Maximizing Revenue: The Power of ServiceTitan’s Integrated Financing

When times are tough, customers struggle to afford major HVAC repairs or replacements, but they need to remain comfortable in their homes during hot summers and cold winters. No matter the season, the team at Rogers Heating & Cooling helps customers solve their HVAC problems quickly and efficiently with technical know-how and flexible financing options for every need.

Providing service to customers in Virginia and North Carolina, Rogers Heating & Cooling began offering ServiceTitan integrated financing three years ago and Vice President Alyssa Rogers says the move proved to be a true game-changer. Today, 30% of the company’s revenue comes from financing, with a 41% close rate on installs and a $3,200 average service ticket.

“Our business wouldn’t be where it is today without financing,” Rogers says. “There’s no way we could have grown at the pace we have without it.”

When Rogers and her husband, Joey, took over the family business from his dad in 2018, the company offered no customer financing.

“We found we weren't closing as many jobs because people just didn't have the funds to replace their system. And they were going with a lot of repair options because that’s what they could afford, even if they wanted a new system,” Rogers says. “So we said, ‘Okay, what can we do to help out our customers?’”

The right answer? Offer customer financing but with flexible options that work for customers with low or high credit scores.

In our second episode of the new Mastering ServiceTitan podcast, Rogers shares her journey to develop a customer-focused financing strategy, explains how ServiceTitan features can help you maximize revenue, and suggests the best time of year to introduce financing to your team.

>>Listen to the full podcast on customer financing now on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

Developing a customer-focused financing strategy

The Rogers customer financing strategy started with one financing partner and a very manual process requiring financing customers to jump through multiple steps to get approved. The strategy also involved sorting through different dealer fees, rates, and terms. 

“In the beginning, you don't know what you don't know,” Rogers says, such as how much the financing company charges in dealer fees. If you sell a job for $10,000, for instance, a certain percentage of that goes to your financing partner. “That's really important to know if you're looking to get into financing, so you can price yourself correctly.”

In addition to pricing services correctly, Rogers also learned a lesson about transparency.

“The customer should never know about the dealer fees and agreements we have with those financing companies. It should be between you, the financing company, and that's it,” Rogers says.

Rogers learned that lesson the hard way, she says. The company didn’t think it was doing anything wrong by disclosing the dealer fees to customers, but that transparency resulted in a financial audit and repayment of many dealer fees.

“It was a very large expense, and it's one I don't want anyone to have to ever go through,” Rogers says. “Running a business is all about gut punches. And it's even harder when you don't think you're doing anything wrong.”

Today, Rogers works with multiple financing partners offering a variety of credit solutions, but simplifies the process with ServiceTitan’s integrated financing features and the mobile app. Techs are trained to use a cheat sheet to help customers choose the best financing option, with questions including:

• What is your credit score? 

• Are you the homeowner or tenant?

• What interest rate do you prefer?

• What payment terms do you seek?

“It just kind of takes them through a journey to where the customer feels like they're choosing the best option for themselves,” Rogers says.

And that journey starts with the customer’s first phone call to your business. When customers call seeking service, repair, or replacement, let them know you offer low-interest financing options when booking the job. Then, the tech picks up that journey on the mobile app and offers the customer good-better-and-best options with financing to solve their issue.

At Rogers, the techs present customer options and ask the following question: “Would you like to pay with your money or ours today?”

Customers always ask what that means, and Rogers says it opens the door for the customer financing conversation. 

“The customer is their own person and they're going to make their own decisions about what's best for them. We just provide the solutions. They don't have to go with us, and they don't have to choose that option, but they deserve to know the option's there,” Rogers explains.

In addition to weekly technical training sessions, Rogers also requires techs to go through sales training and role-playing twice a week to really focus on the customer experience. In fact, one tech recently closed a big job and attributed his success to the role-playing he did with teammates the week prior, Rogers says.

>>Need training for Integrated Financing? Register here! 

How ServiceTitan features can help you maximize revenue

Before ServiceTitan, Rogers Heating & Cooling handled all customer financing requests in-house. When a tech provided service for a customer who wanted financing, they’d contact Rogers or Sales Manager Justin Lloyd to deal with the paperwork on the phone or with the customer in the office.

“When we found out ServiceTitan was integrating with a lot of financing companies, we signed up immediately,” Rogers says. “Now our technicians, when they're in the home, they can get the customer financed.

“If you have technicians that say, ‘I don't feel comfortable getting people's personal information and asking them those kinds of questions,’ they don't have to. They truly can send a link to the customer for them to fill out on their personal device or take them to the platform where the customer fills out all the information,” she adds. “Thank you, ServiceTitan, for making it much easier for us.”

Getting started with ServiceTitan integrated financing is simple and easy and there are no additional charges for core platform users. 

“If you're already financing with various partners, you can just integrate them and put them all into one place within ServiceTitan, and there's no additional cost for it,” says Josh Lu, podcast host and ServiceTitan Content Marketing Lead. 

Recent stats show customers who use ServiceTitan integrated financing versus those who don’t see a 16% higher average ticket and an 8% higher close rate, Lu says.

“It will grow your organization,” Rogers says, because you’re making your services more affordable for customers who don’t have available funds to pay. 

“You just spent time out there, and now you're leaving them, and they're going to call someone else. So why not offer financing to make them feel more comfortable? They’re going to use you forever.”

If you don’t currently offer financing to customers, Rogers suggests starting with one financing partner, learning the process, building a relationship, and then adding more partners as you become more comfortable.

“Don’t be scared of it,” Rogers says. 

A sales representative or relationship manager from each financing company will help you through the process. Just be prepared to ask your own questions, such as:

• What are your expectations of us?

• How can we form a great relationship?

• What are your dealer fees?

• What are your most popular plans? 

“We choose the top three plans to offer [from each financing partner] and we take into account the dealer fees, the terms of the loans, and all of that,” Rogers says. “Just make sure you're strategically picking the plans that are going to work best for your company.”

And if you’re already working with two or three financing partners, go ahead and integrate with ServiceTitan to make it easier for your techs to access and present the financing offers and for you to get better reporting metrics to maximize customer financing revenue.

“Do it. What do you have to lose, right?” Rogers says. “We're always looking for ways to make things easier on the techs in the field and our comfort advisors.”

When to introduce financing to your team

While it may seem counterintuitive, Rogers says her husband-business-owner likes to implement new things, like customer financing training, during the busiest times of the year.

“I can't imagine implementing anything new right now, in the heat of the summer. But it's the best time to do it,” Rogers says. “Everyone's so busy, they don't have time to complain. They're going from call to call, and they get more experience with it because they have more calls.

“We actually transitioned over to ServiceTitan three years ago this week. We did it in July. It was the busiest time of year and we implemented the whole platform to our team,” Rogers says. “They learned it very quickly because they had lots of jobs, we were really busy, and they didn't have time to complain.

“Do it in the heat of the moment. Don't be scared of the change. The team will get on board,” she adds.

>>Check out the Rogers Radio Podcast to learn how this unique HVAC company showcases and highlights its local community.

You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Mastering ServiceTitan on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or our website, or search for Mastering ServiceTitan in your favorite podcast player.