The deal is done except for how they'll pay for it.

Most equipment is bought with financing

Financing is the normal path, not the exception. In the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's 2024 Horizon Report survey, 82% of businesses that acquired equipment or software in 2023 used at least one form of financing to do it^[1]. By share of acquisitions, leasing was the largest method, followed by secured loans and lines of credit^[1].

So when a deal stalls, it usually isn't the machine. It's the buyer's bank, a slow answer, or a buyer who doesn't know where to start.

Where it stalls, by line

• Trucks and trailers: an owner-operator has a lane lined up and needs a second tractor before the first load pays.
• Construction equipment: a contractor won a job that needs a machine they've been renting.
• Restaurant equipment: an owner is opening a second location, or replacing a walk-in that failed.
• Medical and dental equipment: a practice adding imaging or a new operatory.
• Agricultural equipment: a grower buying ahead of a season, with revenue that comes at harvest.

For each, the buyer has a reason tied to work. That's the referral this program is built for. For more on how the product works in general, see equipment financing.

How ROK's program fits a dealership

ROK describes equipment financing as a way for a business to obtain equipment through a loan or a lease^[2]. Your role is the introduction. ROK's partner page asks for the buyer's name, phone number and email; ROK says it has access to 75+ commercial lenders; and it pays commission on funded referral transactions^[3].

ROK publishes different criteria for different products. Its application page lists 4+ months in business and $10,000+ in monthly gross sales^[4], while its equipment financing page describes its own criteria^[2]. Let ROK tell the buyer which applies. Your partner relationship is with ROK, under ROK's terms.

Stay a seller, not a lender's agent

• Don't quote payments. No monthly figures, no cost estimates, no "financing available from" lines on a sticker or a quote. Only the lender can make an offer.
• Don't promise the deal will fund. ROK and its lenders review every request and decide.
• Disclose that you're compensated. Tell the buyer, in writing, that ROK pays you a commission if they're funded. They should know it when they decide.
• Let the buyer choose. If they have their own bank or a manufacturer program, that's their call.
• Don't collect their paperwork for ROK. The buyer sends their own documents. Some state laws treat gathering or sending a borrower's financial records for pay as broker activity^[5,6].

Some states require commercial financing brokers to register, and each defines "broker" its own way. Dealers are not automatically outside those definitions. See Know your state's rules and talk to a lawyer.

The hand-off

1. Apply to ROK's referral partner program.
2. When a buyer wants help with financing, disclose your compensation and get their permission.
3. Submit their name, phone and email through ROK's portal.
4. Send the buyer the equipment quote. They share it with ROK themselves.
5. Get back to the deal. ROK works with the buyer directly.