What Makes a Client Stay?

In many cases one factor will price a transaction very similarly than another would. They both should see the same risks, strong points and general attributes of the transaction. So one can make the argument that if pricing is almost identical, and your client can get this from any factor, what makes that client stay with you?

The magical word here is “service.” What does one factoring company do that the others may not? Does one company have little annoying charges that add up to quite a bit at month end? Factoring processing fee, the discount fee, wire fee, after 10AM same day funding fee, fee for multiple factoring transaction per week, fee for unscheduled reserve release, fee for web access to the client account and multiple others too numerous to mention. Yes, these fees are a source of revenue for the factor, and are added to the bottom line. However one must take into account that seeing these fees month after month gets a client looking at other options one of which may be another factor (that will not charge these fees). Clearly good service will provide all of these activities at no extra cost (except for the factoring fee and the wire fee which are the only two that should be applied).

Additionally service should include direct access to the account manager and attentive responsiveness on the part of that individual to returning calls. It should include the account manager’s willingness to generate any report that the client needs at any given time (certainly within reason). The account managers should know the usual funding patterns of the client and anticipate certain activities on their part. Account managers must have polite and cordial phone manners even when enforcing internal rules or guidelines that the client may have breached or missed. Clients must have ready access to senior management in cases that dictate such activity. Little things like holiday greetings and client appreciation gifts always work and generate a comfortable working relationship.

Why do clients stay? If the above habits are adhered to, the answer to the question is “because they want to.