DO YOU HATE TO ASK FOR MONEY?
Many of my daily business topics have been about marketing your business, but I think it is important to talk about money and asking to be paid. Regardless of what your terms are with your client, there will come a point where you must ask to be paid. Though each of us have gone in to business to make money, we are not all great at asking to be paid.
The key to getting comfortable with asking for your invoice to be paid on time is to feel confident that you have fulfilled your end of the deal. Have you given a quality product and delivered on what was promised? If you have your own doubts that what you have given falls short on quality or doesn’t really meet the expectations of the buyer, then it will make asking for payment a lot harder. Know your product and its worth and feel confident that what you have to offer is exactly what you have presented to your customer. If you do not see it as a good product or service, determine if it is one that you should be selling or if there is a change you can make to it to enhance the value. After you know that what you are selling is of value, keep the asking simple and direct. There is no need to resell what you have already sold, but a confident delivery and a sincere approach is what works best. Be clear that you have provided the service or product and that payment is now due.
Some businesses choose to email or mail invoices once a month with terms of 30 days. If this is your business model you might find that there are “slow pays” among your list of clients. The best way to handle a client who is currently overdue is to contact them and ask if they may have missed the invoice. Sometimes it is a mistake and you do not want to risk losing a client over a misunderstanding. However, if after a phone call or email you are still not receiving payment it is time to connect face to face with the business owner and explain that you need to be paid. Hopefully, this will resolve the situation, but if you still are not getting paid because they might not have the cash on hand try to offer a solution. Maybe they can pay by credit card or go on a payment plan or consider a bartering situation. The key is to not give-up on asking for the money. Be clear and calm and see yourself as being paid!
All my best to your success!
~Charlene
“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”
Tagged as Collecting Money
Categorized as Business Topics
Hello.
I would like to put a link to your site on my blog roll if you want to do the same for mine. It would be a good way to build up both of our readerships.
thank you.
Hi Ben~ Thanks! I am glad you like my blog.
I agree with you that this is a problem. In the “business to business” format in particular, it can be difficult to do two things: see your customer as a customer and not a colleague, and be paid for something that may or may not be tangible depending on your market. I experienced similar situations being in a rock band. But obviously being paid needs to happen or you can’t continue. This is great advice for new entrepreneurs trying to develop good work habits that help things run efficiently.
Thanks Kenny for your comment and for reading my Purple Diamond blog! I appreciate your input.