A good number of business people associate themselves knowingly or unknowingly with debt(s) which runs the business down. Some who are into daily buying and selling experience customers who for one reason or the other refuse to pay up or who pay their bills long after they should have paid. The following tips, will guide you on how to avoid customers who make you run a slow business.
1. Assess your customers pocket: Before you sell to any customer, make sure you check their pocket level. This is not to say that they might not be able to pay for what they bought,but we should also check to know if they will be able to continually to avoid them saying they will pay later. You can also have an online means of transaction which might reduce the number of creditors you have or will have. Set credit limit for each customer after knowing their pocket size and level.
2. Draw up professional terms and conditions: This is a great tip for all business people.. set your standards, terms and conditions as this will make your customers aware of your rules and definitely they will comply once you adhere to it as the owner of the business. Make sure you post your terms and conditions in places that are visible, give a copy to each customer, paste on your website if you have and include the statement that you are the owner of every good until they have been paid for and also require them to draw your attention to any terms your are not following or any customer service/ delivery service problem they might encounter promptly. For every delayed payment, interest would be charged also. make sure you remind them of all these as that is the only way you can avoid massive debts from customers.
3. Send your invoice promptly and start chasing for your payments once they become due. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will be paid.
4. In as much as you want your money to be paid promptly, you should not because of that send your customers away. Set a plan on how they want to pay their bills; monthly, weekly, daily... consider adjusting your payment system to fit in their payment plan and make sure you follow up as soon as you realize you have missed any payment.
5. Phone your contacts when an invoice becomes overdue and even before that.. constantly remind them, though in the process of that, you should not over bug them. you can message them twice in a week so they wont forget. be very diplomatic about it so you have have a long lasting relationship with your customers.
6. Reconsider terms for any of your customer who likes to buy, but pay late. You can increase the price you charge them since they love paying late or you cancel their credit facility.. they don't get to by on credit again if they refuse to pay early.
7. Resolve any dispute that any customer bring to you immediately. Never ask for your money until you have resolved the issue well as this will put you in a good book and you keep getting great recommendations from people.
8. Involve professionals in your business so you can get good advise and become a successful business person. A lawyer or solicitors letter may quicken customers to pay promptly.
9. Formulate a strategy in case you still have a stubborn customer who continues to delay payment. You should immediately cancel the customers credit facility to avoid further credit sales and until account is cleared. An alternative is to negotiate part- payment or to use an arbitration or mediation service.
I hope you enjoy reading these tips and use them to run a successful business. more career tips will be coming to you next week Tuesday. remain blessed.
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