We’re often asked about the kinds of clients Sage serves and what their experience is like. So we asked one of our former clients, Ron McClurg, chief financial officer of Incisive Surgical, if he would tell the story of how he came to Sage and what he valued about his company’s experience with us. Hearing his story reaffirms for us that we’re not only doing what we love, but we’re doing it with great clients.
When a longstanding bank relationship was no longer viable for medical device manufacturer Incisive Surgical, Chief Financial Officer Ron McClurg explored options with a handful of asset-based lenders.
It didn’t take long for Ron to make a decision.
“It was clear from the first phone conversation that Sage was different. They were interested in our story,” Ron recalled.
“It was a partnership based on relationships, not just transactions. They told us we were the kind of people they liked to do business with and thought it could be a good partnership. And it was.”
Ron said while some asset-based lenders estimated it would take weeks to put together a proposal, Sage responded within days. He also noticed a difference in how Sage presented their role.
“I really appreciated the way [Sage President] Karen [Turnquist] described their role at our first meeting. She said Sage was there as a bridge until we were bankable again,” Ron recalled. “If all went as planned, we would get back to profitability and we would move on.”
In the meantime, Ron said in addition to financing, Sage offered helpful suggestions and services, including acting in an important role as Incisive’s outsourced collections department.
“They made a lot of follow-up calls for us to ensure that was taken care of,” Ron said. “I appreciated that in doing so, they were very careful to treat our customers the way we would treat them. They put our business first when it came to that. They truly cared about what was best for our business.”
Because Incisive was exploring the possibility of a sale or merger during their relationship with Sage, Ron also valued the flexibility Sage offered amid uncertainty.
“We didn’t always know how long we would need financing. But they were always very understanding and flexible,” Ron recalled. “They let us first do a 30-day extension and eventually we extended for a full year. And when that expired, we had signed a letter of intent to sell, so they added on the time necessary to get us to the sale.”
Today, with the sale of Incisive Surgical complete, the company’s relationship with Sage has concluded. But it remains a relationship that Ron is grateful for.
“They did everything we asked of them,” Ron said. “They’re knowledgeable, easy to work with and they have integrity. They’re the kind of people that everyone appreciates working with.”