If you own a business that allows people to make purchases based on a credit system, you’re taking the risk that you may never actually get paid in full for the product or service you render. While you’d like to believe that anyone who buys something from you will eventually be able to pay you back, the opposite is often found to be true for business owners. But when the success of your business relies on having cash flowing into your coffers, you’ve got to find some ways to recoup those funds.
So to help make this an easier task, here are three tips for getting your customers or clients to pay their bills.
1. Make Payments Convenient
When you first allow someone to make a purchase with credit, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to pay you back for their purchase. According to John Rampton, a contributor to Inc.com, if you’re able to show that you’re flexible with how you get paid, it increases the chances that you will end up getting paid in full in the end.
Depending on how your customer or client likes to make their payments, the ways in which you allow for payments will vary. The options for payments could include things like automatic withdrawals, payment plans, cash, checks and more.
Consider using billing software that is customized to your industry. For example, if you own a legal firm, then using legal billing software makes a lot of sense.
2. Let Them Know That You Know
If it’s been past the due date for when you expected to get paid, it’s important that you let your customer or client know that they’ve missed the proposed deadline. If you do most of your correspondence via mail, it’s possible that the bill could have been lost. While this is unlikely, you should still reach out with another invoice in case the first one wasn’t received.
According to Rieva Lesonsky, a contributor to American Express, it’s vital that you let them know that you’re aware that they’ve missed a payment and that you’re committed to settling the account. Once they know you’re serious about collecting the payment, they’ll often take action to settle the account as well.
3. Be Persistent
Arguably the most important thing to do to ensure you get paid for your service is to be persistent with your attempts to settle the account. Nicole Fallon, a contributor to Business News Daily, shares that while you shouldn’t be rude, you also shouldn’t be afraid to keep calling or sending notices that may get annoying. As long as you’re not too aggressive, most people will try to make good on their debts even if they might have a hard time paying the entire balance in a timely manner.
Conclusion
If you’ve been having problems getting your customers or clients to pay their bills, use the tips mentioned above to help you figure out how to overcome this hurdle.
