- Offering early payment or term payment discounts
- Start charging penalties for late payers.
- Get payment up front.
- Assign one collector to specific accounts regularly.
- Cancel any back orders until existing inventory is paid for.
- Be cautious when extending credit to new customers.
- Call for a credit card payment immediately on a past due balance.
- Be consistent.
- Have patience, be realistic, be nice and offer a solution.
- Follow up.
- Thank the customer.
- Report good and bad debt.
- Always follow your collection policies.
- Change your collection letters frequently.
- Follow up immediately on a "short" payment or an un-agreed upon partial payment.
- Have one person in charge of "large" accounts.
- Speak to a manager or owner when making calls, go right for the decision maker.
- Update your records often and make sure you have current phone numbers and addresses.
- Make sure your invoices have the due date clearly noticeable.
- Act immediately when an account gets a few days overdue.
- When setting up payment arrangements remember that you want as much as you can get as frequently as you can get it.
- Reduce minimum orders; you could possibly get more orders for less money paid up front.
- Send demand letters in priority mail envelopes; it is more effective than certified mail.
23 ways to get your customers to pay you first
Published Thursday Apr 18, 2013