Consumer financing empowers shoppers with flexible payment plans that increase their purchase options and buying power. Businesses like yours benefit from reaching a broader audience and increasing average order values.
The faster you can roll out a financing program, the better for you and your customers. This step-by-step guide explains how to implement consumer financing fast so you can serve customers and increase sales starting today. Let’s dive in.
Step 1: Assess Your Business Needs
Today’s shoppers not only expect payment flexibility, they demand it. A 2024 report found that consumers not only feel more comfortable making larger purchases with Buy Now, Pay Later services, but the majority of shoppers choose to finance their purchases before they buy, highlighting the importance of offering a consumer financing option.
Consumer financing delivers countless benefits in addition to attracting more customers:
- Increased conversions
- Faster pathways to sale
- Increased average order values
- Greater accessibility for all consumer demographics
- Positive customer experiences leading to long-term loyalty and positive reviews and recommendations
Regardless of your current sales volume, consumer financing can help you grow it. And when you work with a trusted consumer financing company that manages the full lifecycle of the loan, you reap all the rewards without additional strain on your team or your finances.
Step 2: Choose the Right Consumer Financing Partner
Choosing to provide financing is a great decision for your business. But it’s just the first step toward better service and more sales. Choosing the right financing partner is critical in implementing your program.
The ideal consumer financing partner not only meets your and your customers’ needs; it anticipates them. United Consumer Financial Services has provided consumer financing services for over 45 years. A subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, we have the resources, systems, and expertise to deliver full-service consumer financing that helps you sell more:
- High Approval Rates
UCFS boasts high customer approval rates, giving more consumers access to your products or services. We broaden your reach, helping you serve more and sell more than ever.
- No Added Fees
Merchants registered with UCFS to offer financing only pay a fee when a consumer makes their purchase. The sale is made, the consumer commits to make their monthly payments, and the business gets paid in one to two days, less a small, retained percentage, just like fees associated with credit card services. There are no registration fees, no set-up fees and no ongoing monthly fees. A financing fee structure is developed based on consumer credit quality and a business’ fee requirements.
- Fast, Online Credit Application
UCFS streamlines credit approval with straightforward, paperless applications that customers can complete on their phones or your company’s tablet or computer. A credit decision arrives almost instantly, allowing you to proceed with the sale immediately.
- Affordable Monthly Payments
Consumer financing options are essential to helping your business establish and maintain affordability. UCFS provides your customers with affordable monthly payments that empower immediate purchase without repercussions on planned monthly budgets or allocated finances.
- Support When You Need It
Our U.S.-based customer support team is here to help you ensure your financing program runs smoothly.
Step 3: Set Up the Financing Program
Once you’ve assessed your needs and chosen the right consumer financing provider, you can implement your program.
When you partner with UCFS, rolling out consumer financing is simple. Our program integrates seamlessly into your current business operations. We provide training to your team so they can helpfully and effectively offer financing options to your customers. We provide promotional materials, helping your business highlight consumer financing options to shoppers.
UCFS sets clear terms and conditions for customers, establishing expectations and a culture of transparency that goes far with potential clients and customers. We also give you all the tools and training you need to set up a conversion-driving financing program that helps you grow your business.
Step 4: Promote Consumer Financing to Your Customers
Once a financing program is in place, businesses must promote their options to eager consumers. Communicate financing availability early and often to showcase exactly how affordable your products and services can be with low monthly payments. Promote consumer financing on your website, in-store, and every platform where you engage with shoppers.
When you choose UCFS to provide consumer financing, you gain access to marketing materials and team training that help you promote financing and ensure your customers make the most of these options. Customers and clients must be made aware of payment flexibility so they can take advantage of it and maximize their purchasing power.
Step 5: Streamline the Application and Approval Process
Consumer financing makes your products and services affordable. A fast, simple application process helps you capitalize on consumer excitement and bring them through to sale.
Big-ticket purchases require financial and emotional commitment. Most shoppers spend weeks or even months comparing products, services, and pricing to ensure they’re entering the purchase well-informed and with realistic expectations. No matter the quality of the product or the benefits it offers, a hefty price tag can dissuade shoppers at any point in the buyer’s journey, even up until the point of purchase. Payment flexibility allows customers to buy the products they want, make the purchase that day, and do so without disrupting their planned budgets. When financing applications are simple and quick, shoppers have less time to second-guess their decisions or talk themselves out of a purchase that could significantly benefit them.
Partnering with UCFS for financing ensures a speedy, straightforward customer application with minimal friction. Credit decisions arrive quickly, allowing you to move forward with the sale.
Step 6: Monitor Performance and Optimize
Implementing a consumer financing program doesn’t stop once the customer has signed their contract. Retailers should track key metrics to analyze how offering affordable payment plans affects business growth. Monitoring customer adoption, conversion rates, average order values, and customer sentiment can provide data on the role financing plays in your sales and profits.
With that data, you can then make adjustments to improve the efficacy of your financing program. For example, highlighting financing more frequently, educating customers about their payment options, and other such actions will impact both the number of consumers who choose financing and the value of their orders.
Conclusion
Implementing financing maximizes affordability, which helps you sell more. When you choose the right consumer financing company for your business, you win, and so do your customers.
United Consumer Financial Services makes financing the ideal choice for shoppers seeking alternative payment options. Partnering with UCFS equips businesses with the tools they need to leverage financing for real, sustainable growth. Contact us today to learn how easy and fast it is to implement consumer financing and how doing so can transform your sales and profits.