If you’re jumping in mid-stream, Part 1 (with the complete list) can be found here.
15) Make Collection Calls as Soon as Accounts Are Late
If you’ve done all the other things to insure prompt payment this shouldn’t happen very often. But, in spite of your best efforts there will be times when a customer is late with a payment. Call (don’t email) right away.
Sometimes things slip through the cracks and being pro-active will get them back on track.
Sometimes you’ll have a client experiencing temporary cash flow difficulties. You WILL want to know this immediately so that you can take appropriate action. This may be the time to put them on COD for the future if it looks like the difficulties will not be so temporary.
You would rather find out now instead of when you have an invoice that’s 60 days late, another that’s 30 days late, one that’s coming due in a couple of days and an order that just left your warehouse yesterday.
Bonus Item
16) Cut Off Chronic Late Payers
This one won’t necessarily get you paid faster, but it will protect your cash flow. Chronic late payment, even after all your best efforts to establish on-time payment, can be a signal that the client is experiencing financial trouble. You don’t want to be left holding the bag on large A/R balances if they go into bankruptcy.
Cutting off a chronic late payer usually means putting them on COD status. However, if they can’t, or won’t, pay COD, you need to willing to walk away from the relationship.