Recently, Optimus Financing, a Navitas Credit Corp partner, published an eBook titled, The 5 Biggest Mistakes Contractors Make With Financing. The focus of the eBook was contractors working with consumer customers, but the 5 mistakes translate well into the commercial world – both with HVAC Contractors, and Contract Furniture Dealers. Let’s dig into their insights.
- Not Offering Financing with Every Sale
Today’s consumers, and commercial businesses, have easy access to financing. And, for commercial accounts, your clients have come to expect it for larger purchases. In 2022, 12% of contractors reported that 76-100% of their customers utilized financing.
Offering financing with every sale opens the possibility of larger project sizes, a reduction in clients delaying the purchase, and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition by offering a solution for their needs AND a solution for how they can afford it.
It’s a fact – the most successful contractors and dealerships in their respective industries offer financing to every customer.
- Not Offering Multiple Loan Options
We all like choices, and an option of one is a choice of none. Providing financing options to your customers gives them the ability to make the best choice for their current business needs and budget. Maybe your aligned manufacturer offers financing on their own product lines. Maybe your clients finance team wants to compare rates, terms, and monthly payment calculations. Whatever the situation, offering options and alternatives is a smart strategy in positioning yourself as an agnostic, creative solution provider. (Pssst – That’s a good thing!)
- Not Providing 2nd and 3rd Look Options
Many contractors limit themselves to offering financing to residential customers with high FICO scores. While the approved / not-approved score might be different with commercial customers, our financing partners are always willing to take a 2nd or 3rd look.
Let’s be real – every financial institution, residential or commercial focused, as a comfort-standard for what they are willing to finance – but at the end of the day, if your business comes with risk, we don’t automatically say “no,” we look and make an offer and rate that balances everyone’s risk level. Bottom line – let’s look and see what we can do.
- Not Having the Ability to Pre-Qualify Customers
No business wants to be in the position of leading with “Yes!” only to have to turn around and say “No” to their clients. Our financing partners offer the tools needed to pre-qualify customers and enable customers to calculate monthly payments or reverse engineer things and calculate what they can informed.
Going into conversations confident and understanding what you can offer and what a client can afford go a long way toward leading with a positive and closing a deal that works for everyone.
- Not Training Salespeople on How to Best Position Financing During the Sales Process
Let’s be honest – your salespeople are trained and confident presenting your product solution. The addition of service and support options can be stressful, awkward, and result in bringing the overall presentation down, even if the product pitch was spot-on.
With the right training, your sales team can successfully present financing options as a value-added service. Equally important is continued training on how to address changes in interest rates and terms. Me and my team can help with this. We welcome the opportunity to regularly provide updates and sales tips, provide training to new and existing employees, and most importantly, we are ALWAYS HERE TO STEP IN AND HELP WITH THE FINANCING CONVERSATION! You are experts in your product offer. We are experts in how to finance the project. Together, we are an amazing team.
Let’s wrap things up. Both Optimus Financing and Navitas Credit have the solutions and resources needed for HVAC Contractors (Optimus) and Contract Furniture Dealers (Navitas) to avoid all 5 mistakes. Even better, as your financing concierge, I am a single point of contact to help you quickly find the information you need, partner in simplifying the process, and focused on getting you and your client to the finish line, stress free.
Connect with me for help with all five of the insights above. Contact Janeen!
Interested in downloading the eBook for yourself? Click here.
My and my team cannot wait to partner with you to grow your business, delight your customers, and differentiate you from your competitors with a total project solution approach.
Access our resources and gain more insights! Visit our website!