I take several phone calls a week from people seeking billboard loans. Some callers are much more organized and professional than others. Here’s a seven sentence script which will make you sound like a pro during your initial conversation with a billboard lender.
“(1) Hi, I’m (your name) from (your company).
(2) I operate a billboard company with (number) faces in (city or state).
(3) I’m seeking (amount) dollars to (construct a trivision, construct a billboard, purchase a billboard plant).
(4) My current monthly gross revenue is (insert amount).
(5) My current monthly cashflow is (insert amount).
(6) I have (amount) in debt against my company right now.
(7) Is this an opportunity which interests you?”
Sentence 1 tells me who you are in case we get interrupted or cut off. Sentence 2 tells me where you operate and on what scale. Sentence 3 tells me if the loan is too big or too small to interest me and how carefully you’ve thought over your request. If you don’t know how much money you want to borrow or say “I’d like to borrow as much money as you can give me” you’ll come across as unprofessional or irresponsible. Sentence 4 tells me what your company is worth because billboard companies are valued at 4-6 times gross revenue. Sentence 5 tells me how efficiently you operate your company as well as how much money is available to pay back my loan. Sentences 4,5 and 6 allow me to figure out your debt capacity.
