Getting paid quickly is essential for every small business.\u00a0 Late or missing payments can be difficult to manage so it\u2019s important to have the right systems in place to reduce the likelihood of delayed payments.<\/p>\n
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Getting paid on time makes your business easier to manage and keeps things predictable, so follow these steps to have a healthy invoicing heartbeat.<\/p>\n
Customers are wary of scams, theft, and fraud so a customer is much more likely to pay quickly if they trust you and see you as a competent professional business. Customers trust professional looking invoices, so it\u2019s important to take the time to assemble an invoice that includes:<\/p>\n
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Its also a good idea to include a personal message to say \u201cThankyou for your business\u201d as studies show that this increases customer engagement and likelihood that they will pay promptly.<\/p>\n
All these features are available when you send invoices for FREE with Nubilo.<\/p>\n
To find out more, check our help pages on setting up and managing invoices.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/blog\/dashboard\/your-business\/customer-relationship-management\/invoicing\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be specific about your payment due date.\u00a0 Using language that is confusing or open to interpretation means customers are more likely to miss their payment dates.\u00a0 \u00a0Make sure the due date is clearly labelled and provide payment terms either on the invoice or as part of your terms and conditions.\u00a0 Its also a good idea to get your customers to read and sign the terms and conditions.\u00a0 You\u2019d be amazed home many customers want to do business in their own terms and not yours.\u00a0\u00a0 There will be more article son terms and conditions later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adding line items in your invoices gives a clearer explanation of how the costs were assembled and is easier for the customer to accept and they will feal more comfortable paying promptly.\u00a0 Providing an invoice without any detail raises suspicion and makes your customers start to question the total and this build mistrust and bad relationships.\u00a0 It\u2019s better to have transparent pricing and clearly itemised costs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Customers should never be surprised by anything on your invoices. Be sure that deliverables, payment amounts, and payment terms are all agreed before you start work or when the order is placed, and that you have a signed copy of the terms and conditions\u00a0confirming this information. Refunds and cancellation policies should also be clearly described.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Invoice your customers as quickly as possible after the work is complete as the quicker you can get them the invoice, the faster they are likely to pay you.\u00a0 With Nubilo you can send the invoice to the customer before you have even left their house so they can be paying electronically as you leave.\u00a0 This makes things much easier for you. Customers are most likely to pay for a job within a few minutes of completion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s important in the modern market to be able to accept electronic payments. It\u2019s a great idea to use a payment method that your customers know and trust such as PayPal.<\/p>\n Allowing your customers to pay online improves their engagement and speed of payments.\u00a0 Its even better to allow them to view their previous transactions with your business, so they can see how much they are spending and track any outstanding payments. Nubilo has all this functionality built in and is included in the FREE tier, so you can start sending electronic invoices, tracking payments, and providing a customer portal to each of your customers for FREE.\u00a0 Get started today here: https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/signup\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sending Invoices in the post and waiting for a cheque to be mailed back is slow and costly. We recommend that you stop doing this straight away, and instead send electronic Invoices via email and receive electronic payments straight to your bank account.\u00a0\u00a0 There can be a small cost with receiving an electronic payment, but it\u2019s much cheaper than the cost of sending letters and the time taken to receive, bank and track responses.<\/p>\n Use an online invoicing facility that allows you to send a link either by email or text \u00a0directly to your customer, so they can view the invoice on their mobile or tablet, and pay with an intuitive and secure payment technology such as PayPal.<\/p>\n Even better, \u00a0\u00a0at the same time allow your customers to review all their previous invoices, send follow up reminders automatically and get referrals with Nubilo\u2019s business tools,\u00a0 find out more: https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/business-features.php<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Getting customers to pay after work is completed always has a degree of risk due to refused or late payments for whatever reason. One way to avoid this is to encourage customers to pay in advance by offering a discount.<\/p>\n One way is to offer your customer two payment options.\u00a0 One is a payment option post service delivery, the other is a prepayment option which includes a discount.\u00a0 If your customers trust you, then they will often choose the prepayment option to receive the discount.<\/p>\n Make sure you include details of incentives and any late payment interest rates in the original customer agreement or signed terms and conditions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Don\u2019t wait until payments are 30 days overdue to check in with the customer. Create a process for following up the day after payment is due. For example, you can begin with a standard, polite email reminding the customer of the overdue payment, and then follow up with a phone call. Many late payments are simply due to misunderstandings or forgetfulness, and by reaching out to the customer you can often clear things up quickly.<\/p>\n Using a tool that automatically sends reminders for outstanding payments takes the emotion out of chasing payments and allows you to focus on new business. You can save up to 5 hours a week by automating invoice delivery, remediation, and late payment reminders.<\/p>\n Check out the automatic payment reminder features of Nubilo invoices. https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/business-features.php#Invoicing<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be organised with your cashflow.\u00a0 We recommend:<\/p>\n I hope you enjoyed this Article.\u00a0 There are loads more like it to come as we follow the development of Nubilo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nubilo is a \u201cHome Services Marketplace\u201d where you can manage your home or develop your home services business. Nubilo provides Property Asset Management tools for simplifying the management of your home, and Business Management tools to help small businesses grow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Check out the Nubilo Blog and Help pages for all the latest information on the evolution of the Nubilo Marketplace: https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/blog\/<\/a><\/p>\n Checkout our Latest Articles for tips and tricks to manage your home better: https:\/\/www.nubilo.co.uk\/articles\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be clear about payment due dates<\/h2>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Include detail in your invoices<\/h2>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clarify payment terms upfront<\/h2>\n
5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Send your invoices promptly<\/h2>\n
6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Accept online payments<\/h2>\n
7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Speed things up with online invoices<\/h2>\n
8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Offer incentives for early payments<\/h2>\n
9.\u00a0 \u00a0Follow up on late payments\u00a0quickly<\/h2>\n
10.\u00a0 Monitor your cash flow<\/h2>\n
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