The ACCA / Farmington 2026 study of 1,000+ contractors found a clean 11-point close-rate gap between contractors who offer financing the right way and contractors who don't. Here's what that gap is worth in real dollars — and why the size of the gap surprises most owners.
From the ACCA / Farmington Consulting Group 2026 "Contractor of the Future" survey, 1,000+ contractors:
11 points is a number that sounds small until you do the math against your shop's actual call volume.
Let's take a typical residential plumbing shop doing $5M annual revenue:
Now apply the financing lift:
That's the close-rate gap alone. Stack the 13% larger ticket from Synchrony — also presented as a benefit of financing-in-conversation — and the picture changes again.
This is where the 46–68% revenue-per-estimate framing comes from — and the lower bound of that range is what most shops hit with consistent execution. The upper bound is what shops with disciplined financing-as-promotion presentation hit.
Most shops "offer financing" — in the sense that it's on the pricebook, the rep is trained, and the option exists. ACCA's data isn't about whether financing exists. It's about whether it gets PRESENTED in the conversation, in the right moment, the right way.
In the typical trades sales call, financing gets mentioned in maybe 40% of conversations where it should be brought up. The remaining 60% are reps either forgetting, fumbling the words, or hesitating because they're worried about being "salesy."
That 60% miss IS the 11-point gap.
Closing the financing-mention gap requires the rep to say the right words in the right moment — usually after the diagnosis is complete and the recommendation is on the table, before the customer says "I'll think about it."
Training reps to do this consistently is hard. Some get it; some don't. Top reps internalize the rhythm; bottom-half reps don't.
This is where TROVA real-time coaching closes the gap. The wearable captures the conversation. The AI recognizes the moment — recommendation on the table, customer hesitation forming — and cues the financing-as-promotion phrase into the rep's ear. The customer never hears the cue. The financing gets brought up. The 11-point gap collapses.
If you're running a shop doing $1M – $25M and want to measure what this math looks like for YOUR shop, the TROVA 30-day pilot baselines your close rate, runs 3–5 techs with the wearable, and measures the lift against the prior 90 days.
If the numbers don't move, you walk away.
If something in this post raised questions, the fastest answer is the demo.