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Kobi Ben Meir says Forbes Councils Gives His Company a Competitive Edge

Forbes Communications Council |

Many entrepreneurial companies struggle to compete with much larger and heavily-resourced competitors. But Kobi Ben Meir, director of marketing at the royalty-based financing company, Yalber, thinks that his company has a secret weapon: customer service and engagement that outshines the competition.

Yalber is among the growing number of alternative lending platforms that target small businesses. “We do small business financing with a product called royalty-based investments,” says Ben Meir, who joined the company three years ago. “We keep growing every year, but the competition is ten times or more larger than us. We’re talking about big players.” Still, Yalber was listed among the largest small business funding providers nationwide by deBanked, a website that covers the non-bank funding industry.

Yalber’s customers are typically small business owners who need up to $500,000 in working capital to fund expansion, inventory, purchase orders, payroll, etc., but don’t have the time to go through traditional lenders. Applicants provide the company with three months of bank statements; no personal guarantees or collateral are required. Companies that are approved for a loan typically get their money within 24 hours and agree to pay Yalber a percentage of sales every month until the loan is paid back.

“It’s flexible, so if the business sees fluctuations, they can contact us and we adjust the payment,” says Ben Meir. “Most of the businesses don’t even get to the end of the deal because they renew it and use the fund to grow the business even more.” Yalber has provided more than 15,000 businesses with over $300 million in working capital.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to get more exposure for me and the brand and to share knowledge,” he says. “It's very important for us to get as much recognition as possible because of the competition in the market."

As small business owners shop around for loans, says Ben Meir, they may submit applications to a variety of companies, some of which have products that look similar to Yalber’s offerings. “What we hear from customers is that other companies claim they have the same product — that the process is fast and easy and you don’t need a personal guarantee or collateral,” he says. “And then they get to the point where they want to get approved and they’re asked for more information, for more guarantees, or to do a personal liability agreement. And they say, OK, let's go work with Yalber because they see the great reviews we have. They see that they connect with someone by name and that they can keep that same contact all the time. Most of the other companies are so big, you can't really have just one contact.”

Ben Meir started his career as a software developer in Israel. “I did a transition before I moved to the U.S. because I wanted something more dynamic,” he says. He found programming “depressing and gray.” Now, he says, his life in marketing is “fascinating because it never stays the same for more than a few weeks. You just keep exploring and learning new stuff all the time and you never know everything.”

One of the ways that Ben Meir helps Yalber distinguish itself in the marketplace is through deep engagement with customers. As marketing director, he focuses on personal connections by featuring customers and their stories on Yalber’s YouTube channel, where small business owners talk about their companies and their relationship with Yalber. “Most of them start talking about how great and easy it is for them to pick up the phone and ask for a person by name for something that they need,” he says. “And usually, in less than a day, they get the funds that they need when they have an open deal. We let them tell their stories to promote their businesses, and they support us back,” says Ben Meir.

Ben Meir frequently writes articles for Forbes Communications Council, including a recent one on video marketing. “I thought it was a great opportunity to get more exposure for me and the brand and to share knowledge,” he says. “It's very important for us to get as much recognition as possible because of the competition in the market. When we position the company’s marketing director as an expert, then the company becomes more reliable than competitors. I think the relationship I have with Forbes Councils is very important and everybody who gets a chance should take advantage of it.”


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