Communication is crucial in all client relationships.
You can have debt recovery procedures and business T&C’s in place and still find your customers are consistently failing to pay their bills on time. One of the main reasons why this might be happening is because you have not made customers aware of your terms and conditions in an effective way.
Communication is key when it comes to getting invoices paid on time, and it needs to be done regularly and at an appropriate level for the customer you are dealing with. What follows are some steps you may wish to take that will ensure customers are getting the message in a clear effective way.
You should aim to get the customers home address, telephone number and email address as a minimum at an early stage. This allows you to send details of your invoice and payment procedures at the relevant time. This approach works well for online customers or those who have signed up to ongoing services. Anyone who is accepting responsibility for paying invoices either now or in the future will expect to part with some personal information at some point – get it early.
Your office or retail site should have plenty of information displayed for customers – especially if they arrive without an appointment. Someone who is coming to you as a new customer cannot be expected to understand how things work in your particular business – so tell them. Here are some ideas on how you could keep them informed;
Your brochures, office posters and direct emails should include at least the following information (with details forming the Terms and Conditions, which you should encourage them to read).
All customers’ need is knowledge. If they know the requirements of buying a service or goods from you, they know where they stand – and so do you. It is clear, unequivocal and not open to interpretation. But, they don’t know if you don’t tell them. In summary, keep your customers informed from the beginning – they’ll be far more satisfied and you’ll get paid quicker.
Should you want to find out more about correct procedures or, to find out more on how we can help you, please feel free to contact us.
Kind Regards,
Mike Brooks
Director at Debt Solve UK Ltd T/A as DSL.
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