Overdue payment of invoices can be a big problem for any business. Overdue payments can cause severe cash flow shortages, especially for small business owners.
When cash flow is poor, it can be difficult for a small business owner to pay their business expenses. They might be short of cash to pay suppliers, staff and themselves…
“79% of small business owners choose to cut their own pay
when customer payments are slow” *
Overdue payment of invoices puts a great strain on small businesses and their owners. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are a few simple, proven, collection strategies that you can put in place to make sure customers pay by the due date.
Here are some of the strategies we used in my small business. Customers paid us on time and rarely did we have an invoice which was overdue for payment.
9 Tips to Avoid Overdue Payment of Invoices
- Make contact with new customers before you send out their first invoice.
- Find out if your customer is satisfied with the transaction.
- Make sure your customer isn’t waiting for something to complete their order.
- Send your invoice at the right time to the right place and person.
- Call customers before the invoice become overdue. Make sure your invoice is with the person that can pay it.
- Keep notes of your conversations with customers. You’ll feel like a knowledgeable professional in later conversations.
- Build a friendly, professional relationship with your customer. People who like you pay you, so you won’t have overdue payments.
- Use the phone to contact your customer. You can’t build a relationship with your customer by email.
- Use email to confirm important conversations and agreements like payment dates.
Put an end to overdue payments by using these proven collections tips. You could focus on one strategy at a time and measure your success each week.
Follow all the collections tips here, and you’ll have much more chance of your invoices being paid by the due date. As soon as that happens, you won’t have to collect overdue payments anymore.
When you have strong cash flow life will be so much less stressful. Put a few strategies in place and avoid overdue payments forever!
To your business success!
