How to collect receivables, avoid bad debt and increase cash flow

Customer is always right, or not?

You have struggled to start your business, make the first sales, and go for more clients. You have managed to go to the big accounts and start doing business with a few of them. Great, right? Well big accounts might also mean big problems. In most cases such big companies have specific departments that deal with vendors. Their objective is to add value to their company by ensuring that the suppliers keep up on their deliverables. if a supplier does not perform as agreed, then this department steps in and starts the recovery process. The first step they choose is to stop payments or delay payments at least.

What this post is all about is providing you a roadmap in how to effectively deal with customers that do not pay you. These customers might fall in the category of big accounts, where the vendors department (some call it procurement department) might have reasons to stop or delay payments in case of a rebate, return or non-compliant service delivered. Other cases might be customers that stopped payment without notifying you, without giving you any sort of signal that something was wrong. In either case the problem is critical for your operations, as you are missing the cash inflow hence, you might have difficulties keep up with your payments.

1. Start by asking why.

2. Make your research - again if necessary

3. Ask for accounts reconciliation

4. Suggest the customer would prefer and make it risk free for her

5. Set a new timeframe for new sales

6. Ask for guarantee and for a new agreement

7. Make payment easy
   

Can I help you transform you business and your life? Nothing works by itself, and I don’t believe in magic. So, if order for this to work there are some prerequisites. Send me an email at Aethairion@gmail.com or fill in the contact form. What will happen next? We will arrange a web video call to check whether we are a good fit and work together.

Best of luck!