Last week’s Reserve Bank of Australia decision to lift interest rates for the first time in over a decade was huge news. And in the commercial money market, rate increases have been almost 10x those of the RBA increase.

With an election in just over a week, the topic of rising interest rates is showing no signs of quietening down. Chances are that your commercial-solar customers may be anxious about rising interest rates and will bring it up.

Helping them to understand what’s happening, why and how it will affect them may mean the difference between closing a sale and having it fall flat.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. Understand the basics

No one is happy about it, but bear in mind that this rise is coming off the back of 18 consecutive interest-rate cuts (to a record low 0.10%).

Interest rates need to adjust to control some of the highest inflation seen in many years.

While there are lots of things that have contributed to the timing of this rise, two of the obvious causes are an almost 10% rise in the cost of fuel and the global energy shortage (particularly fossil-fuel energy).

2. Remind them about “cash-flow positive” benefits

In the vast majority of cases, projects will remain cash-flow positive – even under the revised rates (especially when factoring in forecast energy price rises).

Cash flow plays a huge role in the survival of a business. One of the benefits of using a payment plan is that businesses avoid tying up capital while still taking advantage of reduced energy bills.

So while monthly payments may increase slightly, the benefits of payment plans remain.