The Right FinTech Funding Partner Can Make a Big Difference

“Good” Isn’t Good Enough

Recent research by Sawbux Marketing underlines just how high the stakes are for brokers. It turns out that even among customers who have a positive first impression, the difference between a good and great first deal can have a massive impact on retention and repeat business rates.

• When customers who rate their first broker experience as “Excellent” are polled, 73% of customers never consider switching brokers.
• Conversely, when customers who rate their first experience as merely “Good” are polled, 89%—nearly 9 in 10!—actively evaluate alternatives within 24 months.¹

That’s a massive swing in sentiment for what seem, on paper, to be similar results!

We’re All Consumers Now

So why is a good experience no longer good enough? In a recent roundtable of tech leaders in equipment financing published by MonitorDaily, the executive consensus was that buyers now carry over their expectations from their lives as consumers to the business world.

Joe Applegate, Chief Operating Officer of TimeValue Software, put it best:

Borrowers—and increasingly vendors—are bringing consumer expectations into equipment finance, requiring less friction and faster approvals. […] In today’s competitive environment, the ease of doing business can be a deciding factor.²

When a small-business owner spends the weekend in their consumer finance environment—where their headaches have been automated away, and they can manage their accounts from their phone with one finger —they come in Monday morning craving a similar easy experience. Waiting days for approvals or fighting with a clunky user portal won’t cut it anymore.

This explains the restlessness of the customer who had a “Good” first deal. Rather than building on that foundation, they’re already wondering if another broker can deliver the same results but without the unsatisfying friction.

Lean On Your FinTech Partner

Fortunately, this is where having a FinTech funding partner can help you take your first deals from good to great. On top of fast approvals—practically instant in many cases—and speedy funding, your FinTech partner can offer a technology tool suite to help make the customer experience more seamless from origination through the end of the deal lifecycle.

Here are some best practices and tips to consider so that you nail your next first deal:

• Look for a wide window: A great first experience starts with a warm welcome.
  • Look for a funder that accepts a wide range of FICO scores and is willing to fund start-ups.
  • Your funder should also accept a wide range of transaction sizes—even as low as $500. Some customers who only have a one-off need now will turn into big purchasers later. By the same token, down the road you don’t want to tell a reliable customer you can’t fund their one-off need when they have a piece of equipment breakdown because their order is too small.
  • Ask questions! If there are industries your funder is hesitant to work with, find that out before you send them those customers.
• Fast is good. Instant is excellent: The faster new customers can apply and get approved, the happier they’ll be. In general, FinTech funders offer some of the fastest approvals around. If you can find instant approvals for qualified candidates, even better. Likewise, seek prompt or even same-day funding.
• Strive for zero friction: App or web-based portals that speed application submission, simplify document management, and allow e-signature gathering are crucial for seamless originations. Be familiar with your funder’s portal so you can help your customer breeze through the process.
• Embrace the API: Investing in the technology and training to connect to your FinTech funder’s API is absolutely worth the sweat equity for the speed, convenience, control, and data you and your funder will get out of it.
• Once you’ve nailed it, nurture it: Don’t get so focused on the first deal that you lose sight of your relationship-building fundamentals. Putting time, energy and (thoughtful!) automation into post-deal communication and periodic check-ins pays off—in the form of 340% higher customer retention rates and 280% more referrals, compared to brokers who focus only on new prospect acquisition.¹

Worth the Effort

The difference between a good first deal and a great first deal can determine whether the transaction is a one-time occurrence or the start of a long-term relationship worth an average 2.3x more annual revenue. ¹ This puts extraordinary pressure on brokers to deliver a seamless experience right out of the gate.

But with a FinTech partner giving you a boost on both the user experience and the financing ends of the scale, you can make that excellent first deal—and every deal after—part of your business as usual.

Sources

¹ 2025 Sawbux Marketing surveys

² Monitor Staff. “Technology Roundtable: Inside the Tech Shifts Transforming Equipment Finance.” MonitorDaily, 3 Sept. 2025, www.monitordaily.com/article/technology-roundtable-inside-the-tech-shifts-transforming-equipment-finance/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nicol Henning is Vice President of Sales for TimePayment, a Boston-based FinTech company specializing in B2B commercial equipment financing. Powered by industry-leading technology and a proprietary credit scoring model created at MIT, TimePayment’s equipment financing options have opened the doors to prosperity for hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs.