An authorized reseller or dealer program is a win-win for brands, dealers and consumers. The brand awareness of a dealer network allows you to expand your reach while delegating tasks like marketing and merchandising to trusted partners.
Using financing within a dealer network ensures consumers everywhere have affordable access to products or services, helping dealers sell more. Offering consumer financing builds customer confidence, boosts affordability, and increases product sales across markets. Financing for dealer / distributor networks can help many industries and specifically these businesses:
- Backyard Playground Sets: Rainbow Play Systems or Adventure World Playsets
- Cleaning Systems: Hyla, Kirby, Rainbow
- Pet Fencing: DogWatch, Invisible Fence
- Home remodeling or handicap access: Re-Bath, TruBlu, Amramp
- Water Filtration: EcoWater, RainSoft, Charger Water Treatment, Kinetico
- Generators: Generac
- Elective Medical Procedures: Sono Bello
1. Increase Affordability
Consumer financing helps you increase affordability for customers. When your dealers present financing, shoppers see they can spread out the cost of their purchase over 2 or 3 years with scheduled, affordable monthly payments. Breaking down lump sum costs into smaller payments makes big-ticket items more accessible to your customer base. When consumers learn their low monthly payment, they see that they can more easily afford the product or service and proceed with the purchase. Consumer financing increases the affordability of most any product or service, providing your dealer network with the tools to increase sales.
2. Facilitate Upgrades
Because consumer financing increases affordability, consumers have more wiggle room in purchasing decisions. Instead of managing the burden of one large payment, they benefit from the flexibility of a low payment over time and the ability to upgrade their purchases. Monthly payments can fit more easily into a consumer’s everyday monthly budget.
When customers have access to financing, they’re more likely to consider choosing a higher-end product or adding additional features or accessories, increasing the dealer’s sales. Financing enables dealers to upsell by showing customers that they can choose the best product to fit their needs and wants for only a slight increase in their monthly payments.
3. Attract a Broader Customer Base
Big-ticket purchases can be difficult for so many shoppers to manage. They typically need to pay in cash upfront or charge the purchase to a credit card, which makes the purchase challenging. Many shoppers don’t have cash reserves to cover a high-value purchase. Others want to avoid the high interest rates of a credit card payment. Offering consumer financing allows dealers to provide an affordable, accessible means for customers to purchase your products at a monthly cost that works for their budgets.
Using financing for dealers and distributors helps appeal to a broader range of customers, including those who want or need alternative payment options. Increasing accessibility and reach allows dealers to sell more of your products, boosting revenue while serving the customer.
4. Gain a Competitive Advantage
Price is a crucial factor for consumers shopping big-ticket items. If the customer feels priced out of their budget, they abandon the purchase or look to competing dealers to compare costs.
When you offer consumer financing through your dealer network, you give shoppers the confidence to shop your brand and get the most affordable pricing with monthly payments that fit nicely into their planned monthly spending. Dealers that offer low monthly payments differentiate themselves from competitors that don’t and make purchase easier for consumers who need payment flexibility.
5. Enhance the Brand Experience
Brands trust dealers to deliver exceptional, personal service to customers as they purchase their product or service. Manufacturers can improve the brand experience by providing consumer financing options through their dealer network.
Consumer financing provides convenience and flexibility, which consumers want in their purchase experience, especially for big-ticket items. When dealers can deliver a positive customer experience, they increase the likelihood that those customers will return for future purchases and recommend the product and dealer to others. Consumer financing plays a massive role in enhancing the customer experience and building loyalty and trust among shoppers.
6. Improve Marketing Efforts
When shopping for big-ticket items, customers seek out dealers that allow them to get the most value for their investment. Including consumer financing options in marketing helps brands and dealers better engage with shoppers who are unsure or hesitant about their purchases.
The benefits of consumer financing are endless. When brands and dealer partners center consumer financing in their marketing material, they attract more shoppers and draw them into the store or to the dealer’s website. As shoppers engage with a dealer with the understanding that they have affordable financing options, they’re much more likely to follow through with the purchase.
These strategies help you empower your dealer network, help dealers making it easier for them to grow their businesses and, in turn, drive up your overall sales.
7. Consumer Financing for Your Dealer Network through UCFS
United Consumer Financial Services has built our application process to serve you, your dealer partners, and your customers, removing friction and delivering simplicity and convenience at every step. We’ve designed our processes for seamless integration, making it ideal for businesses partnering with dealers.
UCFS provides a fast, straightforward online application and prompt notice of approval to expedite the sale. Once a customer is approved, dealers can proceed with the transaction and give them clear, easy-to-follow instructions for loan repayment.
Our financing application process is simple:
- Dealer enters the customer’s credit application or has them enter it themselves
- Dealer receives near-immediate communication of customer credit status
- For approved credit apps, customer eSigns the contract right from their email
- Dealer moves forward quickly with the sale
- You get paid by UCFS within 1-2 days after the transaction or service is complete
- Consumers make payments through autopay, with the first payment 30 days after the purchase
UCFS simplifies repayment with a streamlined financing process that helps close the sale, simplifying things for your dealer network and providing the tools they need to sell more.
Consumer financing is a necessary and effective tool for brands that want to empower their dealer partners to increase sales. Getting started is easy. Contact our team today to learn how to use financing for your dealer network to increase sales.