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As a business owner, you will be familiar with the frustration of late payments. Not only do they impact your cash flow and put stress on your finances, but they can also damage your relationship with the customer. It’s important to manage late payment excuses so that you can protect your business and get the money you’re owed. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the most common excuses for non-payment and how to deal with them.
The Importance of Managing Late Payment Excuses
Managing late payments is crucial for the cash flow of your businesses. Without money, businesses can not function and late payments can cause all sorts of financial problems.
By accepting late payment excuses, you are essentially giving the customer permission to continue paying late. This will become a habit and it will become more and more difficult to get the late payments under control. In addition, late payments can have a negative impact on your credit score, making it more difficult to borrow money in the future.
Most common excuses for non-payment and how to manage them!
There are a few common excuses that customers use for late payments. Here are some of the most popular ones and how you can manage them:
– “We have not received your invoice or statement.”
This is a popular time-waster. To avoid mistakes, have the debtor confirm the correct address for sending invoices so you can double-check it. Confirm to the debtor that this is the only cause for nonpayment. If the debtor is unwilling to make an agreement once the bills or statements have arrived, this is frequently a sign that they are using a delaying tactic rather than an actual reason.
– “I’m waiting on payment from another customer.”
If this is the case, you can ask for partial payment to help with your cash flow. However, if the customer is unable to do this, you can offer a payment plan. If they switch to another excuse, it’s another time-wasting excuse.
– “I’m having trouble with my bank.”
If the customer is having issues with their bank, they may be able to provide proof. In this case, you can work out a payment plan.
– “I’ve been busy/ I’ve had a lot going on.”
This is a common excuse, but it’s not always valid. You can ask the customer when they expect to be able to make the payment. If they’re unable to give you a date, you can offer a payment plan.
– Or, the debtor is never available!
This is something we deal with on a daily basis as debt collectors. It is a little bit unusual for a client to be absent, but it is frequently used as an excuse and time delay technique.
To combat this, request to talk to a different decision-maker at the firm. Call at different times of the day, withholding your number in case they’ve saved your number as one not to answer. If this doesn’t work send a letter to the Directors of the company giving them seven days to pay. Consider stopping the customer’s account/services you offer, if necessary until payment is received.
Get Paid With The Help Of My Debt Recovery
It can be frustrating dealing with excuse after excuse when chasing payments, we’ve heard our fair share of them!
Remember, you have the right to get paid for the work you’ve done. If you’re struggling to get paid, consider the benefits of outsourcing your debt collection. We can help you by managing late payments, so you can protect your business and get the money you’re owed.
We offer a range of different debt collection services including our “no collection, no fee service”. This means that if you don’t get paid, neither do we. So there’s no harm in discovering if your case is worth pursuing with us.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to help!
