Installment buying is an effective tool to help consumers make their purchase and sellers sell more. Offering financing to your customers empowers them to make their buying decision on big-ticket purchases the same day without disrupting their planned spending. We’ve listed four topics to help your customers use installment buying so you can make the sale and your business can grow.
1. Attract More Shoppers to Sell More
Price tags on big-ticket items can intimidate some shoppers. For many, big-ticket items require significant financial and emotional investment. The resources required to make a purchase like this might cause customers to shy away from even considering talking with you. But with installment buying options, you can give shoppers peace of mind that they can afford the items or service they need or want.
Offering installment buying – or low monthly payments – attracts shoppers to your business, site, store or medical practice. When buyers know you offer financing, they feel more comfortable talking about your product or service. Simply having the option to break down a larger lump sum into affordable monthly payments gives consumers the confidence to make their purchase.
Make it clear to customers and potential customers that your business offers installment buying options. This knowledge encourages purchase decisions and prompts buyers to choose you for the goods and services they’re looking for. By the time a person has come to your store, viewed your products or services, and realizes you offer easy and fast consumer financing, the sale is easier to make.
Installment buying attracts shoppers who might otherwise not have even considered shopping for certain products you offer. For people who don’t have readily-available cash in advance of their purchase, these shoppers can be ready to buy. With low monthly payments, you can provide a means for them to comfortably make their purchase or start their service, helping salespeople make the sale.
2. Earn Referral and Repeat Business
Customer referrals and retention play a crucial role in your ability to sell more and grow revenue. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than selling to an existing customer, and increasing customer referrals can grow your profits from 25 to 95 percent. Prospective customers who have been referred by a current or past customer are more likely to buy from you, because of that recommendation. When presented with installment buying options and consumer financing solutions, customers are more likely to buy from you, which means they’re also more likely to shop with you in the future.
Repeat customers keep your business running. The Pareto Principle has shaped marketing and business models since its inception in 1906: 20 percent of your customers make up 80 percent of your business profit. This ideology has proven true for more than 100 years. You can see how important customer retention is for your business both day-to-day and for long-term viability.
Offering installment buying means referred and repeat customers can be more likely to buy from you. The likelihood of selling to a brand new customer falls at just 5 to 20 percent, but that number jumps to 60 to 70 percent when you’re dealing with an existing or recent customer. Providing monthly installment plans encourages shoppers to choose you and to stick with you.
Consumer financing makes big-ticket purchases possible for more shoppers. When customers have the confidence to shop with your business because of a referral, they’re statistically more likely to make their purchase from you as well as recommend you to others. Installment purchase plans encourage patrons to choose you the first time and then subsequent times, which helps you grow your business with each new –– and returning –– customer.
3. Consistent Cashflow
Cashflow keeps your business running regardless of the size or scope of your operation. Cash comes into your business through customers buying your goods or services. In some cases, businesses choose to only offer all-cash buying options to protect their flow of cash. And if customers can’t pay for their purchase in full, business owners force those customers to look elsewhere for service or products and risk losing out on sales.
But when you work with a professional financing firm like United Consumer Financial Services, you enjoy direct payments within a few days of the contract being signed, and your customers benefit from affordable monthly payment plans that work with their budgets. Installment buying options allow your business to move more products or provide more services without a lapse in cashflow.
Your business can grow only if you have positive cash flow. If you don’t have money coming in, you won’t have the resources to expand. And worse, without cashflow, your business will fail. In fact, poor or no cash flow is the reason 82 percent of small businesses don’t make it.
Providing installment purchasing solutions prevents issues with your business’s cashflow. When you offer consumer financing through UCFS, the customer makes their monthly payments to the firm. You receive your payment directly from UCFS.
Thanks to installment buying, you can continue to serve your customers –– including those without the means to pay upfront, in full –– without the risk of a halt in your cashflow. Continuous cashflow allows you to not only keep your business operating smoothly, but it’s also the means by which you can grow and expand your company.
4. Invest Your Time and Money in Your Business
Running a business takes everything you have. Growing that business takes more. Partnering with a trusted financial firm like UCFS gives you the ability to invest your time, energy, and resources back into your business instead of juggling in-house financing.
When a company tries to handle its own financing in-house, it must redirect many of its resources into running the financing program. An effective in-house financing program often requires one (or more) employees to manage. And many businesses don’t have the resources to hire additional team members to handle financing. As a result, the existing team must stretch themselves thin to carry out the responsibilities that come with in-house financing.
However, when you partner with UCFS for your financing solutions, you free yourself from financing management responsibilities to invest yourself in growing your business. The team at UCFS has decades of experience providing installment buying options for your customers.
The process is simple. UCFS offers a fast application process for your buyers. After a few minutes, you’ll receive a notice of approval status. At that point, they can commence with their purchase. Customers fulfill.
Because UCFS handles your financing, you can spend more time and money investing in your business and growing it for the future.
Conclusion
Offering installment buying options to your shoppers is an effective means to grow your business. Contact the team at UCFS today to offer financing options that fit your business’s needs!