Making the Sale is Only Half the Battle

You work seventy hours a week. Spend thousands of dollars a year to market your business and attract customers. You demand employees give nothing less than pristine service and demand even more from yourself, often working past midnight to meet a promise made to a customer. The battle is half won. You met all your commitments and the customer is ecstatic about the great job you've done. So what's the final battle ... Getting paid ... in full and on time?

It doesn't matter what kind of business you have; graphic design, consulting, construction, plumbing, or a lawn service ... it's becoming more difficult to get paid on time.

When your customers slow paying starts to eat into your ability to pay your vendors and employees, what do you do? Cry the blues and hope for the best because you’re afraid to put too much pressure on a customer from fear they won’t use you anymore? Not in my book! When a customer buys products or services and doesn't pay I say get out the Louisville slugger and send your 350 pound cousin to collect. The sad part of collection problems is that all too often it's our own fault like not having a serious credit and collections policy. Go ahead ... look at your receivables. What are your payment terms? "Net due upon receipt" or "Net due thirty days". Well, if that are your “terms”, why are you sitting there with a bunch of invoices forty-five, sixty, or ninety days old? If this is what your receivables look like it's time to get serious about getting paid.

The most important issue you should be addressing is "How do I prevent problems in the first place?" It may seem pretty...