There are times when a client or customer might owe you money and they have paid on time. You’ve given them a deadline and they’ve missed it, even if they might be promising that they will pay up soon. It can be a real struggle when your business is owed money because it puts a strain on your finances. At the same time, you might be hesitant to be too harsh when demanding payment. Perhaps they’re a valuable client so you’re willing to let it slide for a while. But you still want to ensure you get paid. So where can you start?
Start Gentle
Before you go in guns blazing, it’s always best to ensure you’ve tried a more gentle approach. This is especially true if you don’t want to lose a customer. You can start by sending reminders for payment and discussing with your client whether there might be anything preventing them from paying, and how you can help to make it easier for them to pay. For example, you could offer a payment plan. If you’re pretty sure your customer can pay but they’re not, adding on late fees can encourage them to pay before they owe even more money.
Get Legal Support
Getting legal advice and support is a smart thing to do if someone owes your business money. If you look for lawyers who specialize in debt collection, they can offer you the right advice to help you get your money. They might be able to help with services such as mediation or offer advice on the legal options that you have for claiming your money. It’s helpful to have experts who know about the process you have to go through to collect a debt and what requirements you have to fulfill to get the money that you’re owed.
Send a Legal Demand
The first step that you might want to take when working with an attorney is sending an official letter. With a lawyer behind you, you can send a letter of demand that requests the payment that your customer owes you. The letter can state that if they don’t pay by a certain deadline, you will take further legal action. This shows that you are serious about collecting your money and that you’re prepared to take it further if necessary. Working with a lawyer helps to make your demand more official too.
Consider Going to Court
If your client still hasn’t paid up, you might consider taking them to court to claim your money. However, before doing this, it’s important to do a few things. Firstly, you want to ensure that the business or individual has the means to pay. If they don’t, making a claim in court might not mean much. Even if they are ordered to pay you, you might not get your money. You might also need to prove that you have already taken other steps, such as negotiating or using mediation.
It’s frustrating when your business is out of pocket, but there are things you can do to get the money owed to you.
