What sets you apart from the pack and gives your business that unique something? What will to make your small business the shining example instead of the bad tale? Each SMME owner and freelancer wants to find out! But everyone knows that putting your finger on that quality and identifying it is not simple, and once recognized even more difficult to nurture and put into practice. Don't be bamboozled, a lot stands in the way of you and your SMME's success.
Some small business owner or freelancers don't think about that a huge part of reaching success resides in the way you manage your businesses billing and payment collection. It seems almost obvious to have effective procedures in place to deal with billing, payment collection and management of bad debit. But all too often I come across companies that neglect this important aspect of their success entirely.
Discover the secrets to making your enterprise profitable, robust, efficient and cost effective:
Lower cost of operations
Chief among the problems the small business owner or freelancers face is making the cost of operation low. This is doubly true when it comes to getting the costs of billing and payment collection low.
A great way to keep costs minimal is to implement tools that facilitate automation of billing procedures. Keep the amount of staff you need to keep in your accounts department to a minimum by using creative online tools to automate systems. This allows you maximum control over your daily operations even with very limited staff.
It is important to remember that you have choice. Look around for payment gateways with the lowest fees. Many payment gateways do not give you the facilty to easily export your client's payment information. This prevents you from changing between gateways easily. Look around for a payment facilitator to give you more freedom. A payment facilitator will store billing details securely on your and the gateways behalf and allow simple switching between gateways, so you always have the cheapest fees and your customers the most choice.
Create a positive look
How many times have you gotten a badly formatted invoice rife with spelling errors, missing fields or incorrect information? What does that make you think of the enterprise sending the invoice? Badly put together, incorrect invoices shine badly on the products and services you deliver. This way of creating a negative impression of your degree of service is just as simple to prevent as it is to perpetrate.
A bad quality invoice reflects negatively on your client's option of the services you render. Replacing those bad do-it-yourself Microsoft Word or Excel format invoices for professionally made ones is probably one of the best investments you can make in your SMME's success. Get software or start using a web based service designed to make professional standard invoices. Always check that the client's details is right and if you are issuing tax invoices make sure all the legally required data appear correctly.
Payment collection
So, you have sent your professionlally formatted invoice, now you want to to collect payment for it. It is advised to give your clients as many easy ways as possible to pay your services. Getting payment for the products or services you sell becomes much easier if you make it simple and hassle-free for your clients to pay. We advise having the following payment methods available to increate your ability to get payment:
- The ability to accept instant safe payments by credit card
- Facilities to capture and apply electronic funds or wire transfers as well as direct or bank deposits
- A way to record and process electronic funds or wire transfers as well as direct or bank deposits
Become proactive with payments
The need to monitor and control bad debt in an important factor in the success of your business. Controlling bad debt will ensure that your cash flow stays strong and constant. One of the best ways to do this is working hard to avoid bad debt in the first instance. This calls for correspondence on an organised, scheduled scale. By this I mean, keep your customers informed every step of the way.
The trick is easy access to information and straight forward, direct communication. Keep your customers in the loop every step of the way. Send reminders, payment warning, past due warning and suspension notices. Do so via email and text messages (SMS) in a clear controlled manner over the course of the customer's repayment. Allow your customer the highest degree of access to their account information, account balances and required repayment amounts. To assist you do this, make sure that you have procedures in place to assist you to automate and schedule correspondence with clients.
Stand out from the crowd: Offer a high quality product
Small businesses and freelancers need to strive to set themselves apart from the pack. Standing out from the herd translates to better business. The only way to genuinely stand out from the crowd and keep customers coming back is to provide a good quality service or product reliably.
Some success can be gotten with gimmicks and aggressive promotions, but this more than often does more damage in the long run than good. Offering a constant, exceptional service and quality products are the best way to make vocal positive advocates for your business. reach to ensure your level of service meets your customers expectations and then, if possible, provide that little bit extra not only meet their desires, but exceed their expectations.
