Hot take: I sent a 4 percent late fee note with a smiley face and got paid in 2 days | Chasing Invoices - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Hot take: I sent a 4 percent late fee note with a smiley face and got paid in 2 days
I run a small lawn care thing out of my garage in Fort Wayne and I had a guy owe me $340 for about 6 weeks on some spring cleanup work. I tried the normal stuff, nice texts, a call, even a paper bill in his mailbox, and nothing. So out of frustration I typed up this goofy little note that said his balance was now $340 plus a 4 percent late fee for being late, and I put a smiley face at the end of it. I mailed it on a Monday figuring he would laugh it off. He Venmoed me the full $353.60 by Wednesday morning. I still don't know if it was the fee or the smiley face that did it, or maybe he just felt dumb seeing it on paper. Part of me thinks I got lucky and part of me thinks a tiny fee is better than nagging. Should I keep adding the fee to new jobs or does that just make people mad?