The equipment finance industry has long been a machine powered by grit: relentless cold calls piercing the silence, mass emails flooding inboxes, and “relationship selling” that’s more catchphrase than cornerstone. For years, this hustle carved out success. But the landscape has shifted—and the numbers expose a machine sputtering on fumes.
The evidence is alarming: 88% of equipment finance leaders report cold calling’s sharp decline since 2019, a tactic crumbling in an era of call screens and digital noise. A staggering 93% of firms can’t quantify customer acquisition costs, operating with blindfolds in a data-driven world. Worst of all, only 28% of customers return for their next deal—loyalty evaporating 6.4 times faster than in bank lending. This isn’t a hiccup; it’s a reckoning. The industry’s stubborn grip on outdated prospecting and its neglect of retention are vulnerabilities dressed up as tradition. Without a radical rethink, equipment finance faces a future of commoditization, churn, and irrelevance.
Enter Converge 2025 Virtual Experience: The 2030 Customer, a bold break from the tired conference mold. Set for July 24, 2025, this isn’t about passive keynotes or recycled platitudes—it’s a strategic workshop engineered to confront today’s gaps and forge a path to dominance in the next decade. Sales, credit, marketing, operations, and leadership teams from across the industry will gather virtually to deconstruct the status quo, envision a revolutionary customer journey, and craft a tactical playbook that turns vision into action.
“Too many firms are tethered to a playbook that’s expired,” says Lisa Rafter, Publisher of Monitor. “We’re not tweaking the edges here—we’re rewriting the rules. The 2030 customer demands precision, innovation, and loyalty, and Converge is where we build the strategy to deliver.”
Participants will dive into a 4-hour crucible of collaboration, guided by expert facilitators and real-world problem-solving. They’ll tackle the hard questions: How do you replace cold-call grind with data-driven precision? What does a customer experience look like when retention isn’t an afterthought but the foundation? The result: a 2025 Playbook—not a dusty binder, but a weapon of actionable steps to identify, win, and keep the customers who will define the future.
The virtual format obliterates barriers: affordable pricing, a lean time commitment, and outsized impact. With spots capped at 250 leaders, exclusivity is baked in. “This isn’t about reacting to change—it’s about leading it,” Rafter adds. “We’re giving the industry a chance to shed legacy burdens and step into a bolder era.”
