Simple and straight to the point. Just like we want to get paid, am I wrong? Today, I am going to list some tips that you could implement in your business to ensure that your clients pay you on time. How many times have we had to deal with clients that pay late (if they even pay at some point)?

Let’s reshape our structure to collect payments and build a relationship with clients that we can trust. I have divided this blog in three parts:

Before the start of the project

You get an email from a new potential client. It all seems pretty legit at first glance. And now what?

1. Do your homework: research

Although everything may seem perfectly fine, we always must research the person that has just contacted us. Is it an individual or a company? Has this person included a link in his email signature? That could be a good way to start.

Start with his website if he has one. Has it been updated lately? Does it inspire confidence? You can also look for this person across your social media channels. LinkedIn and Twitter normally work just fine. You can also try Facebook if this person has a professional page.

If you’re not convinced yet, let’s move on to the next point.

2. Ask around

You can ask some colleagues and see if they have worked for this company/individual before. Try to ask people that you really trust and that you share your niche with. (I’m normally very careful with this, as I always respect the privacy of the people that contact me via email).

If you don’t know anyone that may have worked with your brand new potential client, try to ask in a forum/Facebook group related to your niche. But, again, be careful with what you say and share with the public.

Still not convinced?

3. Search the company in specific directories

There are normally specific directories where companies in default are included just for the information of the public. There are loads of them and some of them are better than other. You should do your research and find the ones that work within your niche.

For example, I use this one for clients in the UK and this one for clients in Spain.

(Maybe it could be difficult to apply this point with individual clients, but there are also scam directories that you can try.)

4. Make your potential client to sign a binding quotation

Ok, it seems that your new client is reliable so far, so you send your offer for this new assignment.

Now you have to be sure that you client understands the condition of the quote that you just have sent. Although normally emails can serve as an evidence of an agreement reached between you and your client, if you want to go the extra mile, make him to sign the quote as he understood and accepted the terms of the assignment.

5. Send your General Terms of Business

I already talked about the importance of having your own General Terms of Business. I’ve got mine published on my website, but it’s always a good idea to send them over to let your clients know about how you work.

Once you have sent them over, ask gently to have a look at it and also ask for a confirmation if you client accept them.

6. Ask for an upfront payment

And don’t be afraid to do it. We are constantly facing upfront payments in our daily lives: we pay for annual subscription to our favourite magazines before we even get the first one, we pay for a monthly buss pass before having taken a bus, and so on and so forth. Why shouldn’t we do the same?

This will depend on the project that you’re going to work on, obviously. But if it applies, go for it. If you client is willing to pay, he’s going to pay anyway. If he refuses an upfront payment, probably you did well when you asked for it.

7. Offer something in exchange

I’m not saying that we have to offer a discount if we want our clients to pay. I don’t think it works like that. However, we can offer something else.

In my case (and this is just an example), if I ask for an upfront payment, I encourage my clients to make the payment by giving them a couple of days once I have sent the final assignment so they can revise it before making the second payment. Win-win situation.

Can you come up with something that you can offer? I want to hear some new ideas!

8. Offer flexibility

Encourage your clients to pay by credit card or bank transfer. It will take longer to wait for a cheque or arrange a date to get paid in cash (does that even exist anymore?)

You can also familiarise with some tools such as PayPal or Transferwise. These are the ones I use and they both work for me. However, there are loads of them. Do some research and find the ones that suit you best. They can be very useful with issues such as the currency change if you work with international clients.

Once the project has already started

9. Set a payment in instalments

If you are working on a long-term assignment, you will have to make clear if you want to receive a weekly/monthly payment. Make sure that you invoice these instalments properly as you work on your assignment.

10. If you’re not getting paid, stop working

If your client is failing to pay these instalments, be careful. You can stop working until you receive your payment. But don’t keep on working if you see that there’s something fishy going on.

11. Keep in touch with your client

Ask him questions about the project or send him weekly/monthly reports explaining the progress of the project. Try to keep a fluent communication with your client, just in case he suddenly vanishes (true story!)

Once the project is completed

12. Invoice as soon as possible

I know… invoicing can be a bit daunting and we tend to postpone it by the end of the day, “when I finish this thing” and then it never happens. It has happened to me and I’m sure that you all know what I am talking about.

If you keep on postponing your invoice, your clients will think that getting paid isn’t a priority for you. So send your invoice together with the final project for your clients. Set and done.

13. Use a professional invoice software

If you think it’s worth it, you can invest and use a professional invoice software. It will save you time and it will keep track of all your invoices, payments and defaults. It can send remainders to clients among other many features.

I use FreeAgent and I highly recommend it. But, again, there are loads of them out there. You can do your research and find the one that works for you.

14. If the payment is late…

Do not panic! Send gentle remainders. If that doesn’t work, try to phone your client and see what happens. Try to keep it professional (as much as you can). If that doesn’t work either, send a last email saying that if you don’t receive the payment in X days, you will contact a lawyer. (You can also show up in person if you client is based close to you).

I’ve never been in this situation, if I’m honest. However, some colleagues told me that certified emails normally work, as well as a letter from a lawyer/attorney.

15. Re-evaluate your relationship with your client

If everything went smoothly, that’s perfect! You won a new and truthful client. If not, you will probably have to think about what didn’t go well.

Was it just a misunderstanding? Was it only a couple of days late? Can you make it work?

Sometimes you can talk about it and tell the client what happened and try to find a solution. If you see that your client isn’t willing to change the way he acted, probably it would be worth it to let him go.

Dealing with constant defaults can be exhausting, time consuming and a heavy burden. So think carefully to what extent you want to put up with that.

And last but not least…

16. Trust your instincts

This is something that I learnt with some experience behind me.

First impressions matter. If your client asks for “your best rate” and not “your best piece of work”, you know already that something is going on. If your client asks for a discount, try to negotiate, but make it worth for both of you.

[Tweet “We have to value what we do, if we want people to do it too.”]

If you notice something dodgy during the negotiation phase, stop it. If you feel something weird, there’d probably be something weird.

 

And now I would like to hear from you! Would you add any step that we can take to get paid quicker? Leave a comment below!

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