It can be teeth-gnashingly frustrating! You give your client a great price. You do an even better job. And then they don’t pay you! Maddening!
In our “Getting Paid” (Part 1) QuickTIP we learned the very best trick is to avoid “collection problems” in the first place! How? By clearly and tactfully defining payment terms up front. (Quit dancing around the fact that they are going to need to PAY for your services!)
But now, for whatever reason you are “between a rock and a hard spot”. Your customer has possession of “your product”. (Clean and/or restored whatever!) PLUS they also have YOUR MONEY and they are not paying you!
“YOUR MONEY”? That’s right! It is “your money”! So stop being “timid” and don’t be embarrassed. After all, it became “your money” the second you completed the work. Now “go git it” with this very important reminder…
It is “As Good As It Gets” right after you finish the job. So quit PUTTING OFF your collection efforts!
Show of hands here! How many of you are guilty of CPS? (“Collection Procrastinating Syndrome”.) Why? Because you dread and fear the “confrontation” of asking for your money. I did too! So I would live in hope – checking the mail each day and putting off making that scary collection call till next week, month or ….
Meanwhile, your deadbeat customer is preying shamefully on your timid fear of asking for YOUR MONEY! (Both before and after the job.) So they put you off and wear you down because you secretly dread the whole collections process. (And you don’t want to “offend” them and jeopardize future work.) So let me motivate you…
Every day that you postpone contacting your late-payer (OK, lets be honest here. You are going to “bug them”!) the more difficult it will be to actually collect YOUR MONEY because…
1) Any service you provide “loses value” emotionally over time. Carpets start getting dirty again, the restored smoke-damaged home loses some of its luster and the “emotional value” of your great service sort of recedes into the past! And even worse…
2) The longer you wait the more likely you client will spend “YOUR MONEY”! (You restoration contractors know a little about this problem!)
So place your left hand on your carpet wand or thermal imaging camera, raise your right hand and repeat after me: “I (your name) do solemnly swear to quit putting off getting MY MONEY!” Now just DO IT! (In my final Part 3 of this “Getting Paid “ series I’ll share how to do it!)
Steve