Get your customers to pay invoices

We need money to grow our business. But reminding and requesting clients to pay a bill or invoice is a challenging task. When you have delivered the work or services, you should get money in time.

As per Pymnts, 60% is the minimum percentage of small businesses that regularly have invoices paid late.

Trying to request a payment without conflict and getting clients paid on time by the due date or before is awkward. Worrying about the cash payments reduces the focus time to concentrate on business.

Some tips to get your customer pay in time and a few pointers to remember before starting the project to ensure timely payment.

Stage: Before you start working, do the following.

1. Share Customer Service Agreement

A service agreement will ensure that your client pays the payment or bill on or before the due date. Share service agreements with your client before starting the work to be aware of compliance and payment details.

Some of the outline details in the service agreement are-

1. The work you will perform and submit

2. Time duration to finish the work

3. Charges applicable for the duration of work

4. Payment due date

5. Other details to remember

Get your customer to agree on these pointers before starting the work will ease the burden of collecting payment.

2. Mention Terms and Conditions clearly

Mention Terms and conditions on the service agreement document and bottom of the invoice to make customers aware and remember them. Inform customers regarding the specific amount, due date, and late payment charges. E.g., you can mention in your invoice that payment is due within 20 days of the issued invoice.

3. Get a partial advance payment before the work starts

Encourage customers to deposit partial payments before the start of the work. This process will ensure that the payment is not delayed or refused. While dealing with a new customer, partial payment is an excellent way to keep the money rolling in business.

If any customer refuses to pay the partial payment, you can get an idea of how they will evolve for full payment. 50% or less is the standard partial advance payment amount; you can decide according to the line of the work or services offered.

Stage: After the Invoice issue, do the following

4. Get confirmation of invoice

Due to forgetfulness or carelessness, your customer can forget your invoice received in the mail. Request your customers to confirm when they receive your invoice. You can include a line as ‘Please confirm when you receive the invoice.’ If they do not respond for that confirmation, then give a follow-up mail for verification.

5. Follow up with customers

After finishing the work, it is good to follow up with your customers even if they paid or unpaid your invoice payments. Reach out to your customers to check on the feedback and request to leave a positive comment on social media pages. And if they have not paid your payment, give a gentle reminder to pay for the services or project.

6. Don’t leave any opportunity

Giving up on an invoice is tempting, as chasing a customer to pay is awkward and challenging. However, customers will rarely delay or refuse payment on purpose so encourage them to make payment. If customers insist on renegotiating the price, remind them of service agreements and email conversation agreeing on the price and applicable charges. It’s your hard-earned money; don’t let it go.

All these tips will help you to collect payments from your customers rather than chasing invoices.

Discover how GetMyInvoices automates end-to-end invoice processing, so you don’t miss any invoices and gain improved productivity and revenues.