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We were recently selected among 30 “hot fintech companies” to present at Finovate Spring 2010 in San Francisco. A great mix of companies presented from large, enterprise companies to start-ups, all with interesting, promising platforms.
We are pleased to have been selected by Kevin Lawton of trendcaller.com as a “Best of Finovate” company this year.
No, we’re not referring to accounts receivable and credit automation, even though we encourage this and a tie in does exist. To be specific, we are referring to missing in “marketing automation.” Most businesses, regardless of size, either have a web presence or are contemplating one. Many of these businesses have no idea who is visiting them or how to nurture their visitors towards conversion.
Over the last few years, SaaS firms such as Pardot and Marketo have made significant progress in offering comprehensive, cost effective marketing automation solutions to small and medium size businesses. For as little as $500/month with no contract, a business can implement Pardot and really supercharge the management of their web traffic and leads.
Automate to intelligently interact with your visitors; know how they are getting to your website; know what content is valuable to them; offer the right solution at the right time; and if you have a CRM system, make sure the MA system integrates with it.
Now, tying marketing automation to a credit automation solution such as offered by Ftrans can greatly improve decisions about interacting with visitors and prospects. For example, based on the business credit score of the visitor, coupled with their level of interaction with your website, your business can quickly determine how to prioritize subsequent interactions with the visitor in an effort to convert them to a qualified lead and then client.
Ftrans and Greenwich Associates released the findings of its bank research today in a white paper. CFO magazine highlighted the findings in an article .
Our findings indicate:
However, structural impediments are hampering efforts to increase bank lending such as:
Traditionally, banks are slow to resume lending at normalized levels during an exit from a recession. Yet, we believe the banking industry will overcome these challenges. Much progress has been made by companies such as Ftrans in providing enabling technologies to the banking industry for enhanced collateral monitoring and risk management to address the systems challenges identified in the research findings.
Now that you may not be able to run out and get a HELOC to finance your business, you may be taking a look around: where to find available, affordable credit. Nothing like a crisis to make clear the obvious. The cheapest credit in the world is AP. So how do you get more of it?
In our business, we look at the credit of buyers and potential buyers for our clients all day long. These businesses range in size from Exxon to Exton Country Store in Exton, PA, and can share with you what you must do to get approved by your vendors.
1) Keep your nose clean – i.e., no liens, especially tax liens
2) Pay your bills consistently
3) Keep your AP less than your AR – your balance sheet is a snapshot of your business
4) Your availability of credit – i.e., liquidity souces
This critical information is gathered and reported by a small group, primarily Equifax, Experian, D&B, but the information can have giant implications for you. If you’re a small business it’s critical to know how they work….
Upshot: Make your financial statements available to convince your vendors to give you credit. It’s cheap, plentiful and may be your best source of financing right now.
