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Not all dealer and vendor finance programs perform equally – and the difference is rarely due to rate. Oftentimes, it’s due to how the program is designed and how well it supports the way dealers actually sell.
A cross-industry benchmark of dealer and vendor finance programs identified three characteristics that consistently distinguish top-quartile programs from the rest.
According to the study, top programs offer four or more deal structures – such as FMV leases, $1 buyouts, deferred starts, seasonal payments, step-up schedules, or bundled equipment/hardware-plus-services agreements. Bottom-quartile programs offer one or two.
This matters because the deals that drive the most revenue – multi-product, multi-year, customer-specific – rarely fit a standard template. When the program can only support one or two structures, dealers either force the deal into a shape that doesn’t fit the customer or work outside the program entirely. It also opens the door to competitors who may have the infrastructure to finance the deal more seamlessly.
“We surveyed our dealer network and found that 44% of deals that went outside the financing program did so because the program couldn’t accommodate the deal structure the customer needed. That’s not a dealer problem. That’s a program design problem.”
—Director of dealer finance, national equipment distributor
Top programs invest in dealer training, co-selling support, and payment presentation tools – not just rate sheets. They treat financing as a selling capability that dealers need to be equipped for, not a back-office function that runs on its own.
According to the data, programs that invest in dealer enablement report 31% higher average deal values than programs that provide rates and documentation only.
78% of top-quartile programs can finance equipment/hardware and services together in a single agreement. Among bottom-quartile programs, that number is only 24%.
This is increasingly the dividing line in program performance. As dealers move toward solution selling, programs that can’t finance the complete deal are losing relevance, even when their rates are competitive. That’s because they break up the deal – introducing greater friction, more approvals, and a fractured relationship vulnerable to competitors.
Summary of Finance Program Characteristics
| Program characteristic | Top quartile | Bottom quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Number of deal structures offered | 4+ | 1–2 |
| Dealer enablement investment | Dedicated resources | Rates and docs only |
| Ability to support bundled solution financing | 78% | 24% |
| Average deal value | +31% vs bottom | Baseline |
| Auto-renewal rate | 68% | 29% |
The Financing Partner’s Role in Program Design
Top-performing programs aren’t built by accident. They require a financing partner that’s intentional about program architecture – not just approvals. The partner needs to invest in dealer enablement, offer the structural variety that real-world deals demand, and provide the support, speed, and creativity to keep complex deals moving.
For more than 20 years, LEAF has partnered with dealers, vendors, and manufacturers to design effective financing programs that support high dealer performance and long-term growth. From custom structures to dealer enablement resources to bundled solution support and more, LEAF understands what dealers and vendors need to succeed in today’s challenging environment and how to build it into an easy-to-use financing program that closes bigger deals, faster.
