Benefits of Offering Payment PlansPicking up where we left off last time, here are some of the benefits to you and your company of offering payment plans to every prospect and customer, every time.

-With pre-approval or instant approvals on sales and service calls you increase the likelihood that a purchase will be made now or in the near future, since the account is already established.

-Cash flow is accelerated and receivables are minimized; as well as bounced checks, delinquent accounts and bad debt.

-These plans help you become a one stop shop, offering great products and services, with simple payment methods.

-Often customers are approved for larger credit lines than the sale amount, enabling product & service upgrading and add-on sales.

-You can close sales before leaving a customer’s home.

-Statistics show that for every $1 spent on a cash purchase that the same purchase would increase to $2 with a payment plan offering, meaning customers buy more when payments are available.

-Payment plans make unplanned purchases easy and affordable.

-Availability of payments differentiates you from the competition.

-Quick approvals in the home stop you from losing sales to competitors and minimize 3-day cancels.

-You eliminate competitors that don’t offer financing and show the customer how to do business with a better company offering better services, with better and more features, more comprehensive warranties and guarantees, at a higher margin.

As we conclude, here are some ideas you may want to use to help sell payment plans to your customers:

-Consider getting customers pre-approved prior to visiting home. I know several companies that offer payments that just won’t send a rep to a prospect’s home if they admit to needing financing, but won’t agree to get pre-qualified on the phone beforehand.

-Ask insightful questions and listen carefully to the responses. Show them what they want and show them how they can afford it with creative and flexible terms. Make the money make sense!

-Discuss the features and benefits of the products as they relate to the customer’s identified wants, needs, concerns, home, and budget. Show them how your recommendations solve problems, provide peace of mind and save time, worry, money and frustration.

-Tell the customer how most of the homeowners you work with use this convenience and flexibility to buy what they want, rather than what they perceive they can afford. Small payments make what they want affordable, so share some of those examples with them.

-Mentioning “low, minimum monthly payments”, “payments as low as …” or “no money down and no payments until…” will automatically generate interest and increase your sales.

Flexible Payment Plans
-Offer your plan to every customer, no matter what their financial picture appears to be. Let them decide for themselves. Many will see the value in using other people’s money.

-When quoting prices for your offerings, sell the payments, not the price by using the lowest common denominator technique I often mention. This means tying the payment to something you know the customer can relate to like the amount for a cup of coffee and newspaper per day, etc.

-Be sensitive by recognizing when a customer doesn’t have all the funds available, by applying their available cash, and financing the balance with your program so they can buy now and pay later.

-Remind customers they can avoid upcoming price increases by acting now, and then using their year-end bonus check or income tax return to pay the balance of their payment account.

-Always listen for financing signals, such as, “I love it, but can’t afford it right now;” or “I don’t have my checkbook;” or “I’m not sure if my credit card will take this amount;” or “I’m just going to check out a couple other companies before making a decision.” I think you get the idea.

-Use your payment plans to show the customer they can afford something better than they anticipated by dealing with a premier company like yours.

-If you offer a deferred payment plan, remind the customer they can move forward now, similar to a FREE test drive without any risk or money down.

-Think consumers don’t want easy payments, think again. Over 75% of everything QVC sells gets financed with their easy pay program, and their average sale is under $500. Think about it.

—————I love when this happens———————

A recent phone call to Doug; “I need you to ship me 5 more books and another study guide. This material really speaks to our guys like no other sales training material ever has.” James Bingham, DM, American LubeFast. See for yourself HERE.

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©2016 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC