“Once we started offering [financing], it seemed like our business started growing more and more.” — Lacey, Office Manager, Crown Temp

To remain competitive, Crown Temp, a small HVAC business based out of Bradley, IL, needed to offer financing — nearly all of the company’s competitors were offering it already and Crown was losing customers to them.

Crown evaluated various financing companies, but felt “few of them were worth the money.” But when the company took a look at Wisetack, a few things stood out: the low merchant fees, the user-friendliness of the platform (meaning no workflow disruption), and the excellent support — from the customer service team to the free marketing materials. Crown took a chance, and the rest is history.

3 key ways Wisetack is helping

• High usage rate: 1 out of 4 jobs are paid for with Wisetack.
• More jobs: Crown Temp has won several new jobs per week thanks to financing.
• Competitive edge: According to Lacey, Crown Temp is losing fewer jobs to competitors (who were all offering financing already).

A small business with big ambitions

Crown Temp is a small but fast-growing HVAC business based out of Bradley, IL. The company handles any and all types of HVAC services, from repairs to installations, and services the Will and Kankakee counties area.

Founded seven years ago, the business in its early days just consisted of two guys running the show out of the back of a van. 

Today, Crown has four trucks, six service technicians, and an office team of two that handles all administrative matters — including payments. We caught up with this office team — Lacey and  Carin — to talk about the company’s growth, and how offering financing through Wisetack has impacted this growth. 

Offering financing was a must to fend off the competition

One of the key reasons Crown needed to offer financing was it was losing customers to its rivals. Nearly all of the company’s competitors were already providing financing to their customers, and Crown didn’t want to fall behind. 

“A lot of our competitors were offering it, but we weren’t. Once we started to, it seemed like our business started growing more and more,” Lacey said. 

With hopes of gaining competitive ground and more jobs, Crown needed to find a financing provider that was a good fit for both the business and its customers. Finding one proved to be a challenging quest.

Choosing the right financing ally

Offering financing has helped many merchants grow their business.

However, this growth can be negated if the financing provider charges businesses excessive fees — which is a problem Crown ran into many times when evaluating financing companies.

“We could never find a financing company that was worth the money,” Carin said. The team noted that Crown was turned off by the upfront fees some companies charged for each financing purchase. They found Wisetack’s low fixed-percentage fee to be much fairer and more predictable. “It’s nice to pay just the percentage,” Carin added. 

“[Before Wisetack], we could never find a financing company that was worth the money.”

Crown also needed a platform that was user-friendly for all parties involved. A financing tool that disrupted the company’s workflow or made the customer jump through hoops was not worth the hassle.

Thanks to Wisetack’s integration with Housecall Pro and speed of financing decision, both of those concerns were put at ease. “It’s really convenient because we don’t need to send a separate financing document, and our customers get instant results,” Lacey said.

A prospering business, thanks to financing

The kingdom of Crown has become more prosperous in recent times, and much of that can be attributed to financing. According to Lacey, the business has seen tremendous growth just in the last two years, including a 50% growth over the last year.

Since Crown added Wisetack, the team estimates that 1 out of every 4 jobs has been paid for using financing, which they say translates to several jobs a week — a significant boost considering that the company’s average repair ticket is over $3,000. 

“The impact on our business has been huge,” Lacey said.

“The impact on our business has been huge.”

Just as importantly, Wisetack has allowed Crown to help more customers receive necessary services and repairs without incurring huge interest rates. Plus, because of Wisetack’s easy-to-use payment portal and responsive customer service team, Crown never receives any complaints once a customer has financed a job. “Once they sign up with Wisetack, we don’t have to do anything,” Carin added.

Sage advice for others

Offering financing works best if a little TLC is put into it, and even small initiatives can make a financing program significantly more effective. Crown gave us the rundown on two ways they got the most out of Wisetack.

First, marketing. Crown takes a multi-channel approach to marketing, which is just fancy talk for saying they promote themselves in a lot of places. The business has a strong presence in both digital spaces (notably social media) and traditional channels (like billboards). 

Crown also takes advantage of Wisetack’s free marketing materials: the company has placed stickers promoting financing on their vehicles and always keeps pamphlets and cards handy to distribute.

The second way Crown gets the most from Wisetack is by talking to customers about financing in a non-pushy and relatable way. Financing can be a sensitive topic, and Lacey says the best way to talk about it is by presenting the benefits of Wisetack in a relatable and judgment-free way.

(See more on how to talk about financing here.)

What’s next for Crown?

What’s next for Crown? Continuing to provide excellent service to customers and maintain that 5-star average rating on Google, for one.

And, of course, continued growth is the other key objective. With the help of Wisetack, the company is poised for an incredible 2023 — with many more crowning achievements to come. (Sorry, we had to.)