So there it is. Now you know the secret to making your small business a success. What are you waiting for? Go forth and achieve it!
Some small business owner or freelancers don't think about that a huge part of reaching success resides in the way you manage your businesses billing and payment collection. It seems almost obvious to have effective procedures in place to deal with billing, payment collection and management of bad debit. But all too often I come across companies that neglect this important aspect of their success entirely.
Discover the secrets to making your enterprise profitable, robust, efficient and cost effective:
Lower cost of operations
Chief among the problems the small business owner or freelancers face is making the cost of operation low. This is doubly true when it comes to getting the costs of billing and payment collection low.
A great way to keep costs minimal is to implement tools that facilitate automation of billing procedures. Keep the amount of staff you need to keep in your accounts department to a minimum by using creative online tools to automate systems. This allows you maximum control over your daily operations even with very limited staff.
It is important to remember that you have choice. Look around for payment gateways with the lowest fees. Many payment gateways do not give you the facilty to easily export your client's payment information. This prevents you from changing between gateways easily. Look around for a payment facilitator to give you more freedom. A payment facilitator will store billing details securely on your and the gateways behalf and allow simple switching between gateways, so you always have the cheapest fees and your customers the most choice.
Create a positive look
How many times have you gotten a badly formatted invoice rife with spelling errors, missing fields or incorrect information? What does that make you think of the enterprise sending the invoice? Badly put together, incorrect invoices shine badly on the products and services you deliver. This way of creating a negative impression of your degree of service is just as simple to prevent as it is to perpetrate.
A bad quality invoice reflects negatively on your client's option of the services you render. Replacing those bad do-it-yourself Microsoft Word or Excel format invoices for professionally made ones is probably one of the best investments you can make in your SMME's success. Get software or start using a web based service designed to make professional standard invoices. Always check that the client's details is right and if you are issuing tax invoices make sure all the legally required data appear correctly.
Payment collection
So, you have sent your professionlally formatted invoice, now you want to to collect payment for it. It is advised to give your clients as many easy ways as possible to pay your services. Getting payment for the products or services you sell becomes much easier if you make it simple and hassle-free for your clients to pay. We advise having the following payment methods available to increate your ability to get payment:
- The ability to accept instant safe payments by credit card
- Facilities to capture and apply electronic funds or wire transfers as well as direct or bank deposits
- A way to record and process electronic funds or wire transfers as well as direct or bank deposits
Become proactive with payments
The need to monitor and control bad debt in an important factor in the success of your business. Controlling bad debt will ensure that your cash flow stays strong and constant. One of the best ways to do this is working hard to avoid bad debt in the first instance. This calls for correspondence on an organised, scheduled scale. By this I mean, keep your customers informed every step of the way.
The trick is easy access to information and straight forward, direct communication. Keep your customers in the loop every step of the way. Send reminders, payment warning, past due warning and suspension notices. Do so via email and text messages (SMS) in a clear controlled manner over the course of the customer's repayment. Allow your customer the highest degree of access to their account information, account balances and required repayment amounts. To assist you do this, make sure that you have procedures in place to assist you to automate and schedule correspondence with clients.
Stand out from the crowd: Offer a high quality product
Small businesses and freelancers need to strive to set themselves apart from the pack. Standing out from the herd translates to better business. The only way to genuinely stand out from the crowd and keep customers coming back is to provide a good quality service or product reliably.
Some success can be gotten with gimmicks and aggressive promotions, but this more than often does more damage in the long run than good. Offering a constant, exceptional service and quality products are the best way to make vocal positive advocates for your business. reach to ensure your level of service meets your customers expectations and then, if possible, provide that little bit extra not only meet their desires, but exceed their expectations.
So there it is. Now you know the secret to making your small business a success. What are you waiting for? Go forth and achieve it!
About the Author:
An online invoicing and invoicing system is critical to allow any business to uphold a professional image. SnapBill has been helping businesses for years and are providing a free account to get started.
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