Top Rail adds style to your new fence

If you need it enclosed, contained, or to have more curb appeal, Top Rail Fence is your answer. As a member of the HomeFront brands family, Top Rail is focused on residential and commercial fence, gate, and rail solutions. Launched as a franchise in 2022 by Todd Bingham, the brand now spans 113 territories with 40 franchisees overseeing them.

Todd is a respected voice in the franchise space with a number of brands built under his watch. To enable franchises to be successful, his focus is on efficiencies and effectiveness. That means Top Rail offers franchisees turn-key tools and systems, and also recommends plenty of growth tactics. From the start of Top Rail, Todd encouraged franchisees to adopt consumer financing, knowing that giving customers a way to pay monthly for services would help close more jobs.

The integration puts financing right on the invoice

In 2023, Top Rail was pushed to find a new financing partner after their previous vendor shut their doors suddenly. Todd used the evaluation to not only find a more reliable partner, but also to upgrade the customer’s experience and ease of use for franchisees.

On the advice of a trusted friend, Todd looked at Wisetack. After an initial conversation and talks with other vendors, Wisetack was quickly implemented as a preferred consumer financing partner. “Wisetack was just what we needed,” said Todd.

Todd said two things stood out in his decision:

1. Integration: Wisetack is integrated with the group’s field service management (FSM) tool of choice, ServiceMinder. This gave locations a huge advantage: customers would automatically see financing as an option right on their estimate and invoices. “It just makes it so much easier to do business,” said Todd. This is especially useful for new franchisees, who can learn Wisetack at the same time they learn their new FSM tool.
2. Easier merchant onboarding: Thanks to a thorough initial underwriting process, Top Rail locations are able to be pre-vetted and undergo an expedited sign up process. Even new franchise locations are often able to start offering financing through Wisetack right away.

Getting started was a white glove experience

After Top Rail locations started signing up for Wisetack, Todd was impressed with something he hadn’t considered during the evaluation – onboarding.

“The onboarding experience was super positive,” said Todd. “Wisetack did everything we asked you to do, and did it quickly.” Todd was especially appreciative when the Wisetack account team attended training meetings in person, hosted one on one virtual sessions, checked in after locations did their first financing application, and fulfilled ad-hoc reporting requests quickly. Many of the locations are offering financing for the first time, and Wisetack’s dedicated team were on hand to answer questions, large and small.

In fact, it was a welcomed contrast to other financing providers. “With other companies, there’s really no onboarding,” Todd said. “All they do is send you a sheet with cost and rates, and then someone calls to finish sign up. They were not as organized, didn’t do any presentations, or even offer to speak to anyone. Wisetack’s onboarding was easier, better, more informative, and structured.”

Half a million in new jobs, and more to come

“Wisetack is awesome,” said Todd. Nearly all locations have implemented Wisetack, and the feedback continues to be positive.

In just six months, the group has closed more than $500,000 in new jobs thanks to financing, much of that from new franchisees who are building their customer base. “Locations are for sure generating new businesses by offering financing,” said Todd.

As Richard at one Top Rail location said: “Offering financing on the spot has helped win jobs, and integration into our proposal software makes it easy to complete the transactions.” It gives a competitive advantage too. “It makes a difference that we offer a service not many competitors have,” Richard added.

Wisetack so impressed the Top Rail team that it took home gold from the HomeFront brands conference, earning the title of “Vendor of the Year”. The honor was just the start of many more years of partnership and growth.