The Art of Getting Paid – a free guide to speed up payments

What’s one of your biggest challenges as a business owner? If “being paid” is one of your answers, you’re not alone. When it comes to dealing with getting paid on time and late payments, it helps to know your customers. But how well do you know them? The Art of Being Paid is a useful kit that will help you to answer that question. In the kit is a quiz – take it to determine the character traits of your customers and what you need to do to get paid on time. There’s advice on the steps you need to take, from what to do before you accept a job to what you should do once you’ve been paid. The steps cover tips on how to send an invoice and how accounting software can help to automate the process, what you should do between the time you’ve sent the invoice and the deadline for your payment terms, and what to do if that time period passes and you’ve not been paid. The Art of Being Paid kit offers advice on:

• How to work out what character traits your customers have – this will help you to determine how best to communicate and work with them so you get paid on time.

• What you need to know about a potential customer before you accept a job.

• The steps you need to take during the job so you’re communicating with your customer in the right way.

• What you need to do just before you finish the job and what to communicate to your customer, such as reiterating your payment terms.

Excerpt from The Art of Being Paid

For more insights into what you can learn from The Art of Being Paid, here’s an excerpt from the kit.

Why customers delay paying

Incredibly, our 2017 report (The Domino Effect: The Impact of Late Payments) found that 35% of customers have no reason for paying invoices late. Meanwhile, 40% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) cite “protecting client relationships” as the biggest barrier to chasing payments. But in our experience, the solution to this problem stems from the same place as the SMBs’ concerns – customer relationships.

Improving customer relationships

For some, chasing invoices is irritating admin that eats into family time. For others, it’s an anxiety inducing task where they struggle to balance their need for money with the need to avoid awkward conversations with their customers. But being paid is an essential part of any successful working relationship. Like most relationships, those with your customers will benefit from a better understanding of their motivations and pressure points. For more useful advice, download your free kit – The Art of Being Paid.