One Simple Change That Will Get You Paid Faster?
We’re going to let you in on a secret. And from what we’ve seen, it’s the one change in an invoice follow-up strategy that will make the biggest difference in you getting paid on time, every time. It makes an exponential difference, actually. We’ve consistently seen this strategy pull in the number of days to pay by 30 to 60 days—and it can reduce write-offs by as much as 90 percent.
The One Change? Consistency. When businesses use a consistent schedule our specialty to follow up, (even if they make the same number of contacts using the exact same language) we see exponential increase in the number of invoices getting paid. Yes. Exponential.
So what am I talking about when I say “consistency”? I’m really just talking about setting up a company-wide accounts receivable schedule. Decide on a pattern of how you’re going to follow up with your customers and then stick to that schedule. If you decide to touch base about outstanding invoices on the first Tuesday of every month, then make sure you always touch base about outstanding invoices on the first Tuesday of every month. It’s not okay to call your customers once a week for a while and then three times the next week and, oh, wait a month because you got busy.
Your clients expect your call (or email or letter or whatever) so that when the next contact time rolls around, they know what to expect and can be ready to resolve any outstanding payment issues. They should know that you know if they’re late on making payments. And that will motivate them, more than anything else, to conform to the schedule and take care of that payment now. In a way, it’s not so different from training a child or a pet: your customers need to know what’s going to happen if they don’t do what’s expected of them.
Frequency? How often should you follow up? It depends. Generally, every other week is ideal for getting paid faster. It should be just often enough to keep your invoice top of mind, but not so often that you annoy the pants off your customers, or become like white noise that they simply ignore. You’ll have to find the sweet spot for your unique business, but the specifics of the consistency aren’t nearly as important as the consistency itself.
Results? We’ve consistently (see what I did there?) seen this one little change exponentially increase timely invoice payments and decrease write-offs by 90 percent. It’s weird but true. People just respond better when follow-up is consistent and when the follow-up is something they can count on.
Ready to Take Action? ZenCash helps you setup consistent, routine follow-ups for all of your outstanding receivables. That’s what we do best: take the monotony off your hands and handle it for you—professionally and courteously. Phone calls from professional AR manager, white-glove print and mail services, scheduled emails, and B2B collections built-right-in to the product.
ZenCash Free Trial: Ready to see this increased AR performance for yourself? Click here to start your free trial.
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