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As a business owner, you know how important it is to have a steady cash flow to keep your business running smoothly. Unfortunately, waiting for customers to pay their invoices can slow down that flow and put a strain on your finances.
There are plenty of strategies you can implement to reduce payment friction and get your customers to pay promptly. We’ll walk you through 7 key ways to get paid faster below.
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7 Ways to Get Paid Faster
1. Offer Multiple Payment Methods
One of the best ways to get paid faster is by offering several payment method options for your customers. Knowing your customers’ preferences, including whether there are any local payment methods they might prefer, helps reduce friction in the process. This makes it simple for your customers to pay you in a timely manner.
Payment methods are constantly evolving. To stay on top of changing trends and new methods as they emerge, it’s important to analyze your target market and understand how your customers prefer to pay.
2. Make Invoices and Payment Terms Clear
To ensure you leave nothing to doubt, make sure your invoices and payment terms are crystal clear. By doing this, you make the process more straightforward for your customers. It also means there’s less room for misunderstandings or a need for follow-ups.
In the body of the invoice, use descriptive language or identifiers like SKU codes or item numbers for products bought or services rendered. Additionally, your payment terms should be listed on the invoice. Make sure you have the date sent, payment due date, all additional tax information (like VAT or GST if needed), and how to pay.
3. Send Direct Payment Requests
Sending direct payment requests over email, SMS, or even messaging apps like WhatsApp ensures your customers see the request in a timely and convenient manner. With Pay.com, you can use Pay Links to send requests through the communication channel that makes the most sense for your customers.
When a customer clicks a Pay Link, they’re directed to a personalized checkout page. Here they can review the invoice, select their preferred way of paying, and easily finalize the payment. With a smooth user experience like this, you can increase customer satisfaction and make payments a friction-free process.
It’s best to send a payment request as soon as possible. This helps keep it fresh in your customer’s mind, so ideally the payment can happen faster.
4. Offer Payment Plans or Financing
Offering payment plans or financing is a great way to reduce late payments and increase cash flow. Payment plans help build trust in the customer-business relationship and can make customers more likely to make big purchases.
In the past setting up payment plans could be a hassle for small businesses. With services like buy now, pay later (BNPL), though, it's never been easier to help your customers pay the way that makes sense to them.
You can also create your own unique plans, especially for customers that may be struggling to pay off big invoices. Be open to working with them to find a solution that balances repayment with urgency, to ensure you still receive regular payments from them.
5. Make Sure You Send Reminders and Follow Ups
After the initial payment request, it may be necessary to send reminders as the payment due dates approach. Oftentimes people get busy or disorganized and can easily forget to pay an invoice, if they don’t do it right away. While you shouldn’t be a nuisance, don’t be afraid to send one or two polite reminders before the due date arrives.
Always be professional and respectful when following up. Even though lack of payment may be annoying, it’s crucial to maintain a positive customer experience at all times. One way to is to ask if there are any issues or questions that are holding payment up. Addressing these can help iron out any concerns and prompt quicker payment.
With Pay.com, it’s incredibly easy to track your invoices in the Pay Dashboard. You can see which invoices have been paid and which ones need follow-ups. Plus, the detailed reporting features allow you to have an overview of all the transactions, so you can better identify recurring late payments from specific customers sooner.
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6. Incentivize Early or Upfront Payments
One of the best ways to get customers to pay quickly is by offering rewards for early or upfront payments. This might include a small discount, a coupon for their next purchase, or a free add-on product like free shipping.
While these discounts may cut into your revenue overall, they also help you get your hands on money quicker, to increase cash flow. Plus, incentives help customers feel valued, which means they will be more likely to become a repeat buyer.
7. Charge Late Payment Fees
Late payments are a frustrating but common problem for business owners. One way to avoid these and ensure your clients pay on time is by implementing late payment fees. These can be percentage-based or flat fees, though many businesses prefer percentage-based. You can also choose to offer a grace period for the first late payment, but that’s up to you.
However, many countries and states have regulations about charging late fees, so it’s crucial to do your own research. This might include a limit on the amount you can impose or when you can charge a late fee at all.
Once you have a late payment policy in place, be sure to communicate it with your customers upfront, so no one is caught off-guard.
The Benefits or Working with Pay.com as Your Payment Service Provider
Pay.com is the ideal payment solution for businesses seeking a secure and user-friendly way to get paid quickly. With a range of popular payment methods including credit cards, digital wallets, and more, you can accept payments from customers around the world.
Security is a top priority, which is why Pay.com is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and uses tokenization to protect sensitive information. Additionally, we support 3D Secure 2.0 (3DS2) to protect your business from payment fraud.
As a Pay.com user, you’ll also have access to the user-friendly Pay Dashboard. This system overview makes it simple to manage all aspects of your payments, from adding new payment methods to viewing detailed reports and customer analytics. Setting up with Pay.com is a breeze, with transparent pricing, no hidden fees, and a straightforward signup process.
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The Bottom Line
For business owners, finding ways to speed up payment can have a positive impact on cash flow and growing your business. There are a ton of ways you can help from clarifying payment terms to offering a variety of payment methods. The most important thing is to be professional, communicative, and flexible with your customers.
Pay.com is the perfect payment service provider to get your customers to pay quickly. There’s a wide variety of payment methods you can offer your customers. Plus, through the Pay Dashboard you can easily send payment requests, track pending invoices, and send follow-ups.
