It's all too easy when you're busy and there's lots going on to not have time to keep in touch with your customers. I can almost hear you saying to yourself "Oh, they'll be alright. I'll contact them next week". But it's very easy to keep saying this to yourself and forgetting to let them know what's going on.
Even if you're doing work for these customers behind the scenes, don't forget that it really helps how customers think about you if you just send them a quick update - email will do just fine, if you really don't have time to contact them by phone...but make sure you do!
The danger is that customers forget about you too - occasionally they might think "I haven't heard from x in a while", but they'll also be thinking "Well, it's not my place to contact them" and they'd be right.
And if someone else comes along that can do the same job as you, but promises to keep in touch a bit more - your customers might be tempted to swap. Even if they don't desert you for another supplier, it's quite possible that you'll have issues with payment or something else later down the line.
It doesn't hurt to keep in contact with your customers and at worst takes 5 minutes of your time. So, if you're reading this thinking that there is someone who you should contact - do it now, before it's too late.
Tuesday 20 May 2008
Saturday 17 May 2008
How to make sure you get paid on time every time
In my business we have a rule. The rule goes something along the lines of: We do the work we get paid for doing the work. That’s it – no exceptions, no arguments. If on the rare occasion, someone isn’t happy with the work we do, we’ll look at this and go out of our way to sort it out, but this isn’t (in my book) an excuse not to pay.
This policy has worked really well for me – we’ve only had one problem payer in the last 5 ½ years. All of our clients are up to date on payments and it’s very rare now that we have a late payer.
So, I thought in this article I’d share with you some of the things that we do and hopefully it will help you as well. Here are my top ten tips:
1. Send your invoices out on time.
I was having a chat with a client the other day who said he’d ordered some business cards about 18 months ago and he’d only just received the invoice for them. Good grief! Rule number one in my book is to send your invoices out on time. My invoices always go out on the 1st week of every month no matter how busy we are and then clients have 14 days to pay them. Come on guys, make sure you have it in your diary to send these invoices out as soon as you’ve completed the work.
2. Make your payment terms very clear
Our rule that I told you about at the beginning of this article is made very clear to all of our clients before we start working with them. They all know that we hate bad payers and that we will refuse to work with them if they are. Making sure everyone knows when they will be sent an invoice, when they are expected to pay it and what happens if they don’t is the key to making sure you get paid on time, everytime. If people are not clear on what’s expected of them, are you surprised that they don’t do what you want them to do?
3. Ask for deposits
A good policy to get into the habit of doing is to ask for a deposit upfront before any work has even started. It’s quite usual these days to request this and can prevent a lot of problems later down the line. At least then, if they don’t pay any further money, you’ve been paid for the work you’ve already done. Deposits of anything up to 50% are fine – try it and see if it works for your business.
4. Set up Standing Orders
Another great way to make sure that you get paid when you’re supposed to is to set up a Standing Order. Psychologically in the customer’s mind, they’ll have already committed to paying you every month then and it’s highly likely then that you will actually get paid. To create a standing order, simply ask for a form from your bank and then type it up on your PC so that you can email it or send it out to your customers.
5. Lead by example
There’s no point hassling other people to pay your invoices unless you lead by example and pay yours. This means that you give out a strong message that you pay your bills on time and that you expect people to do the same for you.
6. Have a policy in place if people don’t pay
It is well worth having a process in place that you can follow if people don’t pay you i.e. that you’ll call them, then send them a letter, then send them a sterner letter and then finally threaten and take them to the small claims court. Having this set down in your terms and conditions make your clients aware of the penalties of not paying.
7. Chase, chase and chase again
If someone owes you money, all the rules about hassling people go out of the window. Chase, chase and keep chasing – every single day if necessary until you get the result you want. I once worked with a client who owed lots of money to different people. He told me that he paid those people who shouted the loudest and ignored those who were quiet. So hassle away.
8. Use text messaging
This is by far one of the most effective techniques we have to get money out of people. Phone calls can be left to go onto answering machines; emails and letters can be ignored, but for some reason everyone looks at their texts. If you’re finding it hard to get in contact with some, try texting them and see what happens.
9. Use someone else
If you don’t feel comfortable chasing people for money, get someone else (like a book-keeper or credit controller) to do it for you. And if you’re really stuck, get a friend or a partner to do it for you. With difficult payers, often just hearing someone else’s voice can do the trick. Also, if they’re not answering your phone call because they know the number, try calling from someone else’s mobile.
10. Come down on them hard
If you’re dealing with problem payers, make sure you follow through on your policy for non-payers and come down on them like a ton of bricks. Not paying you is never acceptable, so don’t put up with it.
While it’s hard dealing with someone who owes you money, being very clear about what your expectations are is the first step and then making sure you follow through on your actions if they don’t pay. Try it today and don’t put up with bad payers.
Exceptional Thinking (http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/) provides help and advice to small business owners and start-ups on marketing, market research and business planning.
This policy has worked really well for me – we’ve only had one problem payer in the last 5 ½ years. All of our clients are up to date on payments and it’s very rare now that we have a late payer.
So, I thought in this article I’d share with you some of the things that we do and hopefully it will help you as well. Here are my top ten tips:
1. Send your invoices out on time.
I was having a chat with a client the other day who said he’d ordered some business cards about 18 months ago and he’d only just received the invoice for them. Good grief! Rule number one in my book is to send your invoices out on time. My invoices always go out on the 1st week of every month no matter how busy we are and then clients have 14 days to pay them. Come on guys, make sure you have it in your diary to send these invoices out as soon as you’ve completed the work.
