Are Some Customers Bailing on Their Required Payments?

Running your business takes an incredible amount of time and effort.

That said the idea of literally having to chase down customers for the money they owe you is disconcerting to say the least.

So, how can you best go about making sure that customers buying goods and/or services from you are following through on paying the bills?

Invoice on Time, Follow Through on Getting Paid

In order for your business to get the money owed it, you must make sure that customers pay within a reasonable amount of time.

For instance, if you run a shop or store and get customers coming in in-person, it is rather obvious that they are not leaving your place of business without making some form of payment. Whether it is a cash payment, credit card, or even a personal check, they will have to pay for anything they purchase.

Where businesses oftentimes run into trouble is if they allow customers to pay for services that will be billed to insurance companies etc.

As an example, say you run a small private medical practice.

If you have patients coming in, some will be charged up front with a co-pay, others will not make a co-pay at the window or desk. This latter group will wait for their insurance companies to size-up the overall bill, then see what they may owe the medical practice. At that time, your business will bill them, hoping they pay typically within a 30-day window.

As many businesses (especially smaller ones) know, getting on-time payments can be quite the challenge.

Whether patients are on tight budgets, have other immediate bills to pay (rent, insurance, utilities, food etc.) or just plain decide they do not want to pay, your business (and especially your finances) can suffer as a result.

What Are Your Choices?

With that being the case, you have to do everything within your power to still get the money owed you for products and/or services.

Among some of your options:

• Continued pursuit - Continue pursuing the customer in a professional manner (don’t threaten them with going to collections immediately etc.). Bill them on a regular basis, making note from the start that there are payment plan options available for those individuals and/or families struggling with their finances at the moment. Lastly, don’t give them an unlimited amount of time to pay. Yes, you don’t want to be pressuring them, but you also don’t want to forget about the fact they owe you money, sometimes a significant amount albeit;
• Getting help – There are several options on the table for getting assistance in pursuing customers who do not pay for one reason or another. One of them is looking at your choice of invoice factoring companies. Such companies can assist you by freeing up cash for you in advance to pay your own bills as a business etc. In the meantime, the invoice factoring company works to get the customer to still paythe outstanding money he or she owes. In all, the process provides your business with the financial breathing room it needs to keep operating and not being financially strapped for cash;
• Review your process – Lastly, you should always make an effort to stay on top of your company’s invoicing procedures. Remember, getting your invoices out at a snail’s pace doesn’t do you or the customer for that matter any good. It is imperative that you have a dedicated mind (either yourself or hire someone) to make sure invoicing is not falling behind. If it does fall behind, the domino effect can be damaging to all you have worked for in building your small business in the first place.

No matter what the answer turns out to be in making sure your business receives its money on time, make sure it is at the top of your priority list.

When you’re paid in a timely manner, your business is better able to keep churning along, even allowing you to grow over time.

If some customers are bailing on their required payments to you, change that course moving forward for the sake of business survival.