In any given week, we speak to a diverse range of businesses, with different wants and needs but selecting the right Mac isn’t always just about the specification.
Take last Friday for example. Among all of the calls that we received, there were three from businesses all wanting to lease a portable Mac. The first was a sole trader (freelance journalist) who needed a Mac to write her articles on whilst on the train to London.
The second (also a sole trader) was a professional photographer who commutes between Birmingham and London. He needed a Mac that was powerful enough to help with his post-production work but portable enough to take on a train.
Finally, the 3rd was an existing customer who is expanding rapidly and needs more Macs for a growing HR app business.
With so many different options, how to choose the right Mac?
For a lot of our customers, this can be quite a simple process. Apple fans are by definition an educated bunch They are up to date with the latest technology and fully aware of what model and specification they desire. As the Mac lineup is so desirable people quite often want the biggest, baddest machine available.
However, there are some things to consider first.
What do you need it to do?
This is a key question that we ask all of our customers. Take the HR company for example. They are developing a platform for other companies to utilise. They have no need for a 27” 5K Retina iMac or a Six Core Mac Pro. That would be overkill. What they require is a MacBook Pro with different specifications. Their engineers need a model that can handle processing and RAM hungry tasks whilst the majority of their staff just need a Mac that can run Office apps.
Affordability
It is the role of our funding partners to assess the credit-worthiness of a business but at Lease Loop we can add value to our customers by understanding their circumstances and helping them make a balanced decision between desire and affordability.
If we take the example of the freelance journalist. A single mum who has to manage busy home life with a hectic work schedule. She wanted a Mac that looked good in meetings but was light for travel and most importantly cheap. Here the 13” MacBook Air was the logical recommendation. It got a refresh in June and with its 1.8GHz processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB SSD, it is the cheapest portable Mac. It was the obvious choice.
Conversely, the HR company is all about growth. An ambitious tech company looking to recruit 17 people over the next 6 months. In this case, we could add value by working closely with our funding partners. By understanding the line of credit that we could establish we were able to provide the customer with a number of possible solutions to reach their growth goal of phasing in 17 new Macs as their company grows.
Desire vs Need
Our photographer was looking for a single machine and whilst the business case justified a new machine the desire to have a new Mac was also a powerful attraction.
After a number of conversations, he settled on the 15” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. We agreed that the specifications of the entry-level model suited his requirements more than the top of the range one. The credit documents were issued and he was planning to sign everything off over the weekend. On Sunday the client suggested that the mind was winning over the heart and that the 13” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar was the correct model. We recommended an upgrade to 16GB RAM and then got new lease documents issued first thing Monday morning.
One more step
When leasing Macs to businesses across the UK, getting people to like our leasing offer is just the first part of the process. The second is getting businesses approved for credit. We work with 3 principal funding partners who offer us around 30 different funding options. This means that we can match any customer with the funder that is most likely to give us a positive outcome. With decisions taking as little as 30 minutes and by utilising “esign” documents we are able to take you from saying “yes” to using your new Mac in less than 24 hours.
Identifying that you want to lease a Mac is the first step. After that, we will work with you to ensure that we choose the right one for you, not only for what you need it to do but also to ensure that you aren’t paying for something you don’t need. We also want you to choose the right machine that will put a smile on your face and by using our funding partners we are able to get that Mac to you faster than ever.
Trying to upsell our customers for the sake of it isn’t what we are about. If somebody is using Office apps you could justify the 15” MacBook Pro as your recommendation. The extra screen real estate does, after all, provide a better experience. However, with Apple the more real estate you have the more power you have under the hood and that comes at a price. Therefore, we ask the question as to whether you could work on a 13” display? If yes, we recommend looking at the new 13” MacBook Pro. They are cheaper and great for Office apps. We run 13” MacBook Pros with Function Keys to run our business and none of us feels the need for a larger display.
We would rather spend the time with you to work out what machine you need over the course of your lease and match you to it. That way you get exactly what you want and need.