The shoe must go on (Published August 2006)
Our monthly advert normally
tells of something complex we do
for a client. We tend to describe the
difficult and unusual, but 25% of
new clients are quite straightforward so
could make less interesting reading, but
please read on.
The simpler scenario is to buy goods
that are mostly presold at the time of our
commitment. There are no complications
of manufacture, contractual debt, or other
"racy" scenario. To compete there we offer
unrivalled service and good value. Our clients for simpler facilities
get the benefit of our culture and skills oriented towards giving
wonderful service for complex needs.
Kishore Nagrani, M&M Footwear, was a client first 10 years
ago. Kishore is shoes. He has sold every sort since we have known
him. He knows everything about shoes, their manufacture and
their customers. Kishore's designs are made in China. He has a
man who lives in the factories (literally) to be sure the product
delivered is what he designed.
His customers are your high street shops. These guys want
the product, but have very imaginative ways of trying to contain
Kishore's margins. Kishore wants a trade financier who is really
cheap, and we are not really cheap. So he left us some years ago
in favour of funding from City Europe, but they failed and cost
him money.
"Our clients for simpler facilities
get the benefit of our culture and skills oriented towards giving
wonderful service for complex needs."
Kishore's suppliers in China said they wanted letters of
credit and Target Trade Finance seemed to be cheaper than
our LCs, but their recent failure
cost him a lot of money in customer
credibility, cancelled orders and
penalties for late deliveries - a real
shoe stopper - we picked up his needs
at short notice because the shoe must go
on!
Before doing so we persuaded the
suppliers that, when dealing with us, they
did not need LCs to be opened before
shipment. A supplier undertaking (SU) and
documentary payment (DP) when the goods
are in transit is safe, and reduces the necessary funding period by
nearly four weeks.
So what is good value? We think it is a reliable trade financier:
- who meets the client's evolving needs immediately, so
customers get what they have ordered on time; and
- who can buy using a SU or by DP from the suppliers because
they trust us. Kishore's suppliers now prefer our DP to Target's
LCs, being simpler, and they actually get paid at about the
same time.
And Kishore prefers our DP because it costs less than did
Target's LCs because the funding period is so much shorter.
M&M Footwear factors its debts with Eurofactor, which is
our source of repayment. Selling to the high street is not easy
but a professional client, a committed competent factor, and
Fairfax Gerrard make a good team. Kishore is a fan of ours,
contactable on mandmftwr@btinternet.com.
Written by David Ross Director
Download
the Article 'The shoe must go on' at www.fairfaxgerrard.co.uk/docs/BusMon 0806 The shoe must go on.pdf
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