Building Relationships as a Cash Flow Tool
[by Selina Maitreya]
Initiating a relationship with the accounts payable contact at each company hiring you, immediately after a job is confirmed, is a wonderful cash flow tool.
When you reach your new “partner” introduce yourself, and in a friendly way inform your contact that will soon be working with their company and that you are now calling now to make their job easier by asking a few key questions and sharing with them, information that will help you both create a smooth invoice, payment flow.
Here are some questions to ask.
- How many copies of the invoice do they need?
- Should you send a copy of the invoice directly to them when you send it to your contact?
- What is there typical payment cycle?
Then briefly share your info.
- Discuss your deposit terms
- Mention your net time for payment.
Net payment terms are always a good point of discussion. If your net terms are 15 and you hear “Good luck, we pay in 45,” ask “How do we get this to net 30?” If the reply is “We can’t get it to less than 45,” kindly respond “Well, you’ll find a 15 day net on my invoice. I’ll call in 30 days and if this goes to 45, you and I will be good friends by then.”
When you are ready to invoice, call your accounts payable contact. After hellos, let them know you are about to invoice them and that this is a courtesy call. Review any pertinent info they shared before and let them know your invoice is on the way.
This is solid service. The relationships I developed had many beneficial results.
- I learned how to change net terms in order to get paid more quickly.
- I had accounts payable suggest that I send the invoice to them when I invoiced my client to avoid it getting stuck on an art director’s desk.
- Once when calling about an overdue invoice I found out that the company was going into receivership and my contact put our invoice through before that happened because ” you are such a nice person.”
- I had relationships developed so when I did call looking for money I was not a stranger and I was comfortable calling and my contact treated me as a friend more then as a bill collector.
Building a relationship front end with accounts payable should be done from a place of true sincerity and authenticity. When your actions come from this spot, not only are they financially beneficial but your entire experience will have more depth and value.
Selina Maitreya is a consultant working world wide online and off helping photographers develop businesses that THRIVE. She can be reached at: selina@selinamaitreya.com
One Response to 'Building Relationships as a Cash Flow Tool'
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This is an excellent example of opportunity that is typically overlooked.
Many companies seem to ignore relationship building with current connections and instead pursue the more expensive new business.