Offering Financing Doubled This HVAC Company's Close Rate on $10K+ Jobs

Contractors who offer financing close 20-30% more jobs over $5,000, according to GreenSky’s 2025 home improvement lending report. The impact grows with job size. On $10,000+ system replacements, the gap between contractors with and without financing options is even wider.

An HVAC company in Georgia went from a 22% close rate on full system replacements to 48% within six months of adding financing through GreenSky. They didn’t change their pricing, their sales pitch, or their equipment brands. They just gave homeowners a way to say yes without writing a $12,000 check.

Why financing changes the conversation

73% of homeowners say monthly payment options make them more likely to approve a higher-tier system, according to a 2025 Synchrony Financial survey. A $12,000 furnace replacement feels overwhelming as a lump sum. The same system at $199/month for 72 months feels manageable.

The shift happens because financing reframes the decision. Without financing, the homeowner is choosing between spending $12,000 and not spending $12,000. With financing, they’re choosing between $199/month for a premium system and $149/month for a standard system. Both options feel accessible. Both result in a booked job.

Average ticket size increases 30-50% when financing is available at the point of sale, according to GreenSky data across 30,000+ home service contractors. Homeowners who would have chosen the basic option upgrade to mid-tier or premium when the monthly payment difference is $30-50.

An HVAC tech on the Owned and Operated podcast described presenting a $14,500 high-efficiency system to a homeowner who had a $7,000 budget. “When I showed her the monthly payment at $245 versus the basic system at $155, she picked the better unit without hesitation. She said the extra $90 a month was worth it for the efficiency savings.”

Which financing options work best

Same-as-cash (0% APR for 12-18 months)

Same-as-cash financing has the highest conversion rate of any financing option, according to Synchrony Financial. Homeowners love the idea of paying zero interest if they pay it off in time. The psychological appeal is powerful: “free money” removes the last objection.

The catch is that you, the contractor, pay for it. Dealer fees on 0% APR plans range from 5-12% of the financed amount, depending on the term length and the lending partner. On a $10,000 job with a 9% dealer fee, you’re giving up $900 in margin.

Whether that trade-off works depends on your close rate improvement. If 0% financing moves your close rate from 25% to 45%, the increased volume more than covers the dealer fee.

Low-rate extended terms (36-72 months)

Longer-term financing at 5-10% APR has lower dealer fees (2-6%) and still improves close rates by 15-20%, according to GreenSky benchmarks. The monthly payment is lower, which makes big jobs feel affordable.

A plumbing contractor on r/sweatystartup described offering 60-month financing on whole-house repipes. “A $15,000 repipe becomes $285/month. Nobody blinks at $285. Everybody blinks at $15,000. My close rate on repipes went from 18% to 37%.”

Buy now, pay later (BNPL)

BNPL options like Wisetack and Hearth target smaller jobs in the $1,000-5,000 range. BNPL approval rates average 70-85%, significantly higher than traditional financing which approves 55-65% of applicants.

The advantage is speed. A homeowner can get approved on their phone in under 60 seconds while the tech is still explaining the repair. No paperwork, no waiting, no calling a bank.

Wisetack reports that contractors using their platform see a 24% increase in average ticket size because homeowners approved for $3,000 in credit are more willing to authorize a $2,800 repair than pay $2,800 out of pocket.

How to present financing without being pushy

Lead with the monthly payment

Don’t present the total price first and then offer financing as a rescue. Present the monthly payment as the primary number. “Your system replacement is $225/month with approved financing” lands differently than “$13,500, but you could finance it.”

Tommy Mello of A1 Garage Door Service has talked about training his techs to always present three options with monthly payments: good, better, and best. A1’s average ticket exceeds $500 per service call, driven in part by financing-enabled upselling.

Offer financing on every job over $1,000

63% of homeowners who use contractor financing say they would not have done the project without a payment option, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. You’re not pushing financing on people who don’t need it. You’re enabling projects that would otherwise be postponed indefinitely.

A common mistake is only offering financing when the homeowner hesitates. By that point, they’ve already mentally anchored to “I can’t afford this.” Present financing upfront, before the objection forms.

Make the application process instant

Every minute of friction in the financing application reduces completion rates by 8-12%, according to Wisetack data. The best financing experience happens on the homeowner’s phone: scan a QR code, enter basic info, get approved in 30-60 seconds.

If your financing partner requires paper applications, faxed documents, or multi-day approval timelines, you’re losing the impulse that financing is supposed to capture.

Choosing a financing partner

The major players in contractor financing each serve different niches.

GreenSky (now part of Goldman Sachs) is the largest home improvement lender. They offer 0% promotional plans and extended terms up to 144 months. Dealer fees range from 3-12% depending on the plan. Best for contractors doing high-volume replacement work over $5,000.

Synchrony Financial offers similar programs with strong integration into ServiceTitan and other field service platforms. Their approval rates are competitive, and they offer both revolving credit and installment plans.

Wisetack focuses on smaller jobs and offers a modern, mobile-first experience. No dealer fees on their standard plans, which makes them attractive for service and repair work. Approval decisions come in seconds.

Hearth provides a platform that lets homeowners compare offers from multiple lenders, increasing approval odds. They charge contractors a monthly platform fee rather than per-transaction dealer fees.

Evaluate financing partners on four criteria: approval rate, dealer fees, application experience, and integration with your CRM or field service software. A partner with an 80% approval rate and 5% dealer fee beats one with a 60% approval rate and 3% dealer fee on total revenue generated.

The math on financing ROI

Run the numbers for your business. Take your current close rate on jobs over $5,000, your average ticket on those jobs, and your current volume.

If you close 25 estimates per month at a 30% rate, you’re booking 7.5 jobs. At an $8,000 average ticket, that’s $60,000 in monthly revenue.

Add financing and your close rate moves to 45%. Now you’re booking 11.25 jobs at $60,000 would become $90,000. Even with a 7% average dealer fee costing you $6,300, you’re netting $23,700 more per month.

Over a year, that’s $284,000 in additional revenue from adding a financing option to your sales process. The dealer fees are the cost of capturing demand that would have walked away.

One plumbing company on ContractorTalk reported their financing-enabled revenue for 2025: $1.2 million in financed jobs that they would not have closed without payment options, minus $84,000 in dealer fees, for a net gain of $1.116 million. “Financing isn’t an expense. It’s the cheapest sales tool I’ve ever used.”

Getting started

Start with one financing partner. Apply as a dealer, get approved, and integrate financing into your sales presentation for every job over $1,000. Track your close rate for 90 days and compare to your previous 90 days.

Most contractors see results within the first month. When a homeowner who would have said “let me think about it” instead says “what’s the monthly payment,” you’ve already won.

Read more about conversion methodology for home service businesses.