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5 Hacks for Making Sure Clients Pay Up!

Aug 30, 2021

We all know having your own online business is ridiculously exciting, and empowering, but can also be a little overwhelming at times. You created this beautiful space that enabled you to finally ditch your 9-5 desk job and create the life and business you always dreamed about! The downside is, no more guaranteed pay-cheques (womp womp). It’s your job to make sure people pay you and that they do it on time without any fuss. If you’re thinking, well “everyone’s paid me on time already”, consider yourself lucky! If you haven’t come across a client that seems to have all the excuses of why they haven’t paid the invoice yet or simply just ghosted you… I hate to be the one to tell you, but it will likely happen at some point. All it takes is one human to not pay you, for you to wish you had legit contracts in place! Here are 5 SOLID HACKS to make sure clients pay you! Read on friends!

1. Legal Onboarding System

Don’t you love how we always wanna get legal? Your first, and most important opportunity to set the tone for your clients is through a Legal Onboarding System. To break it down super quick for you, this is a 3 step process – meaning 3 opportunities to outline the expectations of your working relationship with a client through the Proposal, Contract and Welcome Packet. (You can check out our blog on this here) By taking the time to provide three clear steps of payment expectations, your client has zero excuses to say they misunderstood the amount due, payment date, delivery method or any other number of not valid excuses. If you are looking to spruce up your onboarding, we’ve got you covered: FLAWLESS LEGAL ONBOARDING WORKBOOK.

2. Payment Policies

It’s all in the name on this one! The payment policy is that section in your contract that explicitly states how you will get paid, how much and at what frequency. Without this in place, there is nothing stopping your client from giving you the run-around. A solid payment policy and set schedule help you to get paid on time, but also assist with tracking those expenses so you can manage your flow of income. We go into a lot of detail on how to write a rock-solid payment policy in the User Manual of every contract purchased at Contracts for Entrepreneurs, so you can confidently put this in place.

3. Refund Policies – Avoid the ‘uh oh’ with a clear policy!

Refunds are that annoying relative at Christmas. You don’t really want them there but you have to prepare for them either way. No one wants to issue a refund and you need to be clear what your policy is on this, and make sure to state it in your contract so there is no confusion. If the time comes and a client is knocking on your virtual door for a refund, you can easily review the policy in your agreement and nip that conversation in the bud. It should state what exactly warrants a refund, how that will take place should it be warranted, and how much of the service/product fee is refunded if you agree to it. Just by having this in your agreement, and outlining this within your legal onboarding system (you’re welcome), will likely diminish the unreasonable requests for a refund. We will sing this tune until we lose our voice, your contract is the number one place to hold clients accountable so make sure you are prepared straight out of the gate.

4. Late Payment Fee Policy

In our experience, most service providers forget about this policy. This one can really light a fire under the butt of those late-paying clients. You want to include a clause in your contract that addresses late payment fees, if, when and how they occur and exactly how they need to be paid. Setting up a late payment fee policy shows your clients that your time is valuable and that you are a professional. This section of your contract can also outline the contact method you need to be reached at, within a specific time period prior to the invoice due date, and that your client can contact you with billing concerns or extension requests. People love clarity when it comes to doing business, and setting up the correct expectations will go further in ensuring you get your money honey. If you provide services, you can check out our Service Agreement here that covers all of this and more.

5. Manage Expectations & Over-Deliver

Although anyone and everyone will likely encounter a slippery client every now and again, one of the most important ways to ensure they don’t want to rip you off is to DELIVER DELIVER DELIVER! Our biggest tip is to always under-promise so you can easily over-deliver on your stellar customer experience. While this may not be a legal requirement, managing expectations and over-delivering will ensure clients do not miss a payment because they won’t want to lose you!   We really hope that you found these 5 tips helpful! Follow us on Instagram @contractsforentrepreneurs to be notified when every new blog is posted!
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