A new ACCA Contractor of the Future survey, run with Farmington Consulting Group, splits more than 1,000 HVAC contractors into three groups: 37% offer financing on every job, 31% offer it circumstantially, and 32% don't offer it at all. The gap between those groups is no longer a guess — it's documented.
Close rates jump from 38% to 49% when financing is offered at all, an 11-point lift across the industry. But the more important finding is consistency: contractors who present financing on every single job — not just when a customer seems like they need it — finance 18% more new and replacement sales than contractors who only bring it up selectively.
Why consistency beats selective judgment: many customers who would benefit from financing don't show obvious financial-stress signals, and many who do show those signals aren't actually financing candidates. Waiting to read the room costs conversions that a consistent process would capture automatically.
Second-look financing adds another layer. Among contractors who offer it for customers who don't qualify on a first application, that group finances 12% more of total new and replacement sales than contractors without a second-look option — a low-cost addition once a primary financing partnership already exists.
Contractors in the field back the data with specifics: presenting financing clearly and early increases both close rate and average ticket size, since customers decide faster when a monthly payment feels manageable, and financing reduces the number of estimates that stall or get shopped elsewhere. For the 32% offering nothing, the absence of financing is now a measurable competitive disadvantage rather than a neutral business choice.
