Consumer and Vendor Finance Programs For HVAC Industry

Consumer and Vendor Finance Programs For HVAC Industry

As a vendor you have quickly realized that your competition is offering financing solutions. If you are not offering this solution to your customers you may be missing out on valuable profits and cash flow, and are at risk of losing a key tool in today’s competitive HVAC marketplace.

Products typically financed in this industry include air conditions, furnaces, water tanks, tankless water heaters, etc. These products are in demand by the Canadian consumer, and the consumer wants flexible financing options.

What are those options – typically your customer wants a term of anywhere up to 5 years, and many clients and dealers we talk to want to offer their customers some form of ‘no payment for 6 months ‘type of program.

The most important aspect of such a program is simply the service; flexibility and ease of doing business that come with these types of programs. The optimal solution you want is to have a simple basic application that allows the customer, and your representative, (often in the home environment) to efficiently and simple complete a basic application. In most cases all you should need to get is home address, proper legal name, confirmation of home owner status, and perhaps a date of birth of S.I.N. number to validate the customer.

So how long does the actual credit approval take, and what happens after your customer is approved. Typically an approval can be provided same day, or very next day at the latest. At that point you as a vendor or dealer can arrange scheduling and installation of the equipment. Based on final pricing and customer acceptance of your product and installation a simple finance contract is prepared and signed by your customer.

In Canada the consumer is king, or so thinks our government, so a good financing contract will clearly show the consumer what is being financed, what the monthly payments are, and it will also disclose the consumer financing rate, which is in fact mandated by law.

So you have sold a customer on your product and services, equipment has been ordered and installed, and your customer has committed to a customer payment program via your dealer finance contract. That’s great, but when do you get paid? The answer is right away! Payment is made to you the vendor / dealer as soon as the finance contract is completed by your customer. Your invoice will typically be paid via a wire transfer or cheque to your firm within a matter of a couple days.

So how can you take advantage of such a program? In all aspects of business wouldn’t you rather work with an expert? Speak to a trusted, credible, and experienced business advisor in the area of consumer finance and vendor programs. Taking the time and effort to understand the benefits of the program will quickly allow you to maintain a competitive posture in your industry, and will very quickly grow sales and profits. That’s a solid customer finance strategy that creates a win / win solution for your customers and the quality products your firm provides.