Money can be a touchy subject – especially when a customer owes you money.
Luckily, an Allstar Plus business credit card can give you more breathing room with up to 44 days’ interest-free credit. Cashflow is eased as well as your stress levels! Plus, with these tips, you can learn something valuable about good communication and encouragement. So, hopefully, you’ll get paid on time, every time.
1. Be professional. Be prepared. Be polite.
These three P’s are essential. Sure, they might seem like obvious principles on paper. But when your livelihood is affected by late customer payments, you could start feeling heated – that’s never a smart idea. Instead, remember not to raise the temperature to the point where your emails or voice notes sound rude. Remain calm, fair and forthright at every step. And make sure you have all the necessary details to hand and can answer any questions. That way, the conversation is sure to stay productive and civil.
2. Propose workable solutions
You’ve kept your cool – nice one. Now that your customer knows you’re reasonable, chances are they’ll be reasonable too. And that’s when you can start talking about a way forward.
Put in place a mutually beneficial plan that, once all is said and done, will put smiles on everyone’s faces. A workable plan could include:
Setting up a clear payment schedule
Offering a small discount for early payments
Agreeing to partial payments over a set period
Asking your customer to give you updates when they can
Whatever works, it’s important to figure something out and stick to it.
3. Use facts to your advantage
By this, we mean have any relevant information ready to show and don’t present points you can’t substantiate. Collect your invoices and make sure they’re all accurate and up to date. Be clear about the details of your original agreement and back it all up with proof in the form of documentation. If you need to make a stronger case to a late-paying customer, these efforts can go a long way. Plus, this sort of prep work will make it easier to explain the situation to a helpful third party, whether that’s a colleague, adjudicator or anyone else.
4. Follow up at the right times
When a customer has promised to pay up, you won’t do yourself any favours by calling them up every hour. Naturally, once you’ve settled on a payment date, you might want to check in once or twice to make sure that they’ll be able to come through. And that’s fair enough – but be careful not to overdo it. After all, you’ll want to preserve all your relationships with customers. Chasing will only make the situation more stressful for everyone. It’s better to be courteous and only get in touch when it’s really necessary.
5. Know the legislation
Have you heard of the Prompt Payment Code (PPC)? It’s a government initiative that aims to give small-to-medium-sized businesses pointers on timely payments.
It might seem unnecessary, but understanding your legal protections under the PPC can give you enough leverage to sort out disputes and get paid when you expect to. And the more you know about the subject, the more you can respectfully share with a tricky customer. So, to find out more about PPC, go right here.
We hope this list has proved useful. Late payments and IOUs are difficult subjects that no one likes to discuss, but it pays to be prepared. If you combine this cool-headed conversational knowledge with an Allstar Plus business credit card, you’ll have the flexibility to keep your business on track no matter what.
To pocket yours, click here.
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