You’ve done your part, you’ve sent an invoice days ago (maybe even weeks!), and you still haven’t received your payment. We know the feeling, you don’t want to seem rude or annoying by emailing or calling your customers that have outstanding payments - but you do want to get paid (now?!).
Somehow it’s never easy asking people to pay you - especially if you have to say it more than once, but at the same time you are fully entitled to be paid for the services you have provided. Situations like these can be quite uncomfortable, and you feel trapped by trying to please everyone yet still keep your business running.
Although you do have legal claims to being paid, there are much easier and friendlier ways to follow-up on overdue payments, without having to involve lawyers.
Why have my customers not paid me yet?
There are a number of reasons why your customers may not have paid on time, they might have just forgotten, or maybe thought they paid but the transfer did not go through successfully. In cases such as these, always try to assume the best in people and remember that your customers are only humans too - we all forget things and have busy lives with other things on our mind.
What to do with overdue payments
If you have sent out an invoice and the due date is marked in red, it means the payment is overdue. You then have the option to create and send your customers a reminder letter. A reminder is a formal and professional document containing all the same details as your invoice, plus a reminder to pay. You can see how to create a reminder with a step-by-step tutorial guide.
With Debitoor, you can select a pre-written text that will appear on your reminder. You can choose which tone of voice based on urgency you would like your reminder to be, from a polite “friendly reminder” to a more assertive “third reminder”. Of course, it is also possible to customise the text that appears.
When you send out a reminder to your customers, you can also include a “reminder fee” of your choice, as a result of their late payment.
If your debtor has still not paid their invoice even after receiving a reminder letter, then you can send a second reminder. In rare cases, if after the second reminder your debtor has still not paid, you can send a third or even fourth reminder.
One step closer to getting paid
Reminders are an easy and professional way to ensure that you get paid. Overdue payment is an unfortunately common issue that entrepreneurs experience. With invoicing software like Debitoor, you have access to the “create reminder” feature for any overdue payments. It’s time to stop waiting around silently hoping your customers will pay, and rather give them that extra nudge by sending them a reminder letter.
