Money Issues Help Please

[BenRead]

Hi Phil,

Unless its an account customer we take 50% upfront and 50% on completion. If they dont want to do it then we let them walk, if you allow them to mess up cash flow, your the one that suffers not them! Sometimes its just better to let them walk.

we dont use order forms or anything like that, we just make sure that all prices are communicated with proofs via email so we have something on paper. And make sure they confirm.

perhaps if we had a lady running the office we might have time to do contracts, order forms etc. haha. were not too organised.

ben

[Hugh Potter]

Hi Dude,

Deposit up front to -at the very least- cover the cost of materials and expenses,

Balance due upon completion of job, ie, before you leave the premises.

only regular / good customers i’ve built up a relationship with will get any leeway,

Hugh

ps, always worth offering a 5% discount for cleared pre-payment if made at least 5 working days in advance of the job being carried out. you get no hassle collecting and they get discount.

[Stafford Cox]

This makes interesting reading.

Our non contract work must be paid for upon completion of the job, and more often than not people are happy with that and issue either a card payment or cheque there and then. There are of course the odd few that ALWAYS question it and then ‘don’t have a the cheque book here’ or ‘accounts have gone home for the day’ and then we’re left chasing the money for 60 days or in some cases more.

In the coming months, we might start asking people for the callout costs up front.

Stafford

[Bob Clarkson]

I don’t take deposits from a regular customers, that just shows distrust. I have some customers who don’t even ask for a price, I just send a bill and a cheque turns up, we never talk money. That sort of mutual trust takes some building up, or you’re asking for trouble. New customers pay a deposit, on everything other than vans. Nothing leaves without all the money paid in full. Council, both local and district, I just do the work and wait, it’s safe, it’s just time. Where I’ve supplied things like boat names to manufactures where they may be dozens in a month, that has to be done on account, you could never expect anything different.
That has to be the rules, but it can be put across a lot friendlier than I’ve just written it. I something justify the deposit with a "you stand materials up front and I won’t load the price up for using my own money", that tends to work.
I shouldn’t temp fate by saying this, but I’ve only been knocked for a total of £115 in over 25yrs of trading. £60 of this, I did kind of expect, but I would have looked too unreasonable if I’d refused to deal with them. Business, friends, family of friends, it really can be bad news. I’ve found most people are more than ok with it. It’s another bonus of being a small business, people tend to be expecting to pay straight away.

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Maybe it’s just me but I’m taking a completely different tack these days. because I have been used to selling online (when I first started) where all payments are made before dispatch, in general everybody pays up front.

Obviously regular customers and the ones on my trading estate are on monthly invoices, but I have never had a problem there.

When I deliver the quote and get a yes or I visit the customer to complete the order, I just simply ask at the end, "How would you like to pay, card or cash?"

this technique is known amongst sales people as "Closing the deal" I usually do this after consolidating, ie go through everything and make sure they are happy with the order, what you are getting is a whole line of yes’s

Are you happy with the artwork?…. "Yes"
Are you happy with the Colours?…"Yes!" blah blah blah and then ask the money question, they can’t fail to give you a positive answer (in most cases)

Iv’e spent a lifetime in sales so it doesn’t phase me asking for the money and I get it up front almost every time. I used to skip around it like crazy years ago, but you would be surprised at the amount of people who just automatically pay there and then!

The bummer with this (if it’s a bummer) is that you have to give 100% top notch customer service after that. Any less and your customer wobbles, it’s easier to fix a problem than it is to chase money after fixing a problem.. Better to lose a customer that’s paid than one that hasn’t!

Tradition is changing, it’s a buyers market out there so we have to protect ourselves at all costs

trust me it works………. hard to walk with balls this big tho :lol1:

[Phillip Patterson]

thanks for your answers as it has enlightened me greatly. Ive found that sometimes customer’s are told that they need to give the rest of the money at the end of the job but they fail to pay and then its you, your time and your petrol trying to get the second 50% when you could be using that time for other work like making a sign!!

its these customers that i would like to do something about.

any suggestions?? I’ve been thinking of signed terms to make life secure and hassel free. almost like money and time insurance. you will get your money and you will save your time by not chasing after it.

