A home improvement project is a big investment, and it can be tough to pay for it all at once. That's why most companies offer financing options to help customers make monthly payments on the project.
The cost of home improvement projects is becoming more and more unaffordable for many people. The average home improvement project can cost $10,000 or more. And upwards of 65% of those projects are financed.
Don't make these assumptions:
- "They have a nice house and car. They can pay cash."
- "They live in a neighborhood where everyone has bad credit."
- "I'll offend them if I ask them about financing their home repair."
The first step to making it easy for your customers is to have a payment option that they are comfortable with. You need to make sure that you have the option of cash, check, credit card, and affordable monthly payments. The easier you make it for your customer to pay, the easier it is for them to buy from you.
That's why it is important to offer financing to everyone for home improvement projects.
Here's 4 great ways to do it:
#1 INTRODUCE FINANCING BEFORE THE ESTIMATE BEGINS
Before even starting the estimate, tell your customers "Folks, just a heads up. 50% of my customers pay with check, cash or credit card. The other 50% like to pay with an affordable monthly payment. Help me out, which bucket do you fall into?"
This is a disarming way to introduce choice of payment to your customer. You also let them know you have them covered for however they wish to pay. It's important to listen to their response and then guide them through the buying process accordingly.
#2 BRING UP FINANCING WHEN THERE IS AN OBJECTION
When a customer knows what they want but they cannot afford it, make it easy for them. Here's a great conversation that'd had by many great sales people:
Sales person: "I know this is a major investment and you called us today because you don't want to sacrifice quality. When do you think you could save up enough to pay for it?
Home owner: "Probably 6 months or so."
Sales person: "That's great. How about we do this: we have affordable monthly payments available. Let's apply and then we can get the work done now, and you can make small payments for a few months until you've saved enough to pay the entire thing off? Make sense?"
PRO TIP: If you think customers don't want to finance, start asking. Check out this short article about how Alex paid his way through college in cash the commissions he made after he started offering financing to his customers. "None of my customers want financing."
#3 THE PRESUMPTIVE CLOSE
Use this one with caution. This is a technique used by high pressure sales people, but can be very effective if you've established a rapport with your customer. Simply say "...and that should cover everything. How would you like to pay today? Cash or financing?"
This puts your customer on the spot to choose between only 2 options - and both options are saying "yes" to you. Again, this closing method is a bit antiquated, but still effective when the buyer is committed to you already.
#4 OFFER FINANCING WHEN IT'S OUT OF THEIR BUDGET
Sometimes, it really does simply come down to price. You have the best service or product in town. But, some customers simply cannot afford to pay for it out of pocket. This is where you make it easy for them:
If the price is the only thing stopping your customer from buying from you, ask them: "Is there any reason, if we were able to get you financed with an affordable monthly payment, that you wouldn't do business with our company?"
This question does two things: it asks them indirectly about financing; and it lets you find out if price is truly the only objection. Every sales person knows that price can be a real objection, or just the convenient one. Asking this question will give you that answer.
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.