Rule One of Business: Get Paid
Being paid, just as you would figure is essentially crucial at your business because if you aren’t getting paid, what are you doing in business?
You will be shocked at the number of business people who let their customers to make payment when and if they get around to it. I know of such a business owner who persistently collects bad debts like accolades. For what reason? Most likely because he cannot bring himself to request the cash and people just use him.
If you give a customer credit, only do so when they have proved themselves to you by paying cash on delivery (COD) for a while. Secondly, you must check whether they have the means to pay you - if not then you should not do business with them. Don’t trick yourself into saying “I need the work” or “I need the sales”. It’s fruitless when you do the job or providing the goods for free if you don’t get paid.
If you are the sort of person who can’t demand the payment even after the service has been done, try these ideas:
Tell your customer that when the job is done, you will need cash or cheque. They should more than likely have it there at completion and you don’t need to demand your fee.
When you give out a quote, be sure your payment terms are understandable.
Complete an invoice that has your terms of payment plainly printed and send the customer the invoice when the work is completed. They will look at the invoice and simply know they will pay you the fee now without you needing to say a word. Fabricate a “cruel boss” who would flay you alive if you do not go back with the money for the work.
Ask your bank branch to set you up with Merchant facilities so you can have credit cards like Mastercard and Visa. The majority of people own credit cards and it should cease the problem of the client not operating a cheque book or not having the cash in their wallet.
Moreover, don’t be asked not to keep the promised goods until after payment has been made. Understand, until they have been paid for, the goods are still yours.
If you plan to allow someone credit, be sure you have taken the following contact details about them some time BEFORE you allow them credit.
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Bank name and address
- Account no.
- 3 trade references with their names, addresses and phone numbers
When you know all this information, contact the branch and make certain that they do have an account then. Then, telephone each trade reference and find out if they pay their debts correctly or if there are any issues with them.
Most people will be willing to tell you if the person is troublesome. If everything is OK, allow them a moderate level of debt, say no more than $500 (depending on your business). Monitor the operation of the account for a few months before allowing this amount to be exceeded.
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Sphere: Related ContentRelationship Marketing Fundamentals
As a customer service concept, relationship marketing is not new. For decades, business-to-business marketers have employed account managers who have the responsibility to dedicate themselves to key clients. In the financial world, `relationship banking’, whereby high-yield customers are assigned a personal manager, has been practised for many years.
When direct marketing is embraced to establish connections or relations between the marketer and the consumer, it is too easy to suggest that all forms of direct marketing communications achieve a closer relationship, a closer bond between the two parties. Such a conclusion exaggerates what generally happens in the marketplace.
Direct marketing is all about generating a direct response from the consumer and about direct communications to the consumer. A direct response is needed to generate better understanding of the advertising message or to motivate transactions. Direct communication is simply about media reach efficiency. Relationship marketing is a concept that transcends these pragmatic direct marketing objectives.
Kotler appropriately positions the concept of relationship marketing as one which applies principally to business-to-business situations:
Smart marketers try to build up long-term, trusting, `win—win’ relationships with customers, distributors, dealers and suppliers. That is accomplished by promising and delivering high quality, good service, and fair prices to the other party over time.
It is accomplished by strengthening the economic, technical, and social ties between members of the two organizations. The two parties grow more trusting, more knowledgeable, and more interested in helping each other. Relationship marketing cuts down on transaction costs and time; in the best cases, transactions move from being negotiated each time to being routinized.
Outside of `membership’ or `continuity’ programs, there are two basic ways to approach consumers. The first is with a product and price combination considered to be `the standard’. That is, the proposition is essentially of long standing and relies on the features and benefits being competitive. The second way, normally of short-term duration, is a `special offer’. Direct marketing textbooks are full of the theory, practice and case histories relating to `the offer’.
The choice of basic propositions or selection of special offers depends on the circumstances of the individual firm and its competitive environment. The right proposition or offer can make a world of difference to response cost-effectiveness.
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