If you have past due customers and want them to pay, there is something you can do. You should also take steps to prevent having past due customers again in the future. One of the things you can do immediately is to gather or print out all of the past due accounts.
- Put them in order, largest past due balance to smallest.
- Sit down and call everyone who is past due.
- Don't ask them for payment, tell them your calling to take their payment over the phone since it is past due.
- Anyone you have to leave a message for, send a past due letter.
If you take those few steps today, you will receive many payments over the phone and through the mail within the next week.
If you do this every time someone starts getting past due, they will learn that they have to pay you before the other guy who doesn't call or keep on top of his accounts receivables. This is like a late fee, customers will pay the person who charges a late fee before the person who doesn't.
To prevent this from happening in the future, make sure you have a credit policy in place, you have every customer fill out a credit application and you assign a credit limit and stick to it.
Take charge of your cash flow, don't let your customers create a lenient credit policy and be in control of your cash flow! You can make more money right away when you have a credit policy.
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