Does your business offer consumer financing? If so, you’ve probably already seen the many ways a consumer financing program can help your business, whether it’s boosting your revenue or helping you strengthen the customer relationship. But are there gaps in your consumer finance sales process? Are you getting as many applications and approvals as you could, or are you letting sales walk out the door? If your consumer finance program isn’t where it should be, it may be because you’ve run into a very common issue.
The Problem
The big issue many businesses deal with when it comes to their finance sales process is simply structural. You want the financing offer to be highlighted upfront by your staff. Unfortunately, it’s often left as an afterthought. There are several reasons for this.
First, your employees may assume that financing is a last resort for customers. They may think of it as something that’s meant for customers who can’t otherwise afford your products or services. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Customers across all credit tiers and in a range of financial situations appreciate the flexibility financing offers. Customers almost always feel it’s better to have a range of options available to them.
Second, your employee may not want to offer consumer financing because the application process is frustrating and slow. Running multiple applications for your customers takes a lot of time, and your staff members may assume it’s better to serve many customers rather than spending a lot of time closing a sale with one.
Finally, your employees may simply lack the training they need to close financed sales. You can’t expect your employees to offer financing to every customer if they haven’t been trained to do so, right?
The Solution
Fortunately, there are simple solutions to all of these problems. In the case of employees assuming that financing is a last resort, you just need to help push a mentality change. It starts at the top. Commit to offering financing as an option to customers every time, and encourage your employees to do so every time as well.
When it comes to improving your finance application process, you need a tool that will help you streamline and automate things. That’s where FormPiper comes in. This easy-to-use tool makes it easy to transmit application data from your customer to multiple applications with a single click, saving you and your team valuable time.
Last but not least, the best way to address your employees’ lack of training is by targeting training programs to the team members that need help the most. FormPiper reporting can help you target those employees effectively by giving you clear information on their performance. By implementing a smart training program, you’ll address the problem of lost sales at its root and never worry about leaving consumer financing as an afterthought ever again.
Your customers will appreciate having the flexibility of financing, and you’ll love the increased revenue it brings to your business. It’s a classic win-win scenario.