the “In the Know” dictionary of terminology, if you are still unable to obtain the information you seek, contact your assigned trade center account manager who will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Q Can I speak or talk live to an LFI trade center professional?

A Yes, at any point in time you find it necessary to speak with a live trade center professional, either contact your assigned trade center account manager or feel free to contact us through our general reach information located in the Corporate Contact/Information section of our website.

Q Will I be kept in the information loop throughout the application process?

A Yes, at every point throughout the process your are continually kept abreast of ongoing events throughout the application process, and will be in regular contact with your assigned trade center account manager who will be working closely with you to ensure that the leasing, financing, consulting or service related program being structured meets your every need (Refer to Application ProcessSection for more information).

Q What if I have to explain the details of my company’s situation or application specifics to someone live, in addition to filling-out and submitting a complete application?

A Simply fill-out and submit your application, either online or offline, and wait to be contacted by your assigned trade center account manager, or if desired, simultaneously contact us using the general corporate reach information on the Corporate Contact/Information section of this website.

Q Who is in control of the application process and the ultimate leasing or services decision, and what is LFI’s role?

AYou the client are always in control of the process and ultimate financing and/or service decision. LFI and its team of professionals are an extension of your team, providing an experienced, independent and unbiased financing and/or service based structuring solution recommendation.  LFI is your expert value-added consultant throughout this process, and is there to ensure your financing and/or service needs are continually met or exceeded

Q If my company requires, or I need to have a face-to-face meeting with an LFI professional can it be accommodated?

A Yes, LFI trade center professionals are available, and often are required to proactively engage and/or conduct face-to-face client meetings when the need should arise.  Many of the simple and complex equipment financing and/or service solutions developed by LFI trade center professionals often necessitate meetings and visits with clients to gain a greater and more in-depth understanding of a business client’s respective needs, and some highly complex solutions may require regular or periodic meetings (Refer to Application Process Section for more information).

Q What are LFI’s primary strategic competitive differentiators in the marketplace?

A LFI has numerous competitive differentiators in the marketplace, and is able to provide an independent suite of services which is difficult to rival (Refer to LFI’s Strategic Differentiator Section for more information).
 

EQUIPMENT FINANCING & SERVICES BASED:

Q Other than completely filling out any of LFI's applications, what additional information will be required to get my company’s equipment or service transaction done?

A The amount of additional information, over and above the information supplied on the application, is completely dependent upon the type of equipment leasing, financing and/or service related transaction or solution being developed for each client.  Additional factors include, the type and strength of each client company, type of equipment, geographic location of financing or service, etc.  Your assigned trade center account manager will be able to specifically identify any additional required information, if any, to get your deal closed and implemented (Refer to Required Information Section for additional information).

Q What type of equipment does LFI specialize in, and is it possible to direct all my company’s equipment financing to LFI with one point of contact?

A By its very nature, LFI specializes and handles commercial equipment of virtually any type or transaction size, and can readily accommodate all of our client’s equipment leasing and financing needs with just one single point of contact.  Simply stated, LFI and a client assigned trade center account manager can accommodate virtually any cross industry equipment challenge, and nearly every conceivable equipment related client need, regardless of whether they may be a small independent contractors, a large multi-national corporation or any size company or business in between (Refer to Equipment Financed and Services Offered Sections for more information).

Q How competitive a rate can LFI provide, and will I always get the lowest rate?

A Due to the size and diversity of LFI’s network of funding source alliances, highly competitive rates are readily available.  The rate derived for each equipment leasing and financing transaction is more dependent upon the type of financing to be provided, the type of equipment being financed, the term of financing and the overall strength of the client.  As your valued, and trusted consultant, LFI develops the best overall leasing and financing structure for each situation, ensuring that our clients are not duped into falsely thinking the lowest rate is the best deal.  When it comes to leasing and financing, the lowest rate may come with the worst contractual terms and conditions, causing a prospective client to pay far more than transactions which may have had slightly higher rates, but significantly more favorable terms and conditions, and thus, far more cost effective over the lease term.

Q Will LFI assess and/or evaluate my company’s situation and recommend a financing and/or services based strategy?

A Once assigned, it is the job of each LFI trade center account manager to continually assess and evaluate each respective client and recommend the best equipment financing and/or service based strategy for each situation.  Since you will have a knowledgeable industry professional structuring your transactions, whether they be simple or complex, your LFI trade center account manager will view your relationship as long-term, and structure the first, and subsequent transactions with the most foreseeable, integrated and cost effective long-term strategy possible.

