Have you ever wanted to offer finance to customers of your service business? You’re not alone.
Finance has long been an option for customers making large purchases (and it’s becoming increasingly popular for smaller purchases too!) – and for good reason. After all, when you have a wider net, you can catch more fish.
Enabling your customers to pay via externally financed loans ultimately gives you the ability to sell to more people. Some prospects will need your services, but simply can’t afford to pay for significant work all at once. If you’re prepared to offer finance to customers, you can be more certain that you’re not turning away opportunities that you could actually win!
There are many reasons that a customer may choose to pay via finance; we all know that big purchases can be daunting. Financing downsizes an enormous financial commitment into manageable segments and limits the risk of you not getting paid. And as an added bonus, when payments are split into smaller portions, you may notice that customers are willing to spend more overall, too.
Of course, many trades businesses already offer customer finance and flexible payment options – and perhaps your business does, too. But answer this question: is financing currently a burden in your sales process?
To offer financing to customers can help you close more deals and sell to more people, but many businesses find that the paperwork and admin required to get financing approved can sometimes kill the sale itself. Especially if your workforce is stretched thin.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way.
The challenges of offering finance to customers:
Customers need to raise their hand and specifically ask you for financing options
An application needs to be created and completed, taking time for both you and the prospect (no one likes to do paperwork in the evening or on the weekend!)
You hit delays and need to chase the paperwork back-and-forth with either the prospect or customer finance provider
It adds hurdles and time to the sale, giving more chances for the prospect to drop off
Reducing the Friction of Offering Finance to Customers
Done correctly, financing for contractors should be a boon to your sales strategy. The question you may be wondering though, is how exactly can you implement frictionless financing?
It’s essential to make the application process simple. At a minimum, this means the prospect should be able to complete an application without your team’s input and that they can receive a decision within a couple of minutes.
These may all seem like things that are out of your control, but the good news is there is sales software that will do this for you. As a result, you can implement a streamlined option that helps drive sales.
For instance, by offering finance options through a self-service portal, prospects can fill in an application form instantly and receive a decision within minutes. No physical paperwork (it’s all digital) needs to pass through your hands or the customers, the customer will be happy as they’ve split their bill, and you can make a sale you otherwise would have lost. It’s a win-win situation!
If you want to offer finance to customers, this is the best way to go about it.
Now, with customer finance covered, let’s move onto Chapter 5, where we’ll cover how to measure success through sales reporting.
Question
Do you wish you could offer financing more regularly?
Of course – it’s a win-win! Your biggest challenge to offering more financing is the admin burden and the back-and-forth of completing an application. Eliminate those and there’s no reason that your customers can’t finance jobs more regularly – and with less friction! If you’d like to hear about a new way that trades businesses can offer financing seamlessly, register your interest here.
Okay! Whilst financing is a great way to attract and win customers, it doesn’t make sense for all types of trades business. If you’re curious to learn more about the impact of financing in the field service industry check out our video with Vendigo.
