We have all heard about the "convenience wars." It's why fast food is popular. It's why companies like Amazon exist. It's why streaming services have overtaken cable packages.
Customers demand convenience.
How easy is financing for homeowners?
For home improvement companies, convenience is incredibly important. Homeowners hire you because they don't want to do the work themselves. They trust you to keep their property clean, and for your work not to disrupt their life. And they want a convenient way to make the purchase. Here's what we mean.
If price and quality are equal, who are you most likely to buy from?
- Company A who accepts check or cash only.
- Company B who accepts check, cash, credit card, and has affordable monthly payments.
Who do you think more customers will choose to do business with? It's almost always Company B because they're the most convenient option to buy from. The same way that most Americans prefer to buy from their phones and laptops rather than going to big box stores.
As a salesperson, you want to make the buying process as easy as possible for your customer. You don't want to complicate the sale. That's why the companies that offer financing to homeowners control so much of the market. The homeowner can make a large purchase from the comfort of their home rather than running around town for days visiting banks.
Here's how quick and easy financing a home improvement project is for homeowners:
- Homeowner accesses the application through a URL or through the salesperson's device
- Homeowner fills out a quick 90 second application which includes their personal information
- Within 30 seconds, the homeowner is presented with offers from competing lenders, and chooses the best one for them
- Finalize application, get approved, connect their bank account and receive funds within 1-5 business days
How easy is offering financing as a business?
We get this question a lot. And for good reason - no one wants to complicate their sale. The great news is that offering financing doesn't have to be complicated, and doesn't change your sales process.
There are some finance partners that have requirements that may cause you to change how you collect deposits, or adjust your schedule of payment. But with Enhancify, you create a cash paying customer. You provide them convenience to allow them to borrow money as the point of sale. That's it.
If you're interested in learning more about the different types of financing partners, check out this short article: "What Is a Dealer Fee for Home Improvement Loans?"
Here's how easy it is to offer financing to homeowners:
- Ask your customer before providing them a price something like this: "Half of my customers pay with check, cash, or credit card. The other half like to finance with an affordable monthly payment. Help me out, which bucket do you fall into?"
- Put verbiage on your estimates and invoices that remind your customers that you offer affordable monthly payments.
- If they are interested in financing, pull out your phone, laptop or tablet and say "Great, I have the application for it right here. It takes 90 seconds to complete. It's a soft-pull on your credit. And we can get you pre-qualified within seconds of you submitting the application."
- Once they are approved, you collect a deposit from them at the estimate, or arrange a time to collect the deposit once they receive the money.
- You complete the work as normal, following your normal payment schedules and procedures.
As you can see, not much has really changed. All you have done is provide them the most convenient way to borrow money for their project. And because you're the most convenient person to work with, why would they go anywhere else?
If you're a contractor and want to win more jobs by offering financing, contact Enhancify at 813-499-9879 or click here to learn more.