Located just 11 miles south of Fort Liberty, the home of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Bass Air Conditioning of Fayetteville, North Carolina counts many military families among its customer base. We talked to Eddie Simmons, Bass Air Conditioning’s residential sales manager, about how his business has adapted to serve those who serve, and how the Wells Fargo Home Projects® program has helped him meet the needs of military and civilian customers alike.
What would you say is the main concern your customers have when they come to you?
In the HVAC business, customers often have an urgent need — in many cases, their heating or air conditioning system has failed, and they need a repair or replacement as soon as possible to keep their house at a comfortable temperature. In short, they need their home to feel like home again. That’s where Eddie feels that the Wells Fargo Home Projects® program really helps his customers and his business. “Any time you can offer financing to a homeowner with a convenient monthly payment to provide their heating and cooling solution and get their life back in order? You don't have to sell that. It sells itself.”
Why did you choose the Wells Fargo Home Projects® credit card program?
“We needed quick financing, and, of course, a name that homeowners know and trust,” Eddie said. “It’s been a great relationship,” he continued. “The feedback and the support we get from Wells Fargo has helped our business achieve our goals and kept us moving to the next level.”
How does your team incorporate financing into their discussions with customers?
Throughout our conversation, Eddie emphasized the importance of bringing up financing early in his discussions with customers. “In general, we lead with financing on all of our proposals,” he said. “We like to put that in front of the homeowner so the first thing they see is a convenient monthly payment to take care of their heating and cooling and getting their home back to where it's comfortable.”
“When you're dealing with the general public,” Eddie continued, “you know you're there to provide a solution, and you don’t know what their financial status is. I just assume they're going to need to use financing to get their heating and cooling solution. So we always lead with that, and if they don't need financing, great, but it's easier to talk about it up front than to come back and do financing after the fact.”
Given that HVAC customers may be facing a large, unexpected expense, Eddie feels that starting the conversation with financing can often put their minds at ease. “When you lead with the available financing, you're allowing that homeowner not to worry about their savings and having to take a lot of their money out that they’ve saved for rainy days,” he explained. “Leading with the financing and the monthly payment is always a plus, since it can let the customer hold on to their savings.”
You have a unique customer base here in Fayetteville. How does the Wells Fargo Home Projects® program help Bass Air Conditioning meet their needs?
“One time where it really helped us and our customers was during the government shutdown in 2018, since so many of our customers are in the military,” Eddie explained. “We still had families that needed heating and cooling, but during the shutdown, they weren’t getting paid, so they thought they would have to dip into their savings,” he continued. “We were able to help them by offering financing with a monthly payment, so they were still able to get heating and cooling right away.”
How does Wells Fargo’s technology help you serve your customers?
Being able to do business with customers online using Wells Fargo’s powerful digital tools has been a boon to Eddie’s business and a comfort to his military customers who might have someone serving overseas. “These families, they're all over the world, and they still have a home here in Fayetteville,” he said. “With Wells Fargo, I'm able to send the digital proposals with the financing to anywhere on the globe, and within minutes, the financing is complete.”
Talk to a Wells Fargo representative today to learn how we can help you meet the needs of your customers!
Contact us:
Wells Fargo Retail Services
1-800-577-5313
wellsfargo.com/homeprojects