Credit Policy for businesses and how to extend credit and manage credit risk

These are ways I have experimented with to try and get paid quicker from past due customers. Many of the methods I tried did not yield positive results so I am sharing with you the top ways I was able to get paid quicker so you don’t have to try everything I tried. 

I have shared these tips with many business owners who are skeptical and I tell them, just try it! They try them and they work!  I had one business that had 10 customers who were past due, I told them just one tip and had them do it, they said in one week they had received payment from 9 of the customers and the 10^th customer had been in the hospital and passed away.

1. Send a strong letter unfolded in a priority mail flat rate envelope with delivery confirmation.  This is cheaper than certified mail and much more effective. The priority mail envelopes are free at the post office and you pay a flat rate for the postage. If you print your own postage on line you can get delivery confirmation (a $1.40 value) FREE!
2. Call them. Be blunt, ask why they didn’t pay and tell them (don’t ask) you need them to come in today and pay right away. Do not take no for an answer. If you allow them to come in tomorrow and pay make sure they have to really fight for that option and that they realize the severity of this issue.
3. Visit them. This is the most effective way to get paid. I once had someone who kept giving me a story and not following through on payment promises. I visited him at his job, I took the $15.47 he had in his pocket and I never had to call him again or visit him again. He sent me $25 a week until the bill was paid off.