The lender landscape
Contractors typically choose among consumer point-of-sale lenders specializing in home improvement, credit-union programs, and platform aggregators that route one application across multiple lenders to improve approval rates. Aggregators cost a little more but solve the two real-world problems: declines on single-lender programs and reps having to learn three portals.
Whatever you pick, integration matters more than rate sheets. If applying means leaving your proposal and re-typing the job into a lender website, reps will skip it on busy days — the option should live one tap from the proposal itself.
Dealer fees: the cost of yes
Promotional products (deferred interest, true 0%, buy-downs) carry dealer fees, often between 2% and 10% of financed amount. That is not a tax on weakness; it is a marketing cost that converts. The correct response is portfolio pricing — your book of business absorbs the blended fee — not per-deal surcharges, which most program agreements prohibit and several states regulate.
Present three payment paths, mirror the three tiers
The financing menu should be as structured as the project menu:
- Promo product (e.g., 18-month deferred interest) for homeowners who will pay off fast.
- Long-term low-APR product that minimizes the monthly figure for budget-driven buyers.
- Standard APR / no-dealer-fee product for rate-insensitive buyers who just want simplicity.
Compliance basics that keep you out of trouble
Use only lender-approved payment language and disclosures; 'no interest' and 'free money' phrasing without the qualifying terms is how complaints start. Reps should never guess APRs, never promise approvals, and never fill out an application on the homeowner's behalf. Keep the lender's disclosures attached to the proposal record — a platform that stores the proposal, selected option, and financing path together makes audits boring, which is the goal.
Rolling it out to the team
Set one non-negotiable: every proposal over a threshold (say $2,500) shows monthly payments on every tier, no exceptions. Then track financing attach rate by rep. The reps who present payments on every job will outperform the 'cash-first' holdouts within a month, and the data ends the debate for you.
