Tired of hearing 'just send nicer reminders' when that never works for me

I heard this at a small business meetup in Tulsa last Tuesday, this lady going on about how being polite and sending 'friendly nudges' gets clients to pay. Complete nonsense in my experience. I sent three gentle reminders to a construction firm in Kansas City and they ghosted me for 47 days until I threatened a lien. Has anyone else found that being nice just makes them ignore you longer?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyhall4d agoMost Upvoted

Switched to putting a due date and a late fee on every single invoice from day one. The first reminder is automated and says "Your payment of $X was due on [date]. A late fee of 1.5% will be applied after [date]." That works way better than asking nicely. Had a client try to argue about it once, told them it's in the contract they signed, and they paid within 2 hours.

henry_anderson544d ago

Oh man, that's brutal but I kinda love it. I've been the "ask nicely" guy for years and still have clients who are 60 days late wondering why I'm sending "friendly reminders." Guess I should take a page from your book before my patience goes full 1.5% on me.

the_cameron4d agoMost Upvoted

You know a guy who tried this and got paid in rolled nickels?