Q Can I still obtain equipment financing with a sub-standard credit or performance rating?

A Yes, since LFI places significant emphasis on the ongoing development of its global funding source alliance network, LFI client’s benefit from the fact that the diversity and depth of its network allows LFI the ability to get the most difficult credit or poorly rated company’s deals structured and closed.  Additionally, LFI’s trade center professionals’ have decades of experience with difficult credit and complex transactions, and the knowledge of how to help companies with substandard credit or ratings enhance their financial statement appearance and re-engineer internal procedures and operations to generate cash flow improvements.

Q Can I go through the application process online or offline?

A Yes, applications for leasing, financing, consulting and related equipment services can be equally accommodated online or offline.  Although by their very nature, online transactions and structuring can usually be done quicker and more efficiently, LFI recognized the need of millions of businesses who are either in the decision making stages of embarking on an e-commerce strategy or have decided to forego the trend, and do not plan to follow any e-commerce initiative in the near or distant future.  For this reason, we developed our technological platform and internal processes to accommodate either of our clients transaction requirements.

Q How long is LFI involved in the financing and/or services process, and will my assigned LFI trade center account manager remain involved throughout the duration of my financing and/or services agreement?

A LFI and your assigned trade center account manager are involved, in some capacity, from the application stage through the financing or service term end, and act as value-add consultants throughout the duration with varying levels of involvement. At the direction of the client, LFI and the assigned trade center account manager may remain loosely or peripherally involved after a transaction is closed and implemented or may take an active, managerial or ongoing consultative role.  The level of LFI’s ongoing involvement is typically discussed and agreed during the application process (Refer to Application Process Section for more information).

Q How broad of a consulting service will LFI provide, and can I call upon my LFI trade center account manager for both domestic and international financing and service solutions?

A LFI’s leasing, financing, consulting and equipment related services are very broad, and can accommodate virtually any equipment financing, consulting or services challenge.  LFI’s consulting programs are highly flexible and modular customization based which enables clients to structure and pay for the exact service they require with no costs built in for services that are redundant or not required by the client.  Additionally, due to the nature of the LFI service offering, and the expertise of our trade center professionals, your trade center account manager can be called upon to equally handle, as your single point of contact, any requirement, whether it be simple and U.S. based or complex and involve multiple international cross-border locations (Refer to Services Offered Section for more information).
 

VENDOR AND PARTNER ALLIANCE BASED:

Q As an equipment vendor, can I choose whether to have private label financing or rely on LFI?

A It is entirely at the discretion of our equipment vendor clients, whether they implement a private label financing program or rely on LFI to do their required customer financing.  LFI will structure our vendor, OEM, supplier or value added reseller programs to fit the particular need of each vendor client organization.  However, it may be preferable to institute one program type over another, and LFI’s trade center professional’s will proactively advise our vendor partner on a situation by situation basis which strategy may best meet intended needs (Refer to Services Offered Section for more information).

Q As an equipment vendor, how do I engage LFI to provide financing for my customers and how much does it cost?

A The first step for a prospective vendor, OEM, supplier or value added reseller client is to contact LFI by email, phone or fax indicating the specific areas of interest or service based expertise.  An LFI senior manager will contact the prospective alliance partner directly, and subsequently assign a trade center account manager and their respective team to review a vendors stated and identified requirements, providing recommendations on the leasing, financing, consulting and/or service programs that would best fit a particular vendor’s needs or circumstances.  There is no cost for providing our financing or related services to our vendor client’s end-user customers’.  Our vendor and related clients only incur costs in the event that LFI trade center professionals engage in a mutually agreed, fee for service, consulting or other financing/service related program for the vendor itself.

Q As an equipment vendor, what is my incentive to engage LFI to provide financing for my customers?

