A note before you read
Picture the end of a furnace quote at 7 pm. The number is on the table and the homeowner is doing math in their head. Some reps fill that silence with the warranty. Some talk about the monthly payment. The second group closes more often. Appointments where financing comes up close at 49%. Appointments where it doesn't close at 38%.1
Federal housing data shows how seldom it happens. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that only 2% of 2023 home improvement projects were paid for mainly with contractor-arranged financing, and 76% mainly with cash.2
One caveat before you go further. The 38% to 49% gap is a correlation. Reps who bring up financing may also be the ones who do a lot of other things well, and the data so far cannot separate the two. Chapter 02 explains the test that comes next. The rest of the report reads the same way: what we saw in the appointments, what outside research says, and where the two disagree.
The SalesAsk research team
1.3 million+
Sales conversations analyzed across home services, home improvement and home builders.
80,887
In-person appointments in this edition's sample.
1,763
Reps at 255 companies, March 13 to October 11, 2026.
Source: SalesAsk, The Kitchen Table Report 2026
SalesAsk analysis of 1.3 million+ sales conversations, 2026.
“Really what's changed in the business is the clarity. We are no longer guessing and hypothesizing about what is missing.”
Bob CamireCo-founder, VP of Sales, Bath ExpertsThree chapters, each one a different part of the sale.
How long appointments run in 11 trades, the 48-minute spread between reps at one company, and the $585K a year it costs.
8 min read · 25 to 35 pts between top and bottom reps on close rateRead chapterChapter 02The ConversationThe eleven-point financing sentence, how many quotes the homeowner is holding, and what makes them pick one.
+11 pts on close rate when financing comes upRead chapterChapter 03After the TableFollow-up speed, text versus call, reviews, the three-day cooling-off window and recording consent.
3 days in the cooling-off window after the signatureRead chapterMethod
How to read the numbers
Every figure carries a coloured square and a numbered source.
Where our data doesn't cover something yet, we say so and show the best public number instead. Each chapter ends with what we're measuring next, and those cuts replace the outside numbers as they land.
About this data
SalesAsk figures come from two places: 1.3 million+ sales conversations analyzed across home services, home improvement and home builders, and this edition's appointment sample. No company, rep or homeowner can be identified from them. The 38% to 49% comparison is a correlation. Chapter 02 explains the test that comes next.
Sources on this page
- SalesAsk, The Kitchen Table Report 2026: analysis of 1.3 million+ recorded sales conversations across home services, home improvement and home builders.
- Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, Improving America's Housing 2025, March 2025. JCHS tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD 2023 American Housing Survey, a federal household survey. jchs.harvard.edu (PDF)