Contractors who present financing on every job finance 35% of their sales, versus 17% for those who offer it only when a customer hesitates (ACCA Contractor of the Future study, 2025). That 18-point gap rarely comes down to which lender a shop picked. It usually comes down to whether the rep ran a consistent qualification step before ever talking numbers.
Two mistakes cancel out that advantage. Some reps skip qualification entirely and burn hours quoting a deal that was never going to fund. Others run a hard credit check on the spot, which can ding a customer's score and their trust in the same conversation. This post walks through the workflow that avoids both: a soft pull first, the right information collected with consent, and a hard pull only once the customer has actually chosen a payment plan.
> Key Takeaways
> - A soft credit pull for prequalification never affects a credit score (Credit Karma); only a formal application triggers a hard pull.
> - Hard inquiries can cause a temporary score dip and stay on file up to two years, though the impact typically fades after the first year (SoFi).
> - Point-of-sale financing tools capture borrower details, project information, and merchant data to return a prequalification result in seconds (FinMkt).
> - Every credit pull, soft or hard, requires the customer's consent and a permissible purpose under the FCRA (America's Credit Unions).
> - Financing terms are flexible and every decision is subject to approval and eligibility, never guaranteed.
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What Does "Qualifying a Customer" for Financing Actually Mean?
Qualifying a customer means confirming, before a full application, whether they're likely to be approved and at roughly what terms, using a soft credit pull that does not affect their credit score (Credit Karma). It's a screening step, not a lending decision.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. Qualifying tells a rep whether it's worth walking a customer through payment options. Underwriting, the lender's formal approval decision, happens later and is never something a contractor performs or influences. Confusing the two is how reps end up promising outcomes they can't control.
A soft pull surfaces real credit attributes, identity, account history, payment history, and public records, without leaving a mark other lenders can see (Credit Karma). That's why leading point-of-sale financing tools run it early, first: it lets a rep show a customer realistic payment options before either side has committed to anything. Most contractors assume "qualifying" means a hard check right away. It doesn't, and treating it that way costs deals.
What Is the Difference Between a Soft Pull and a Hard Pull?
A soft pull returns credit attributes for an early, no-impact prequalification, while a hard pull only happens once the customer formally applies, and it can cause a temporary score dip that stays on file up to two years (SoFi). One is invisible to other lenders; the other is not.
Think of the soft pull as a background check nobody but the customer sees. The hard pull is the moment Truth in Lending disclosures under Regulation Z start to attach, because at that point the customer is applying for actual credit, not just checking their options (CFPB, Regulation Z). That's also the moment a lender makes its underwriting decision, not the contractor.
Most contractor-facing content explains soft and hard pulls at a glance and moves on. It rarely spells out what that means for the sales conversation: run the soft pull first, on every quote, with zero downside, and hold the hard pull until a customer has already picked a payment plan they like. Flipping that order is the single change that protects both the deal and the customer's score.
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What Information Should You Collect Before Submitting an Application?
Point-of-sale financing tools typically capture three categories of data: borrower details, purchase or project information, and merchant data, then apply rule-based decisioning to return a result in seconds (FinMkt; LendFoundry). Missing a field is the most common reason a prequalification stalls.
In practice, that checklist looks like this: full legal name, date of birth, current address, income and employment status, the project type and total cost, and the customer's explicit consent to run a credit check. That last item isn't a formality, it's a legal requirement, covered in the next section.
!A contractor filling out a point-of-sale financing application on a phone at a customer's home.
A consumer report can only be pulled with a legally recognized permissible purpose, and a financing application for essential projects like battery energy storage, EV chargers, or water filtration qualifies as one (CFPB / America's Credit Unions). Collect everything in advance and the soft pull comes back clean the first time, instead of bouncing the customer back for a missing detail mid-consultation.
How Do You Get a Customer's Consent to Run a Credit Check?
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a lender or its dealer partner needs the consumer's written or electronic consent, plus a permissible purpose, before pulling any credit report, soft or hard (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; America's Credit Unions).
