5 ways to stop late payers damaging your business
Of all the hurdles faced by small business owners, the one that probably causes the most stress and aggravation is late payment from their customers. Whatever the reason for the delay, chances are you’ve heard every excuse in the book.
In this blog we’ve highlighted some simple steps that you can adopt to tackle persistent late payers, which should help you in spending less time chasing payments and more time making money.
- Agree payment conditions from the beginning
It’s important to start as you mean to go on. Don’t worry about upsetting your customer. The survival of your business is more important than any offence caused between you and your client. If you let your customers pay you a month late then they will only accept this as the norm.
- Act immediately if necessary
Be sure to fulfill your end of the bargain by sending out invoices on time. Once your invoice becomes overdue jump on it straight away. A quick and firm telephone call will suffice at this stage. Avoid being heavy-handed. Discuss the reasons behind why payment is still outstanding and come to a mutual agreement.
- Make payment easy by integrating with popular applications
As a business it’s no secret that you have a greater chance of receiving payment if your payment facility syncs with what your customer commonly uses. And it’s for this very reason that many businesses are turning to software that can integrate with the top payment platforms to make your life and your customer’s life easier.
- Set up a Direct Debit or put repeat invoicing in place
You can avoid late payments entirely by setting up a Direct Debit facility. If you have any customers with reoccurring orders then Direct Debit is a godsend for your business. Setting up repeat invoicing can also save you a lot of time and hassle. Online accounting software can comfortably handle this all for you, meaning you don’t have to lift a finger.
- Escalate if necessary
Exhausted every avenue to bring in payment but still heading a dead end? As a last resort you can you could always turn to late payment legislation to help you with your credit management.
KashFlow has been specifically designed to provide an easy way of taking instant one-off or recurring payments in order to reduce the unnecessary stress caused by late paying customers.
KashFlow’s Payments tab enables you to take card and/or bank payments from customers via our secure payment gateways, and gives you the option of adding a ‘pay online’ button to your invoices, simplifying how you get paid.
For a free no-obligation 1-2-1 demo just call the KashFlow on boarding team on 0844 815 5779.
