Loading…
5
Hit 30 days of no late invoices and it still feels weird
Back in March I decided to change how I send reminders, like a soft nudge at 7 days out instead of waiting until the due date passed. Nothing fancy, just a quick text saying the invoice is coming up and asking if they need any copies for their records. Well it's been 30 days straight now with every single payment landing on time, first time that's happened in the 4 years I've been doing fence work. Before this I was lucky if half my clients paid within a week of the due date, and I'd usually have to chase down at least one or two jobs every month. The funny thing is nobody seems annoyed by the early text, a couple clients even thanked me for the heads up. Has anyone else tried sending a pre due date reminder and seen results like this, or am I just getting lucky with a good stretch of customers?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
paulnguyen3h ago
Seven years of hauling gravel and I learned this the hard way after eating a $4,200 hole from a builder who "lost" my invoice twice. The 7 day heads up works because it turns a demand into a favor, you're basically giving them a chance to look good instead of putting them on the spot. What really locked it in for me was adding the amount and a one line "want me to resend the copy" so they don't have to dig through email. I also quit sending anything on Fridays since stuff just sinks in the inbox over the weekend. One thing to watch is the customer who pays early every time, don't let that turn into them expecting you to float materials before the deposit clears. Sounds like you found your groove, keep the text short and boring and it keeps working.
8