If your customers do not pay their invoices, then they are controlling your cash flow and your most important asset!

The strategies and skills you need to reduce your current customer debt, control it and train your customer to pay by due-date are:

Skills to collect outstanding payments effectively

Customer service skills, interpersonal skills to deal with customer excuses and a list of questions to ask the customer so you can find out exactly why they are delaying payment.

Skills to train customers to pay by due date

If you consistently use an overdue invoice strategy the customer will know you will be contacting them as soon as the invoice becomes overdue and that you will be firm (but polite) in your resolve to collect the outstanding payment.

How to spend less on collection activities

Take control of your customer debt and consistently use an overdue invoice strategy.  Once you have trained your customers to pay by invoice due-date the amount of time will considerably reduce and so will your stress levels.

Skills to deal with customer excuses and get paid

Take control of the conversation, try not to deal with someone who cannot make a decision about when the payment will be sent, use a phone script if you need a list of questions to ask

Skills to deal with delinquent debtors

Delinquent debtors are payment avoiders who try to stretch the terms you have given the customer out as long as they can.  You give 30 days and they take 60 to 90 days, or longer if they can get it.  These people are often quite skilful in avoiding paying, but you need to be more proficient.

Skills to quickly identify customer with cash flow problems

Customers who develop cash flow problems can be businesses you have dealt with for a while.  It can happen to anyone.  You need to be able to identify the signs and take action quickly.  There are strategies to deal with this problem, avoid increasing the customer’s debt to you and make sure the old outstanding invoices are paid

A strategy to reduce current customer debt

You might change the way you collect the future payments but what about the current debt that is getting older.  You should reduce the debt to a manageable amount and not carry more than an average months’ worth of sales in your ledger. If fact it should be less if some of your sale are cash sales.  You need a strategy and ways to deal with each customer depending why they are delaying payment, and advice on how to make the difficult decisions.

Watch this video that shows you how you can reduce your ledger by up to 50%