As enterprise IT budgets tighten and hardware refresh cycles speed up, channel partners are increasingly turning to leasing models to keep deals moving and customers engaged.
We spoke with Simon Harrsen, executive vice president, North America at CHG-Meridian, about the impact leasing sales models can have on how channel partners approach their customers’ hardware needs in 2026.
How leasing models shape partner-customer relationships
How can the ways partners consider selling devices impact their customer base?
The sales approach a channel partner chooses directly shapes their customer base in three fundamental ways.
First, offering financing options dramatically expands the addressable market. When partners structure deals around leasing rather than requiring upfront purchase, they remove the primary barrier: capital availability. A CFO who can’t free up $500,000 in CapEx this quarter might readily approve a $10,000 monthly lease payment from OpEx budgets. Partners who offer flexible payment structures can pursue opportunities their purchase-only competitors simply can’t close.
Second, the sales model affects relationship depth. One-time equipment sales create transactional relationships. Partners deliver hardware, collect payment, and wait for the next procurement cycle. Lease-based sales establish a different dynamic. Throughout the lease term, both the partner and the leasing company stay in contact with the client to manage the lease, plan equipment replacements, and prepare for the next technology update.
Third, payment flexibility becomes a competitive differentiator. When multiple partners can source the same Lenovo laptops or Dell servers at similar prices, the ability to offer tailored financing sets winners apart from competitors.
Partners offering financing options typically pursue larger enterprise accounts, close bigger deals, and maintain higher customer retention rates.
When it comes to opportunities, how does leasing work when it comes to channel partners?
Leasing creates a three-party structure that fundamentally changes the economics available to channel partners.
The mechanics work like this: The channel partner identifies customer needs and proposes an equipment solution. Rather than the customer paying the partner directly, a leasing company evaluates the customer’s creditworthiness and, upon approval, purchases the equipment from the partner upfront. The customer then makes payments to the leasing company over the lease term.
The most immediate benefit is improved cash flow. Partners get paid in full when the lease is signed, not 60 or 90 days later. This means partners can redeploy capital quickly, fund more deals simultaneously, and avoid working capital constraints that limit growth.
Leasing also enables larger deal sizes. When customers aren’t constrained by available capital, they’re more likely to approve comprehensive solutions rather than scaled-back versions. A customer might buy 100 laptops with cash but lease 500 if monthly payments align with their budget planning.
Perhaps most strategically, leasing creates recurring revenue potential through refresh cycles. As lease terms near expiration, partners have natural opportunities to propose technology upgrades, creating a predictable pipeline rather than waiting for customers to initiate new procurement. Partners also benefit from reduced credit risk, as the leasing company assumes responsibility for customer payment performance.
Why leasing is becoming a core channel strategy for 2026
Why should partners consider leasing as a way to structure their offerings to customers?
The case for incorporating leasing is supported by compelling market data: 82% of businesses used financing for their equipment acquisitions in 2023. This isn’t a niche approach. It’s how the majority of enterprise customers prefer to acquire technology.
The strategic advantages break down into four key areas. First, leasing helps partners win more deals by overcoming the most common objection: budget constraints. When a customer says “we don’t have the capital,” partners with leasing options can pivot the conversation from “if” to “when” and “how much.”
Second, leasing accelerates sales cycles significantly. Capital expenditure approvals often require multiple stakeholder sign-offs and compete with other strategic initiatives. Operating expense approvals typically move faster and face less internal competition.
Third, offering leasing positions partners as strategic advisors rather than transactional vendors. When partners present complete solutions (equipment selection, implementation services, and flexible payment terms), they demonstrate understanding of customer business needs beyond technical specifications.
Fourth, leasing creates competitive differentiation in markets where product capabilities and pricing are increasingly commoditized. When multiple partners can deliver equivalent hardware at similar costs, the ability to offer sophisticated financing structures sets leaders apart.
How has the market changed over the past few years? Do you see leasing as a more attractive option now than maybe it was in years past?
The equipment leasing sector demonstrated remarkable strength in 2025, ending the year as the second-best year for equipment demand on record. This sustained momentum reflects fundamental shifts in how businesses approach technology acquisition.
Several market forces have converged to make leasing increasingly attractive. The technology refresh cycle has accelerated dramatically, driven primarily by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Companies can no longer afford to use equipment until it physically fails. Leasing aligns payment terms with useful equipment life, allowing businesses to upgrade on strategic timelines rather than waiting until they’ve fully depreciated old assets.
Financial strategy has evolved significantly in recent years. Organizations now prioritize preserving capital and maintaining flexibility over asset ownership.
Even well-capitalized companies prefer paying for equipment as they use it rather than tying up cash in depreciating assets. Equipment and software investment grew 4.7% in 2025, with much of this growth coming from companies choosing leasing over outright purchase.
Furthermore, another factor driving this growth is 67% of technology leaders say that they are expected to do more with a smaller budget in the new year; leasing effectively reduces operating costs for IT assets over traditional CapEx purchases.
The subscription economy has normalized payment-based consumption models. When companies already subscribe to software, cloud services, and office space, leasing equipment feels like a natural extension rather than unconventional financing. This cultural shift has reduced the stigma once associated with leasing.
How CHG-MERIDIAN supports partners pursuing enterprise deals
How does CHG-MERIDIAN work with IT channel partners to help them close larger enterprise deals?
Large enterprise technology deals have fundamentally different financing requirements than small-business transactions, and CHG-MERIDIAN’s approach is built specifically for this complexity.
The foundation is enterprise specialization. While many leasing companies treat all deals similarly, CHG-MERIDIAN focuses exclusively on sophisticated deployments: multi-location rollouts, global infrastructure projects, and complex technology ecosystems. Channel partners aren’t forcing enterprise opportunities into financing structures designed for small businesses.
CHG-MERIDIAN’s global reach enables partners to pursue opportunities beyond domestic markets. When a partner’s customer operates internationally, CHG-MERIDIAN can structure financing that accommodates multi-currency requirements, regional regulatory differences, and coordinated deployment timelines across geographies. This capability is essential for partners serving multinational enterprises.
The partner support model is distinctively collaborative rather than transactional. CHG-MERIDIAN works alongside channel partners throughout the deal cycle, providing expertise on deal structuring, helping navigate customer procurement processes, and offering transparent communication on approval timelines.
Partners aren’t simply referring customers to a finance company and hoping for the best. They’re gaining a teammate who understands that the partner relationship with the end customer is primary.
Technology lifecycle management extends the relationship beyond initial financing. CHG-MERIDIAN helps partners and customers plan refresh cycles, manage end-of-lease transitions, and optimize technology roadmaps. When lease terms approach expiration, partners have natural opportunities to propose upgrades, creating predictable pipeline.
For channel partners pursuing major enterprise accounts, CHG-MERIDIAN transforms financing from a potential bottleneck into a competitive advantage.
