One of the questions I get asked a lot is "How do I get my clients to pay me on time?"
Well, for me, the first thing that comes to mind is that you are doing one of a few things wrong if your clients aren't paying you on time, every time. And these things have more to do with you and your mindset than they do with your clients.
Do you pay all of your own bills on time?
If you don't pay your own bills on time, how can you expect your clients to pay you?
Yes, I get it. You need the money that your client is paying you to pay your bills. But honestly, this should never be the case. You should always be able to pay your own bills and not have to wait for a client's payment to pay them.
You should always have money in your business bank accounts and even a business emergency fund in order to keep your business afloat at all times. And if you can't do this, then you need to reevaluate your business and see where you can get cash flowing in on a more regular basis than just waiting for your clients to pay you on time each month. Or check where you need to cut your business expenses.
And if you still can't pay your bills on time, then you are going to have to get another job, take out a loan or do something so that you have extra money coming in and you don't need to rely on your client payments this month for last month's bills.
Do you accept just anyone as a client?
Or do you actually tell people that you won't be a good fit? Not everyone that comes across you will be a good fit to work with you. True you may need the money because you have your own bills to pay in your business, but some clients just aren't worth the work of keeping them as a client.
There are all kinds of horror stories about clients all over the internet. Some people just aren't meant to be a client. They don't have the drive to follow your advice. What they really want is someone to do all of the work for them, including the mindset work (which you can't change someone else's mind for them).
And when what they want doesn't happen, then they tend to become a ghost.
When you accept just anyone as a client simply because you need the money, you will have problems 99% of the time.
What do your prices look like?
Can absolutely anyone afford your prices (meaning your prices are too low)? Can almost no one afford your prices (meaning your prices are too high)?
Do you change your prices based on the person's situation when you talk to them about working together? Do you give discounts because you feel you need to get the client?
Your prices really can make or break your business.
Thrive Leads Shortcode could not be rendered, please check it in Thrive Leads Section!
Your prices have to be able to cover your costs in your business, as well as pay your salary.
Having your prices too low, tends to bring in the people that are way too much work and end up costing you more than you are charging them.
Having your prices too high means no one can afford your prices.
Changing your prices and giving discounts based on your new potential client will bring the people that demand more of you than you are willing to give. But because they are a client of yours, you don't want to burn your bridges, so you charge the lower prices and do ALL of the extra work they want from you.
You really are worth every penny that you charge, but if you don't believe this, then neither will your clients. And if your clients don't believe this, then they won't end up paying you, even for work you have done for them.
Do you have boundaries in place between you and your client?
What I mean by this is, do you only answer emails, texts, calls, etc from your client during set business hours? Or do you pick up your phone at all hours of the day and night and answer your client?
When you have no boundaries in place with your clients, they will walk all over you and demand your time when you with your family, when you are on vacation, and frankly, just when you don't want to be working.
Put your boundaries in place and let them be known from the moment you first start talking to your potential client. If they can't follow your boundaries as only a potential client, then they sure as heck won't follow them when they are a client.
These boundaries also need to be set for your products and courses, not just the clients that you work with in person or over the phone. Do you offer support to your clients who buy your products and courses? Do your sales pages let your potential clients know what type of support you will give them?
You need to define your boundaries and how you are going to help your clients BEFORE you make any type of sale.
Having your clients pay you on time every time, has more to do with you, than it does with your clients. You have to believe in yourself and your pricing. You have to have your own boundaries in place and then follow those boundaries. And more importantly, you have to be the type of person that pays all of their own bills on time as well.
When you are the person who pays everything on time, accepts only the right clients to work with, and has boundaries in place, everything will work out for you in your business and your clients will pay you on time, every time.
This means you are working with the right people. And you are actually in business to make money and change lives.
Do you have all of these systems in place? If not, what do you need to get in place right now for your business to make sure that your clients pay you on time every time?
Thrive Leads Shortcode could not be rendered, please check it in Thrive Leads Section!
