How to Collect on Every Invoice
[by Judy Herrmann]
I feel like I’m about to jinx us but in 22 years of business, my studio has collected on virtually every invoice we’ve written without ever once going to court.
We do a lot of the same stuff already mentioned this week and a few things that weren’t:
- We ask new clients how they like to handle billing. Who should get copies of our invoice? What’s their normal payment cycle? Who should we follow up with if there’s a problem and do they prefer phone or email follow up?
- We send new clients a completed W-9 form with their first invoice so they have everything they need to enter us into their system.
- Until proven otherwise, we assume payment delays are unintentional and we always end each follow up contact by setting a date for when they’ll hear from us again if the payment’s still missing.
- If they’re having cash flow problems, we try to find a solution that works for everyone; we remind them that we take credit cards and we’ll even accept installment payments if necessary.
All of the approaches mentioned this week are good business practices that are worth following but I don’t think they’re why we’ve had so few problems with collections.
The secret to avoiding problems with collections is choosing your clients carefully.
Within three years of starting our studio, we realized that working with people who didn’t treat us with respect was ruining our business and our lives. Since then, we vet our clients as much as they vet us. It’s hard turning down work but not as hard as working for nightmare clients who treat you badly and don’t pay enough (or at all!). Over time, we’ve gotten pretty good at sussing out the losers and politely declining the job.
The best thing about this approach, though, is that I genuinely like and respect every single client that I’ve worked with over the past 15 years or so. And I’m pretty sure that mutual respect is why none have ever stiffed us. This is a relationship business so finding people with whom you can have a really good relationship makes good sense.
And yeah, if you’re one of our clients and you’re reading this – well, you must be a pretty great person ‘cause otherwise we wouldn’t be working with you.
Judy Herrmann helps some of her favorite people in the world grow businesses through evocative imagery, seminars, one-on-one consultations and her blog, 2goodthings.com. You’ll find many of her favorite resources for imaging professionals in ASMP’s new social bookmarking community, CameraCake.com
One Response to 'How to Collect on Every Invoice'
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I agree. I also have followed Maria Brophy’s advice and ask for 50% up front to book a photo shoot.
Here is the link to the information:
How to Never get Ripped Off AGAIN – For Freelancers
http://mariabrophy.com/business-of-art/how-to-never-get-ripped-off-again-for-freelancers.html