[Bob Clarkson]

Unfortunately sometimes you have to be a Little harder on people when you’re self employed, or they’ll walk over you. Factoring is not something I’ve needed, but if debts are a real problem for you it may be an option.

[David Rogers]

quote Phillip Patterson:

…any suggestions?? I’ve been thinking of signed terms to make life secure and hassel free. almost like money and time insurance. you will get your money and you will save your time by not chasing after it.

TBH – not worth the paper you print it on. (Unless you back it up with small claims court)

I try to operate a 50% deposit (or it all) and balance on completion, especially for new customers.
Alternatively if the outlay is minimal then as payment on completion.

Long term & trusted accounts take 30-60 to pay.

Some just take the mick though…either through laziness, no money or clerical errors there have been times when a bill has gone unpaid (and regularly chased) for over a year.

You can never 100% protect yourself unless you get it all up front in cash. Cheques & cards can have payments reversed or contested even after the funds have apparently cleared.

it does take a certain ‘salesman’ type attitude to clinch the deal and end with – "and how will you be paying today?" MOST people just whip out their wallet…others that are more used to accounts at suppliers will try it on a bit.

The 50% ‘covering materials’ works in most cases, especially when you tell them "I can’t order anything until deposits have cleared"…makes them get their act together and money magically appears.

Whether you blame your accountant, partner or recession for the change in terms is up to you – but most genuine buyers just pay.

An old adage I heard again recently "if they don’t have the money to pay you a deposit…what makes you think they’ll have money to pay for it all?"

[Bob Clarkson]

Sometimes a new, customer that has been recommended to me will drop off his van, and leave me the money there and then. As much as this is good, one less thing to think about, I feel incredibly obligated to do the best job possible. I really go the extra mile as I would really hate anyway thinking I’ve had them over, and usually do a little more than I’d quoted to guarantee their really happy.

I do my best to keep a good working relationships, I’ve even agreed to do work when people have openly told me they don’t have the money yet. If someones honest, and we agree terms, I’m very fair. There’s a lot of good people out there, but there’s just as many who are not. I’ve had to lean on a few over the years, and I don’t really like doing it, but I will if I’m likely to get knocked otherwise.

[Mike Grant]

My golden rule applies to anyone, and especially anyone in the food trade. Payment up front in full or there’s the door. I don’t mess around with deposits anymore. I have a polite notice on top of my computer that any customer can see and it states "Due to continuous bad debts we respectfully require payment in full before any materials are ordered or work carried out." This is a visual softener for the blow after discussing the job and I have yet to have anyone question it. It works for me 😀

[Martin Pearson]

Like David has said Terms and conditions are sometimes not worth the paper they are written on but having said that I think everyone should have them and they should include your payment terms.
To be honest I have never had a problem collecting the balance from a customer that has paid a deposit unless it was my fault. At one time I use to send invoices through the post and lots of customers were slow to pay.
Now the invoice goes with me to the job and is handed to the customer on completion of the work. I always make sure the customer is aware that it is payment on completion before I start any work and that along with the invoices I give them on completion seems to work OK.

Like others have said customers who you have built up a trust with can be treated a bit differently if you want but don’t trust a new customer just because he has been recommended by someone who you trust 😉

[RayRosher]

quote Mo Gillis-Coates:

trust me it works………. hard to walk with balls this big tho :lol1:

Hey Mo,
Thought you might like these,
Take the weight off your! Hips. 🙄

Well if this one doesn’t get me banned?

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Attachments:

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Lol thanks ray…. do they do them in XXL?

Mo

[Jason Xuereb]

Were like Mo nearly everything is paid upfront.

If customers want finance we take credit cards.