Contractors need to be prepared for dealer fees or they will cause unexpected hiccups in your bottom line. On the most recent episode of Matt Chatts, Matt Bratsis, joined by co-host Donna Decoster as well as Flow Odyssey President Drew Cameron and Zac Schroeder of Service First Processing, pondered which solutions do contractors typically employ, and what they should be doing instead.

The absence of clear procedures around dealer fees can hinder one's ability to provide optimal rates to customers. Matthew Bratsis advocates for a solution in the form of the "blended rate" method, which offers a strategic approach to making dealer fees work for contractors rather than against them.

Other participants in the conversation agreed that in most scenarios, there is simply no plan for dealer fees other than on a per deal basis, which can lead to inconsistencies and a loss of profit.

Bratsis and Cameron agreed that there is a big difference between how contractors are currently approach dealer fees and how they should be aproaching them. "I think what they're actually doing is [adjusting on a per deal basis]," said Cameron.

"The conversations that I know Donna and I and the rest of the team have had with dealers is they really don't understand the blended rate," said Bratsis. "But I do think there's a certain percentage of dealers that hate dealer fees and think that they are a rip-off, which is a misunderstanding of dealer fees."

"I'll defer to the experts here," offered Schroeder.

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