The following is excerpted from a blog post by ELFA member Cameron Krueger, Managing Director at Accenture

At the upcoming ELFA convention, I’ll be moderating a panel on the shift from hard assets to servitization. I hope you can join us.

In the past two weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to go to two college football games, FSU vs. Syracuse and Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame. Both were good games for someone, just not for both of my teams. Regardless, it made me think about outcomes and expectations. At one game I wanted a specific outcome: a win. At the other, I wanted an experience: my first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football experience. My expectations for the two games were different. They shifted.

It’s the same when I think about consuming transportation. When I choose a high-quality on-demand ride share instead of a cab or when I watch on-demand television instead of live television, I experience a shift in expectations. In each case, I want an outcome that matches my desired experience. Likewise, equipment lessees are undergoing shifts in expectations.

The winning lessors in this paradigm will be those that understand the shifting expectations and adjust their game plan to adopt a new outcome-based business model. Those that don’t risk being left behind, like those that were slow to adopt digital during the last big wave of change. So, what should equipment finance companies do today? How can you determine your best path forward?

I’m excited to be discussing this topic at the upcoming Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) convention, which is being held in San Antonio, TX, from October 24-26. I’ll be moderating a panel of industry experts speaking about:

• Market trends.
• Why thinking about servitization now is a strategic decision.
• The four most common models of servitization.
• Points to ponder before selecting a servitization model.
• A recommended approach after you select a model.

Each of our four panel members has a unique perspective to share on meeting changing customer expectations at the same time as boosting revenue. We’ll be taking a deep dive in the following areas:

• Operational considerations. My colleague, Joseph Pulicano (Specialty Finance Managing Director from Accenture) and Diane Croessmann (Director of The Alta Group) will discuss the operational factors you need to consider before embarking on a servitization transformation, such as how to incorporate predictive behaviors into pricing for performance and usage flexibility, and how to mitigate risks relating to data security, performance, credit, residual, usage and flexibility.
• Execution opportunities & challenges. James Cress (Vice President and General Manager of Stryker’s Flex Financial) will talk about his vision for the future of financing servitization deals and will note some of the challenges, such as how to measure the true return on investment in servitization models.
• A funder’s perspective. Brian Bjella (Senior Vice President – General Manager, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation) will share his experience of servitization in terms of usage, consumption, rebates and subscriptions, plus what he sees as the biggest challenges and things to consider.

Join us for this interactive and informative session, titled The Shift from Hard Assets to Servitization: Models for Equipment Finance Providers, on Monday October 25 at 10:30 am. If you haven’t signed up for the conference, register today!

In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about servitization, read our report: Servitization: Making the shift from assets to services.