Customers and Payments

Nuevolution

Here is the Scoop people,Perhaps some of you business owners have been here before and how did you approach this problem without hurting a business relationship with a customer.The problem I am experiencing with my customers right now is, many of them, don`t pay on time or disregard that they have a bill with the company. As a business owner I would hate to draw a line with the clients but for the company`s sake I have to take drastic measures such as cancelling accounts, and charging cancellation fees. Do you think this is a good approach or if anyone has any suggestions please help out.

Melissa

Hi Edgar,
Do you have a written collection policy that you post prominently and potentially even have customers sign?  If not, that might be a good thing to implement - write it up and send it in your next billing.  It tells customers up front that you expect to be paid in a timely manner and what action you will take if this is not the case.
For example, you could say that all payments are due within 30 days of the date of the invoice and that accounts which remain unpaid after 30 days (or 60 or whatever) will incur a 1.5% interest rate (or some other %).  You could mention that this equates to 18% APR....that might encourage them to be a little more prompt.
Cancelling accounts and charging cancellation fees can also be a good "motivator," but you`ll definitely want to notify customers that you`ll do it if they don`t pay their bill.  It should probably be used as a last resort due to the potential for negative publicity.
You might say that accounts which remain unpaid (delinquent) for more than 90 days will be turned over to a collection agency and accounts will be cancelled and incurr a cancellation charge. 
Whatever policy you set and notify your customers of, you must enforce it (you can make minor exceptions at your discretion) for it to have any "teeth." 

Nuevolution

See that is the problem I do have a written agreement, I have a policy but they don`t follow up with their payments. It got to the point where I had to start cancelling account maybe like 12 account so far. I might just stop doing the whole partial payment thing and just have tem pay 1/2 up front and the total before I release anything.

LogoMotives

One of the best motivators I ever saw was a rubber stamp on a past due invoice that said""PAST DUE:  Please pay us, so we can pay them and allowing them to pay those they owe."It was stamped in red ink on the past due invoice.  It was a serious, but gentle reminder of a past due balance with a little humor thrown in.  One of my vendors used it and said it was much more successful than threats.- J.

TSomm

For my very first sale, my customer didn`t pay on time.  After a phone call as a gentle reminder, the check was put in the mail.  I`m sure this strategy doesn`t work when your sales get much larger, but I love the rubber stamp idea discussed previously.