My "Net 30" payment ran 67 days late and here's how I fixed it

So back in March I finished a big website project for a small marketing firm in Austin. They agreed to Net 30 terms, no problem. Day 40 rolls around, nothing. Day 50, I send a polite email. Day 60, I'm getting anxious because rent is due and my savings are looking thin. I finally called the owner directly instead of emailing, and it turns out their bookkeeper quit and invoices were just sitting in a pile. I offered to send a quick invoice reminder every 10 days going forward with a small 2% early payment discount built in. They paid within a week after that call, and I've been using that automatic reminder system for all new clients since. Has anyone else had luck with offering tiny discounts to speed up late payments?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_johnson321d ago

Man, your story is way too familiar. I had a buddy who did freelance graphic design and waited 90 days on a 30 day invoice for a local restaurant chain. He called them up and the owner was like "oh yeah, we just pay when we think about it." So my friend started invoicing them every single Friday like clockwork with a tiny 3% discount if they paid by Monday. Worked like a charm after that, they never missed another week. Sometimes you gotta train clients like you're training a dog, honestly.

the_mary1d ago

Saw a post saying weekly invoices work better than monthly ones.

the_daniel1d ago

That 3% discount trick is genius actually. I've seen a few freelancers do that with a small penalty for late payments instead and it just makes people defensive. Positive reinforcement works way better than punishment in business too.