Recently I was contacted by the sales director of Hitachi Capital to ask me what my perception was about them with a view to me introducing clients to them. Hitachi are an independent provider of invoice finance.
I think that it is admirable that invoice finance lenders are pro-active in building and maintaining relationships with invoice finance brokers such as myself and even more admirable that they care what people think of them.
By way of background Hitachi Capital (UK) Plc had bought the independent invoice finance company London Scottish and since the takeover there had been a fair bit of turbulence as credit policy changed and the personnel changed. As such I had not dealt with them.
However, I must say that my perception was that they were risk averse and expensive. I must also say that this was purely perception and wasn’t based on any facts. If I am honest it was probably based on a conversation with their previous MD who had left after the culture changes post takeover.
There was an element of surprise from their sales director John Atkinson and I was told that their pricing is very competitive and that they have award winning service levels. I hear this all the time and did wonder what award they had won for service levels but I must say that in speaking with John I did gain some comfort from his humble approach. He didn’t use the downfalls of other invoice factoring companies to build his case he just gave me some examples of what they had done and asked for an opportunity to prove what they could do.
I had several inquiries from clients who were looking to improve service levels and improve pricing so I decided to introduce Hitachi to a couple of clients alongside some competitors that I trust. After all my role is simply to explain to a client what options are available to them and allow them to make an informed decision. Hitachi were very responsive and were the first to book appointments in both instances. Their terms were also the most competitive! Both clients accepted their terms and were delighted with how the meetings went.
Our relationship is in it’s infancy and I can’t comment on their ‘award winning service levels’ but I will definitely look for feedback from the two clients who have accepted terms from them once they are on board.
It is refreshing to see a lender who genuinely delivers what they promise with a humble approach. Their sales guys mirrored this approach with a solid delivery of what they were about.
This is in stark contrast to a couple of independent invoice finance companies who approach everything with a swagger. The companies I am thinking of give out the title of ‘Managing Director’ to anyone that runs a sales team even though they lack true decision making authority and their approach can only be described as arrogant. There are lenders out there who are more swagger than substance and there is nothing worse than a lender who over-promises and under-delivers.
Hitachi Capital will not be the right lender for everyone and no single lender is. But they are welcome addition to my panel of lenders and I am glad John Atkinson picked up the phone.
