Southern Leisure converts to MerchantLinQ, boosting business and finding new success in financed sales

Setting the Stage

Southern Leisure, a thriving hot tub and spa dealer, has served its Texas-based community for over a decade and now boasts five retail stores. Specializing in hot tubs, saunas, grills, and other outdoor products, Southern Leisure
prides itself on its commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous innovation. In 2022, driven by a passion for greater customer experience, Southern Leisure’s sales and leadership teams decided to explore new avenues
for customer financing. At the time, the team was utilizing a separate embedded lending offering that proved cumbersome for both customers and members of the Southern Leisure team. The outdated program was plagued
by an archaic experience with an extensive list of steps that deterred customers from utilizing it. Additionally, the previous lending program extended poor customer service to the Southern Leisure team and dispensed delayed payments that made cashflow management difficult.

Navigating the Solution

In 2022, Southern Leisure chose LoanStar as their new embedded lending
partner, recognizing their shared commitment to exceptional customer
service. Transitioning to MerchantLinQ was seamless, and LoanStar’s
streamlined training process empowered the Southern Leisure team
to quickly understand the features and benefits of the program. Team
members with varying levels of technological capabilities all found the
platform intuitive and were able to confidently leverage it in their customer
interactions. Furthermore, integration into the company’s website was
straightforward, and LoanStar’s link creation feature enabled the Southern
Leisure team to provide easy access to the financing application for a
variety of product webpages.

Southern Leisure worked with Mountain American Credit Union as their
loan provider, and the organization has since become a trusted partner
to Southern Leisure as they extend financing options to customers.
Due to the nature of their business, Southern Leisure often places large
purchase orders. With the previous financing program, reimbursements
were made only when the product was delivered, creating cashflow issues.
Now, through LoanStar and Mountain America, Southern Leisure enjoys
predictable, next-day repayments and streamlined communication for any
questions or support requests.

Since implementing MerchantLinQ, Southern Leisure has experienced
a substantial increase in the number of customers utilizing financing.
Customers value the program’s streamlined workflow and user-friendly
interface, which make it quick and frictionless to access financing.