After the latest Matt Chatts live episode, they answered some questions from the audience on the challenges contractors face when deciding how to explain financing for HVAC customers.

After the show, one contractor asked:

How do I stop dealer fees from tanking my bottom line and disrupting my profits?

"Dealer fees are your friends not your foes, because they allow you to offer your customers the loan plans that they want," explained Donna Decoster.

VP of OPTIMUS Finance Matthew Bratsis built off of this point, explaining that contractors can absorb the cost of financing by spreading those fees across all customers, regardless of whether or not they are using financing.

Bratsis argued that the ability to offer customers multiple different ways of accepting payment is simply a cost of doing business. "You have a dealer fee associated with a credit card of 3%, so you've got to be able to analyze 'what is the total cost of taking customers' purchases?'" explained Bratsis.

"Those customers that are paying cash, they should be offsetting and helping you with those customers that are taking a 7%, 10% or 14% dealer fee," said Bratsis.

Bratsis ended by saying that too often, contractors either ignore dealer fees or become skeptical of the entire home services financing industry, viewing fees as eroding their bottom line.

"Dealer fees are not a bad thing," said Bratsis. "I would gladly choose a 10% or 12% fee if I can get 25% more closing with a 30% bigger ticket."

'Matt Chatts' is a contractors' best resource for staying informed in the world of contractor financing. All contractors are invited to join Matthew Bratsis, Donna Decoster and their guests to interact and ask questions about the often confusing world of financing in the pursuit of better customer payment solutions.

Watch the full episode of Matt Chatts "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade — And Brand It!" by clicking here. Or, register today for the next Matt Chatts episode here or sign up to have them delivered directly to your inbox.