Most often late payment is a result of poor cashflow from your customer. If they do not receive payment from their customers, they have no money to pay their suppliers. If your customer is an individual rather than a business, the same principal applies; if they receive an unexpected bill they may not have money to pay you until their next payday.

The most difficult part is staying calm and not getting angry. When you phone up and start yelling for your money your customer is immediately put on the defensive, which can result in them yelling back at you. That's when it really starts to get ugly!

Keeping a cool head when chasing payment is the most effective way of achieving your goal. You need to enquire about your payment, and listen to your customer's difficulty. It may just be an oversight and payment will be sent straight away. It may be that payment bounced due to an unexpected bill, but it will be with you within the week, or it could be that your customer has hit a real problem with cashflow.

When customers hit a real problem with making payment you will need to make a judgement call. Do you want to discuss spreading the payment over several months, resulting in full payment being received eventually? Do you want the product returned in part or in full to reduce or eliminate the invoice? Do you want to explore more unusual options for retrieving your debt, such as a trade of goods or services with your customer to the value of your unpaid invoice – if they have something you want.

If an agreement can't be met you may need to explore more serious options. Taking legal action is a last resort, but sadly it is sometimes necessary. Often receiving a legal letter is enough for customers to make payment without full proceedings commencing, but sometimes you have to go through the whole procedure.

Fortunately there are legal companies that specialise in debt recovery and their prices are pretty reasonable, so if you find yourself with no other alternative be sure to contact one of them to guide you through the process.

And finally, if you decide it is not worth pursuing, once the debt is six months old you can write it off as a bad debt in your accounts.

If you are struggling with chasing your customers for payment please contact jamie@jamiegoodenough.co.uk to discuss how I can help you.

Feeling a bit stuck on where to get started?  What you include in your newsletter is entirely up to you, and it is important that you find the right style for you.  There is no right or wrong answer, no “one size fits all” design.  Instead you need to develop a template that suits you and your business, and don’t be afraid to adjust it if needed.  There are some ideas below to help you get started on creating YOUR newsletter:

Welcome Message
People like to read a personal note from you, it helps to build trust in you and your brand when you share a little bit of info.
 
Latest News
Share the latest information from your business or your industry.  People like to know what is going on and what is coming up.
 
Upcoming Events
Whether it is a timetable of craft fairs you will be attending or an invitation to a trade show people like to know where you are going to be.  You could also include dates for upcoming workshops you are hosting.
 
How-To Guides or Tutorials
Nothing shouts “expert” more than sharing how to do something.  Tutorials establish a line of trust as you are giving your customers knowledge about how to do something.  Some will eagerly go away and try it out, while others will decide they can’t do it and will buy from you instead.  But don’t worry about those that try it themselves, many will be back to find out more or buy something different.  You may not lose them as a customer.
 
Interviews
You could conduct an interview with a prominent figure in your industry.  Ask questions that you think your customers would find interesting, and remember to keep your questions open (who, what, where, when, why, how) to encourage detailed answers.
 
Contests and Promotions
Your newsletter is a place you can add a small advert for your latest time limited offer, but remember to keep to the 80/20 rule – 80% great content, 20% selling
 
Product Reviews
You could give information about your latest product range or draw comparisons between products that you use.  Don’t be negative about your competition, even if their product isn’t as good as yours!
 
Videos
If you are not comfortable writing your newsletter you can always create videos to put in your mailing instead.  Just keep them short, maybe just 2-3 minutes each and include clear titles for each one.
 
If you include different articles in your newsletter I would love to hear about them in the comments below.  If you would like some assistance with setting up your newsletter please email me at jamie@jamiegoodenough.co.uk