Using Foundation Research to Strategic Advantage
Posted 01/29/09
For 20 years, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has been producing research with the aim of supporting equipment finance companies strategic decisions as they navigate the business maze. But, are companies really using the research to full advantage? The Foundation has big plans to grow its already-substantial library of studies and research papers in coming years. And savvy industry members are using the Foundation research to plot a course. One industry member, Aylin Cankardes, president of Rockwell Financial Group, finds the research quite valuable to their strategic and marketing decision-making. She said, “specifically, we found the U.S. Equipment Finance Market Study to be very interesting, and we used it to help establish our goals for the year. It gave us a sense of where we should focus.”
She continued, “we also saw in that report that the equipment leasing market is a $600 billion market, much larger than anticipated, so we were able to use that as an entre in our marketing messaging.”
Cankardes also mentioned the Future of Financing Alternative Energy Equipment and the 2008 – 2013 Transportation Outlook Series: Truck and Trailer Financing Trends studies as having significance. She said the alternative energy study was “intriguing and interesting,” as Rockwell has operated in that segment before. “It helped us gauge and give comfort in this emerging market space.”
But, the truck and trailer study really provided some strategic help. She reports the company was in the process of purchasing a portfolio this summer which included some transportation assets. “I pulled out the Foundation truck and trailer study to gauge how we assess those assets. It was yet another reference document for us to use in understanding a segment that we don’t operate in much.”
To learn more about the Foundation’s ever-growing library of resource, visit www.leasefoundation.org
