What Roofers Need to Know About Offering Financing Options

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

Attract more customers and set yourself apart from competitors by offering financing options. 

Every roofing contractor knows that the key to success is a good reputation. In order to obtain and maintain a good rapport with customers It is important to make your services as accessible to them as possible. One of the ways to do this is by offering financing options, but if you’re not familiar with this process, it can be tricky to know where to start. But did you know that you’re more likely to find success by offering financing to customers? According to Remodeling.net, contractors who offer financing saw an increase in their close rates and job sizes. 

Here’s what you need to know about offering financing options to customers: 

Getting started with a financing program 

In order to offer financing to customers, you have to either work with a bank or credit union to get started. John Harris, sales and marketing executive vice president for EnerBank USA, told Remodeling.net that the most popular financing options contractors can offer are 12 and 18 months, same as cash. This means that if the customer pays the full amount back within this time frame, they do not have to pay interest. If they finance longer than this time period, they would have to start paying interest. 

Typically, you’ll have to pay fees to offer financing, but this can be worked into the cost of the job so you don’t lose potential profit. If you work with a credit union, sometimes you won’t even have to deal with fees and high interest rates on financing. 

Some technology companies even provide software to make offering financing options easier on your end. AccuLynx has a partnership with GreenSky® where you can provide loan and payment plans within the AccuLynx software. Through this, customers can look at different payment plans and pick the one that’s best for them. You can also keep track of payments through the AccuLynx platform and finish deals faster without unnecessary delays. 

Risks of offering financing options 

One of the biggest risks contractors face when providing customers with financing is the rise of interest rates. In an episode of Economic Outlook by Angi, Chief Economist Mischa Fisher offers advice on how to deal with rising interest rates. He recommends contractors consider shopping around for different services from lenders to see what kind of deals you can get. 

“Make sure you're shopping around for those services. Make sure that you are looking at the entire range of options you have,” Mischa said. “When you see rates going up like this, it is a more volatile period. And as a result, you can potentially get a better deal or a worse deal.” 

Connecting buyers with financing 

Some borrowers may turn to you if traditional lenders won’t give them financing. In that case it is good to have a financing partner ready.  According to Angi, even if traditional lenders won’t approve them, you can still provide them with options, they may just end up having less than ideal interest rates and fees.  

A roof in poor condition can be hard to deal with and it’s worth it to your customers to provide them with a solution that is not as burdensome to them as a leaky roof. You could lose a good chunk of business by requiring customers to pay everything upfront. Adapt to the economy and provide customers with a sense of relief by offering financing options. 

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About Evelyn  

Evelyn works as a writer for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When she isn’t writing about roofing, she’s either at the gym lifting weights or curled up on the couch watching a movie.