By Janine Ambrose, Sales
Development Manager, Back Office Support Services
Bad debt is one of the biggest threats that can face any
business and undoubtedly many recruiters have suffered the pain but well
planned and executed credit control will lower the risk and increase your cash flow.
1.
Credit check all your customers and set credit
limits
2.
Communicate your Terms of Business with your
clients and ensure they have received a copy.
3.
Invoice on time, accurately and to the right
person, errors on invoices cost time, money and reflect negatively on your
brand and business.
4.
Make an introduction call to accounts, take a
contact name and confirm payment terms.
5.
Ask if a P.O. number is required (in fact ensure
this is asked right from the outset)
6.
During the call ask how they make payment BACS or
cheque and follow this up with an email/letter with your bank details and
address and keep building rapport.
7.
Review your credit control processes, how robust
are they; implement proactive credit control procedures such as contacting
clients a few days before payment is due
8.
Strictly follow up promised payment dates, your
clients will soon become familiar with this pattern and are less likely to miss
promised payment dates
9.
Be firm and polite when dealing with overdue
payments and don’t be one of those agencies that is afraid of losing business
because you have to take action because a client has not paid on time
10.
Strictly adhering to the above will ensure a
healthy cash flow and sleeping well at night!
No comments:
Post a Comment