In most modern point-of-sale tools, this happens inline: a checkbox or e-signature built into the digital application, not a separate paper form. The rule for reps is simple. Never run a check the customer hasn't initiated or explicitly agreed to, even a soft one. That single habit keeps a financing program compliant and keeps the customer's trust intact.
This section is general information about how consent typically works in point-of-sale financing, not legal advice. Confirm your specific consent flow and disclosure language with your financing partner and, where appropriate, your own counsel.
How Does the Formal Financing Application Work?
Once a customer picks a payment option from the soft-pull prequalification, the lender runs a hard credit check as part of the formal application, the point where Truth in Lending Act disclosures under Regulation Z apply (CFPB, Regulation Z). This is also where the lender makes its final underwriting decision, not the contractor.
From the customer's side, this looks like completing the full application, e-signing, and getting a funding timeline. Financing terms are flexible, for battery energy storage, terms commonly range from 6 to 240 months, and every application is subject to approval and eligibility. No specific rate or fee is ever promised at this stage, by the contractor or by Eos Loan.
If a homeowner brings up the federal tax credit for battery storage during this conversation, note that the residential clean-energy credit (Section 25D) ended December 31, 2025 (IRS). Financing is a separate path from any tax credit, this is general information, not tax advice; encourage the customer to consult a qualified tax professional for their specific situation.
What Happens If a Customer Doesn't Qualify?
A soft-pull decline doesn't close the door. Because financing terms are flexible and reviewed case by case, subject to approval, a rep can offer a different term length or point the customer toward the lender's stated eligibility path instead of walking away from the deal.
> What this looks like in the field: A rep who gets a soft-pull result that doesn't match the customer's expectation doesn't say "you're denied" and move on. They re-run the numbers with a longer term, which lowers the monthly payment, and show the customer the new option live during the same consultation. That single adjustment keeps deals alive that would otherwise be lost at the first no.
The instinct to treat a soft-pull result as final is the biggest lever contractors leave on the table. Qualifying a customer well is a deal-preservation tool as much as it's paperwork, and reps who treat it that way close more of the deals that looked shaky at first pass.
If a formal application is declined, federal rules require the creditor to notify the applicant of the decision, generally within 30 days of a completed application, and to state the principal reasons (CFPB, Regulation B, 12 CFR 1002.9). That notice comes from the lender, never from the contractor, and it's never a decision a rep should predict or promise.
Eos Loan is a direct lender, not a marketplace or broker routing customers to third-party lenders, and we charge no dealer fee. Building this qualification step into your sales process is one of the fastest ways to close more projects without changing anything else about your sales approach. For the full picture on setting up a program, see our guide to setting up a customer financing program from scratch, how point-of-sale financing compares to a direct lender, what to check before signing a financing program, how term length affects the monthly payment, and building a full contractor financing program.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a soft credit pull?
A soft credit pull surfaces real credit attributes, identity, account history, payment history, and public records, for an early prequalification, and it never affects a credit score (Credit Karma). It's invisible to other lenders, which is why it's the safe first step in any qualification workflow.
Does checking financing options hurt my customer's credit score?
No. A soft-pull prequalification check has no score impact at all. Only the formal hard pull, run once the customer applies, can cause a temporary dip, typically around 5 points, that fades within about a year (SoFi).
Do I need my customer's consent to run a credit check?
Yes. Under the FCRA, a lender needs a permissible purpose and the consumer's written or electronic consent before pulling any credit report, soft or hard (America's Credit Unions). Never run a check the customer hasn't agreed to.
What information do I need to collect at the point of sale?
Standard point-of-sale financing workflows capture borrower identity, contact, and income details, project type and cost, and documented consent (FinMkt). Collecting everything in advance keeps the prequalification from stalling mid-consultation.
Is Eos Loan a lender or a marketplace?
Eos Loan is a direct lender, not a marketplace or broker connecting customers to third-party lenders. We fund the financing we offer, charge no dealer fee, and every application is subject to approval and eligibility.