2. Make your payment terms very clear
Our rule that I told you about at the beginning of this article is made very clear to all of our clients before we start working with them. They all know that we hate bad payers and that we will refuse to work with them if they are. Making sure everyone knows when they will be sent an invoice, when they are expected to pay it and what happens if they don’t is the key to making sure you get paid on time, everytime. If people are not clear on what’s expected of them, are you surprised that they don’t do what you want them to do?
3. Ask for deposits
A good policy to get into the habit of doing is to ask for a deposit upfront before any work has even started. It’s quite usual these days to request this and can prevent a lot of problems later down the line. At least then, if they don’t pay any further money, you’ve been paid for the work you’ve already done. Deposits of anything up to 50% are fine – try it and see if it works for your business.
4. Set up Standing Orders
Another great way to make sure that you get paid when you’re supposed to is to set up a Standing Order. Psychologically in the customer’s mind, they’ll have already committed to paying you every month then and it’s highly likely then that you will actually get paid. To create a standing order, simply ask for a form from your bank and then type it up on your PC so that you can email it or send it out to your customers.
5. Lead by example
There’s no point hassling other people to pay your invoices unless you lead by example and pay yours. This means that you give out a strong message that you pay your bills on time and that you expect people to do the same for you.
6. Have a policy in place if people don’t pay
It is well worth having a process in place that you can follow if people don’t pay you i.e. that you’ll call them, then send them a letter, then send them a sterner letter and then finally threaten and take them to the small claims court. Having this set down in your terms and conditions make your clients aware of the penalties of not paying.
7. Chase, chase and chase again
If someone owes you money, all the rules about hassling people go out of the window. Chase, chase and keep chasing – every single day if necessary until you get the result you want. I once worked with a client who owed lots of money to different people. He told me that he paid those people who shouted the loudest and ignored those who were quiet. So hassle away.
8. Use text messaging
This is by far one of the most effective techniques we have to get money out of people. Phone calls can be left to go onto answering machines; emails and letters can be ignored, but for some reason everyone looks at their texts. If you’re finding it hard to get in contact with some, try texting them and see what happens.
9. Use someone else
If you don’t feel comfortable chasing people for money, get someone else (like a book-keeper or credit controller) to do it for you. And if you’re really stuck, get a friend or a partner to do it for you. With difficult payers, often just hearing someone else’s voice can do the trick. Also, if they’re not answering your phone call because they know the number, try calling from someone else’s mobile.
10. Come down on them hard
If you’re dealing with problem payers, make sure you follow through on your policy for non-payers and come down on them like a ton of bricks. Not paying you is never acceptable, so don’t put up with it.
While it’s hard dealing with someone who owes you money, being very clear about what your expectations are is the first step and then making sure you follow through on your actions if they don’t pay. Try it today and don’t put up with bad payers.
Exceptional Thinking (http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/) provides help and advice to small business owners and start-ups on marketing, market research and business planning.
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Should you raise your prices?
There are a lot of small business owners out there who really put off raising their prices. They will argue that they need to remain competitive or that their customers wouldn't use their services if they raised their prices and a whole host of other excuses.
But I want to put a point across to you about what's been happening out there recently. Don't know whether you've noticed, but fuel, food and energy prices have gone through the roof recently and show no signs of abating. These 'bigger' companies have no issues about raising their prices even if it means their customers suffer or their public image is badly affected. They're simply increasing their prices because they don't want their profits to fall. Nice attitude eh?
Now I'm not suggesting for one second that you should act like these companies in the way you behave towards your customers and certainly not that you should raise your prices just for the sake of it, but I do want to make a point.
If the cost of living has gone through the roof, are you being fair on yourself if you're charging the same prices as a year ago (or in some cases much much longer than that)? You should be reviewing your prices on a yearly basis and nothing is more true than at the moment.
Bite the bullet and look to raise all your prices by 10% - at least. For existing customers just notify them that as of x date, your prices will increase and stick to this. And don't worry too much if they say they don't want to work with you any more. If they leave you simply because you're reasonably raising your prices, chances are that they won't be the customers you want to work with anyway.
But I want to put a point across to you about what's been happening out there recently. Don't know whether you've noticed, but fuel, food and energy prices have gone through the roof recently and show no signs of abating. These 'bigger' companies have no issues about raising their prices even if it means their customers suffer or their public image is badly affected. They're simply increasing their prices because they don't want their profits to fall. Nice attitude eh?
Now I'm not suggesting for one second that you should act like these companies in the way you behave towards your customers and certainly not that you should raise your prices just for the sake of it, but I do want to make a point.
If the cost of living has gone through the roof, are you being fair on yourself if you're charging the same prices as a year ago (or in some cases much much longer than that)? You should be reviewing your prices on a yearly basis and nothing is more true than at the moment.
Bite the bullet and look to raise all your prices by 10% - at least. For existing customers just notify them that as of x date, your prices will increase and stick to this. And don't worry too much if they say they don't want to work with you any more. If they leave you simply because you're reasonably raising your prices, chances are that they won't be the customers you want to work with anyway.
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Track your marketing
Whenever you do some marketing, you should always find a way to track it if you can so that you know whether or not it's working for you. There are a couple of ways you can do this - try using a code that people have to tell you to order their products or services; use a voucher that they have to hand in to you; use different colours for things (i.e. if you're sending out leaflets try putting one set of words on orange paper and then different wording on blue paper); or try the old fashioned tried and tested method of asking people.
Whatever you decide to do, tracking your marketing is crucial so you can see whether it's working for you or not - that way you'll know a) where to market your products and services in the future and b) if you are going to spend money, you'll know what's likely to give you the highest return on investment.
Why not try tracking your marketing and see if it works for you?
Whatever you decide to do, tracking your marketing is crucial so you can see whether it's working for you or not - that way you'll know a) where to market your products and services in the future and b) if you are going to spend money, you'll know what's likely to give you the highest return on investment.
Why not try tracking your marketing and see if it works for you?
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