How to offer finance to your customers
If you sell equipment or vehicles and your customers keep asking whether they can spread the cost, this is how that works — what you can and cannot do yourself, and where a broker fits. Including the deals a bank has already turned down.
- Whole-of-market broker, not a single lender
- Specialists in placing deals declined by the bank
- One named contact, not a call centre queue
- Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited
Most equipment sales die for one of two reasons: the customer cannot raise the money, or they can, but not quickly enough to hold the deal together. Neither is a problem with your product. Both cost you the sale.
CW Asset Finance is a whole-of-market asset finance broker based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. We work with dealers, manufacturers and suppliers who want a funding route to offer customers at the point of sale — and, just as often, somewhere to send the customer whose bank has already said no.
We are a credit broker, not a lender. That is the point: we are not tied to one funder’s appetite, so when one lender declines a deal it is not the end of it. All finance remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
The declined deal is the one worth talking about
Every dealer has the same story. A serious customer, a real requirement, a machine on the forecourt — and a bank that will not lend, often for reasons that have nothing to do with whether the customer can afford it.
Common ones we see:
- Seasonal or lumpy income. A high-street affordability model wants twelve even months. Farms, contractors and hire companies do not have twelve even months.
- Short trading history. A two-year-old limited company with good numbers still trips a lot of automated criteria.
- Sole traders and partnerships. No filed accounts to assess, so a generalist lender defaults to no.
- Adverse credit history. Sometimes genuinely disqualifying, often historic and explainable.
- The asset itself. Specialist or niche kit that a generalist funder will not take a view on.
None of those is automatically a decline in a market with dozens of funders and very different appetites. It is a decline at that lender. That distinction is where a broker earns their place in your process.
What a partnership actually looks like
Deliberately plain, because dealers have been sold complicated schemes before:
- You keep the customer relationship. We are funding the purchase, not taking over the account.
- One named contact. You deal with Conor, not a rota.
- Indicative terms quickly. Make, model, price and a sense of the customer is usually enough to say whether this is fundable and roughly on what shape.
- No exclusivity. Most dealers already have a funder for the straightforward business. We are frequently the second call, for the deals that funder will not take.
Before any arrangement starts we will talk you through what it involves on the regulatory side, including any FCA appointment that may be required. A dealer introducing customers for regulated finance often needs to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative, and that is a step to get right at the start rather than discover later.
Start with the two questions everyone asks
- Do I need to be regulated to offer finance? — usually not. Most business asset finance is unregulated, and this sets out where the line sits.
- How does a broker actually help, and how are they paid? — what we do on a deal, stated plainly, including commission.
- Twenty-four dealer finance questions, answered — free advice, no pitch, including the answers that are unwelcome.
And if you are in Northern Ireland, there is a page specifically for you — Conor is from Bangor and is back over once a month.
The funding mechanics then differ meaningfully by sector — what a lender wants to see on a combine is not what they want on a forklift:
- Agricultural machinery dealers — seasonal profiles, auction purchases, used depth.
- Forestry and arboriculture dealers — specialist kit, thin resale markets.
- Plant and construction dealers — contractors and hire fleets.
- Van and commercial vehicle dealers — volume, speed, conversions.
- HGV and truck dealers — operator licences, long terms.
- Materials handling and forklift dealers — finance against contract hire.
- Groundscare and turf dealers — clubs, councils, budget cycles.
- Hire fleet operators — you are the customer here, not the introducer.
Common questions
How do I find an asset finance broker to work with as a dealer?
Look for three things. First, whole-of-market access rather than a tie to a single funder, because a tied broker can only place what that one lender will take. Second, genuine sector knowledge — a broker who understands why a combine is financed differently from a forklift will place more of your deals. Third, clarity on the regulatory side: ask up front what arrangement they propose and whether you would need an FCA appointment as an Introducer Appointed Representative. Any broker who waves that question away is one to avoid.
What happens when a customer’s bank declines their finance?
A decline from one lender is not a decline from the market. Banks assess against their own criteria, and those criteria frequently reject perfectly affordable businesses — seasonal income, short trading history, sole trader structure, or simply an asset the bank does not want to take a view on. A whole-of-market broker can approach funders with different appetites, including specialist lenders who actively want the business a high-street bank will not write. That said, not every declined deal can be placed, and all finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Does offering finance through a broker cost me anything as a dealer?
There is no charge to you for introducing a customer or for us reviewing a deal. We are a credit broker and may receive a commission from the lender that funds the agreement. What an arrangement with you would look like, including how any commission is disclosed to the customer, is something we would set out clearly before starting rather than leave vague.
Do I need to be FCA authorised to refer customers for finance?
Possibly, and it depends on what you actually do. Simply telling a customer that finance exists is different from actively introducing them for a regulated agreement, and the second can require an appointment as an Introducer Appointed Representative. Because CW Asset Finance is itself an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, this is a question we deal with routinely and will walk you through properly before any arrangement begins. It is not something to guess at.
How quickly can you give a customer an answer?
For straightforward proposals, indicative terms are usually same-day and a formal decision can follow within a day or two. More complex cases — unusual assets, adverse credit, or a customer with a complicated structure — take longer, because they involve a conversation with a lender rather than a form. We would rather tell you honestly on day one that something will take a week than string a sale along. Timescales are indicative and depend on the lender and the information available.
Other sectors
Start a conversation
Tell us what you sell and the kind of deals you struggle to place. We will come back on whether we are a useful partner — and say so plainly if we are not.
Talk to us about a partnership
One reply, from Conor himself, usually the same working day.
CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds an agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. Nothing on this page is a quote or an offer of finance, and no outcome on any application is implied or promised. Any introducer arrangement is subject to the appropriate regulatory permissions being in place, which we will discuss with you before it begins. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).