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23 ways to get your customers to pay you first

Published Thursday Apr 18, 2013

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