The Power of Monthly Payments: Lessons Learned from Car Dealerships
Leora Lichtenstein
There’s nothing like browsing an auto dealership to experience integrated financing at its absolute best. You barely have to skim your hand along the hood of the car and the sales rep is already pitching you on the low monthly lease amount. It’s nearly impossible to get the retail price out of him, because it’s a moot point and the truth is…that nobody cares. All that really matters is the lease payment and whether it fits your monthly budget.
This approach of changing the sales conversation from a lump sum to talking “monthly payments” doesn’t just ease the financial burden; it fundamentally changes the buying psychology.
Picture this: as you eye your dream car with smooth leather seats, the dealer casually mentions, “this model could be yours for just another $80 a month.” Suddenly, the seemingly unattainable becomes well within your reach. By breaking down significant costs into bite-sized increments the sales rep empowers customers to say “yes” with confidence.
The frictionless auto finance experience
But how is it that the car salesman is able to quote monthly payments with confidence? Credit and risk are complicated and this is definitely not their area of expertise.
The answer lies with a software that quietly powers the vast majority of auto dealerships in the US. Dealertrack is a sophisticated platform that prequalifies customers in real time and digitizes the entire financing experience, making it the backbone of modern car financing. It strips away the complexity around credit and risk and gives the car dealership what they need in the most simple and elegant manner:
- The knowledge that their customer will get approved
- The monthly payment that they can quote with confidence to close the deal
The Dealer Track blueprint
In essence, the auto industry has perfected the art of transforming hefty price tags into manageable monthly payments, making big-ticket purchases feel attainable and straightforward. By leveraging technology, building extensive lender networks, and prioritizing a seamless customer experience, car dealerships have created a powerful blueprint for success:
- Realtime prequalification with visibility into whether a customer is eligible for financing
- Immediate calculation of a highly accurate monthly payment
- A network of 300+ lenders ensuring customers get approved at the lowest rate
- Digital documentation which streamlines the contracting process
There are cars…and then there’s equipment
So why aren’t integrated monthly payments standard in commercial equipment sales too? In fact, trying to purchase a much-needed machine for your business is like stepping into a car showroom and being told to get yourself over to the bank down the street before you can so much as sit in the driver’s seat. Monthly payments are rarely mentioned in the commercial equipment conversation, if they’re even an option at all.
It’s a divide that doesn’t make sense between the generally seamless B2C financing experience, and the endlessly frustrating B2B financing ordeal. In our next blog, we’ll take a deeper look into exactly why business equipment customers are still getting a raw deal on their financing.
