I've got a client who is very late in paying what is admittedly a fairly small invoice. Trouble is he's got the potential to be a huge source of work.
Without pissing him off too much, I want to make it clear that the invoice needs to be paid, pronto.
If or when this future work starts, I will be using a retainer to protect the firm from this happening again, but I would appreciate suggestions on how to deal with this guy softly and harshly at the same time.
Cheers
You could try calling him to see what the problem is. I have sometimes sent a pleasant email to clients, reminding them that I am not a giant faceless corporation. The money that I receives pays for my groceries and pays my mortgage. It is my paycheck. Sometimes people forget that this is your personal income, and that the "company" does not pay you if you do not get paid. When you remind them how difficult it would be for them if they did not receive their paycheck, they realize the importance of paying promptly. Do it in a pleasant manner, with a bit of humor though, so as not to offend them. It is amazing to me sometimes how people can be insulted when you ask them to pay their bills!
you have to set a precedence for collecting the money from this client, otherwise your potential "huge source of work" will become a "huge source" of headaches.
this world is full of bad clients and this is your opportunity to evaluate how good of one this guy really is.
Never be embrassed about collecting / being paid. Do good work for clients and provide the service level that is expected and never feel like you are having to whine over money. People who take advantage of people are not good clients regardless of how much money they have. It is important to realize that those types see that they have "a carrot" for you and they will always try and dangle it out in front knowing you'll go after the suggestion of more work.
I don't know how many times a prospective client has dangled "the second job, or I have a friend who also needs work" in front of me. I usually just stop them before they embrass themselves and address the real project, or qualify them to make sure they aren't just kicking tires.
A strongly written note / reminder is good, but if its been less than 45 days don't bother, as all serious clients always work on a 30-45 day turn around and don't expect to cut a cheque promptly.
Thanks, all.
Whistler, I agree completely with your statements, in fact, I've said much the same thing on other occasions. In this case, I'm dealing with a very late payment on a very small piece of work (about a week +), when the carrot could be work on the order of 50 to 100 times that. I'm trying to line up a face to face with him.
Thanks, again.
Collection advice?
I've got a client who is very late in paying what is admittedly a fairly small invoice. Trouble is he's got the potential to be a huge source of work.
Without pissing him off too much, I want to make it clear that the invoice needs to be paid, pronto.
If or when this future work starts, I will be using a retainer to protect the firm from this happening again, but I would appreciate suggestions on how to deal with this guy softly and harshly at the same time.
Cheers
could you send the bill certified mail? he may take notice that it is something important and time sensitive at that point.
never worked in that area before though, just thinking out loud.
You could try calling him to see what the problem is. I have sometimes sent a pleasant email to clients, reminding them that I am not a giant faceless corporation. The money that I receives pays for my groceries and pays my mortgage. It is my paycheck. Sometimes people forget that this is your personal income, and that the "company" does not pay you if you do not get paid. When you remind them how difficult it would be for them if they did not receive their paycheck, they realize the importance of paying promptly. Do it in a pleasant manner, with a bit of humor though, so as not to offend them. It is amazing to me sometimes how people can be insulted when you ask them to pay their bills!
freq_arch
you have to set a precedence for collecting the money from this client, otherwise your potential "huge source of work" will become a "huge source" of headaches.
this world is full of bad clients and this is your opportunity to evaluate how good of one this guy really is.
Never be embrassed about collecting / being paid. Do good work for clients and provide the service level that is expected and never feel like you are having to whine over money. People who take advantage of people are not good clients regardless of how much money they have. It is important to realize that those types see that they have "a carrot" for you and they will always try and dangle it out in front knowing you'll go after the suggestion of more work.
I don't know how many times a prospective client has dangled "the second job, or I have a friend who also needs work" in front of me. I usually just stop them before they embrass themselves and address the real project, or qualify them to make sure they aren't just kicking tires.
A strongly written note / reminder is good, but if its been less than 45 days don't bother, as all serious clients always work on a 30-45 day turn around and don't expect to cut a cheque promptly.
I don't think Architects can put a Lien on a Project... but you could induce a lien by not paying the subs (which could be your job to over see)
Thanks, all.
Whistler, I agree completely with your statements, in fact, I've said much the same thing on other occasions. In this case, I'm dealing with a very late payment on a very small piece of work (about a week +), when the carrot could be work on the order of 50 to 100 times that. I'm trying to line up a face to face with him.
Thanks, again.
you need a "bad cop" to make the calls, even if bad cop makes a few initial calls with a sugar-coated message.
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