A As an equipment vendor, OEM, supplier or value added reseller, the incentive and advantages of utilizing LFI’s financing and vendor program services are numerous.  LFI’s diverse vendor and related program services aid our clients in driving greater sales volume, and open up marketing and sales channels previously under-tapped by purchase oriented or budget conscious customers.  The LFI vendor program model is far more strategic than any competitive vendor-financing model since our vast network of diversified global funding sources allows LFI to approve for financing, a broader array of equipment types, client credits and geographic equipment locations.  Further, not only can LFI accommodate virtually all of your customer’s equipment leasing and financing needs (commercial equipment “One Stop Shop”), LFI proactively pays a scalable volume based commission to our vendor clients for transaction referrals for both their equipment specialty, and any other equipment leased or financed by vendor end-user customers through LFI and its alliance network (Refer to Services Offered and LFI’s Strategic Differentiators for more information).

Q How does my company or business become an approved LFI equipment-funding source or service provider alliance?

A Simply refer to the Equipment Financing & Service Alliance Program Section of our website for specific information on becoming a funding source or equipment service provider alliance.

Q What criteria does LFI use or follow to bring funding sources and service providers into the LFI alliance network?

A LFI proactively seeks professional funding source and service provider alliances that share the LFI commitment to client satisfaction, and provide a diversity and level of service required to fulfill virtually any of our global clients equipment acquisition through disposition needs or requirements.  LFI is continually in the market for dynamic partner alliances who are seeking to broaden their target market, strive to be “best of breed” in their respective discipline, and desire to share, when applicable, the respective structuring workload required to meet our clients diverse and changing commercial equipment demands.

Q As a prospective funding source or service provider alliance, how often will my company be called upon for our services?

A Due to the nature and diversity of our clients, and their respective leasing, financing and service based demands; our funding source and service provider alliances are called upon frequently to participate in client transactions.  No two transactions are ever truly alike, and for this reason, LFI maintains a highly diverse alliance network to accommodate the diversity of clients and their needs.  In this regard, and due to the high value emphasis that’s placed on its alliance network, LFI and its trade center professional’s continually strives to proactively utilize the services offered by each alliance network partner, on a periodic and/or regular basis.
 

CAREER BASED:

Q Is my personal information secure and confidential?

A Yes, your personal information is highly secure and confidential, both from a secure and encrypted technology capable platform, and from stringent internal operational procedures and guidelines in dealing with our “VBC” candidates, and other employment related proprietary information (Refer to Security/Privacy Section for more information).

Q How do I become a Virtual Business Consultant “VBC”?

A First review the LFI website in its entirety to get a full and in-depth knowledge of LFI’s service offering, value proposition and industry positioning.  Second, either follow the 9 simple steps outlined in the career opportunities Application Process Section or simply utilize the instant signup career facilitation method.

Q How much experience is required to become a “VBC”, and am I required to work full-time?

A History has shown us that, it is probable that you already have a sufficient amount of experience to become a highly successful “VBC”.  As with most careers, and the individuals who achieve success within them, it is the person, their degree of motivation and their pursuit of excellence that ranks as most important.  LFI is dedicated to providing you an unrivaled service to sell, and is there to give all the necessary tools you need to be as successful as you want to be.  In this regard, LFI sets no rigid or definitive requirements on time commitment of its “VBC” sales force.  Our “VBC” professional’s run their business to fit their particular needs, and are free to work on either a full-time or part-time basis (Refer to Career Opportunity Overview and Career Opportunity Advantages for more information).

Q How much training is involved, and how do I know where to begin?

A There is not much training required to perform and succeed as a “VBC” in this business.  However, as with most careers, you get out of it what you put into it.  Some “VBC” professional’s learn all about the services they sell, their clients businesses and their respective industries while others seem to effortlessly come to the table with vast amounts of industry knowledge and tap into personal networks of companies and businesses that need our services.  There are others, who are tremendously successful, but do little or no formal training and have minimal existing personal networks.  It is truly up to each respective “VBC” to set the level of training that is best suited for him/her.  It is LFI’s job; to ensure that you have everything you need to “be in business for yourself, but not by yourself”(Refer to Career Opportunity Overview and Career Opportunity Advantages for more information).

Q Can I refer others who may be interested in an LFI “VBC” career opportunity?

A LFI is not only committed to the delivery of its innovative service model, and the support of its existing “VBC” sales force, LFI is actively seeking to significantly grow its direct sales force, and provides a referral bonus incentive for any LFI employee or active “VBC” who recommends someone to LFI, and who subsequently becomes an active employee or positive producing “VBC” sales professional.  LFI has a stated goal and long-term commitment to the continual growth of the LFI organization, and its integrally important “VBC” sales-force.