4 ways to prevent your customers' defaults

One of the biggest headaches in business is meeting customers who leave outstanding debts. This means having to Defer collections or, in extreme cases, having to go to court.

What can I do to prevent defaults?

We know that defaults can appear at any time and that economic stability of your business is essential to you. From taclia we give you the 4 steps you must follow to protect your finances and prevent defaults by your customers.

STEP 1: Identify your customer

Knowing the needs and circumstances of your customers is essential to offer a good service, but also for Make decisions as a company. It is important to arrive at a prior agreement about what the payment methods are going to be, in how many installments they are going to be carried out, what the penalties will be if they are not met or how it is going to be evaluated that the service has been successfully completed.

This prior negotiation is key to stipulating the conditions and avoid misunderstandings. If from the beginning a customer gives you a hard time or does not commit to complying with what has been agreed, you can take appropriate measures in time to avoid non-payment or to directly refuse the service.

With the tool Customers from taclia you can gather all your customer information in one place, categorize them and track their services and payments. All easily and free of charge.

STEP 2: Ask for an advance

Once you have reached an agreement, it is essential to prepare a presupposed. This indicates how much the customer will have to pay and it is necessary for the customer to sign it for it to be validated. A budget is your best protection against default issues. Remember that if the cost of the service increases due to an unforeseen event, this must always be updated in the budget and re-signed by the customer.

If it is common in your sector, you can negotiate that the customer Make an advance payment of the price of the service, which will be deducted from the final budget. This gesture on the part of the customer also implies commitment and generates an environment of mutual trust.

With taclia you can automatically create quotes with the help of templates and send them to your customers by email from the same application. In this article, we tell you the differences between budget, delivery note and invoice.

STEP 3: Request payment directly from your customer

You have finished the service and it's time to send the invoice. Through taclia you can send the invoice directly to your email very quickly. You can take the opportunity to ask them to confirm that they have received the document correctly and in this way effectively track your condition. If days go by and you find that the payment hasn't been completed yet, it's time to make a gentle reminder.

How long should I wait to contact the customer?

First of all, you should avoid getting nervous. Delays due to neglect or minor distractions are quite common and it doesn't have to mean that we are dealing with a premeditated case of non-payment.

If 48 hours have passed since you sent the invoice and you haven't received payment or any confirmation from the customer, you should contact them immediately without wasting any more time. You can approach this reminder in a subtle way by asking them, for example, if they were satisfied with the service or if they had any problems paying the amount of the bill. If an agreement had been made Expiration date, it's time to mention it.

If the email is unsatisfactory, you can always use more direct channels. For example, a phone call. Claim money it's never easy, but it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. Be direct but use a friendly and respectful tone.

What do I say to a customer who doesn't pay?

Here we leave you one email template for claiming a payment:

Subject: Pending Payment Invoice No .<número factura>

Hello<nombre cliente>,

<número factura>I am writing to you <nombre empresa>because, except for an error on our part, we have not received payment for the bill. <importe factura>We kindly remind you that the due date for payment is <fecha vencimiento>and the total amount is.

We have attached a copy of the invoice to you in this same email, where you can check all the details of the service.

Remember that we are at your disposal for whatever you need.

Thank you very much for making the payment as soon as possible.

A cordial greeting,

<tu nombre>

<nombre empresa>

STEP 4: Digitize the control of your sales

Keeping track of all your bills to the last cent can mean hours and hours of paperwork, emails, folders and calls. Digitizing your business with taclia will allow you to keep an exhaustive track of the status of your services, customers and payments. In this way You will save time, will allow you to be much more agile when it comes to claiming payments and will give you greater peace of mind, because you will have everything at hand and in one place.

Do you dare to try one of our tools and leave the paperwork behind? Create your taclia account. It's easy, fast and 100% free. No trial periods or limitations.