| > What steps do you take to ensure clients pay you on time and what actions do you take when they don't? 1. I only work with clients that I trust. How do I find out if I can trust them? Extensive interview process. Is their business sustainable? Have they worked with freelancers before? Do they have references for me? 2. I have clients pay me up front. No, seriously. I have a contract that lists my rate and asks for the money up front. If they want different payment terms, we can negotiate from there (and usually to a point that we're both happy with). 3. I don't let myself get 'underwater' with a client. I use Harvest to monitor the time I spend working on client projects. It sends me a notification when I get within (80%) of the time allotted on the contract. I have a text expander snippet that I fire off to the client with something like 'Hey, we're at 80% of the time you've paid for on the project' and let them know if I think we'll need more time or need to reduce the scope. 4. I attempt to collect in this order: (a) Phone call to the company [the person I'm working with on their side] confirming they received my invoice (10 days after due)
(b) Phone call to the person who signed my contract confirming they received my invoice (15-20 days)
(c) Repeat phone call to the person who signed my contract (30-40 days)
(d) Letter from my attorney How often have I had to use these? Once. Why so infrequently? Because I follow points 1, 2, and 3 with new clients. |