Do you have clients that have refused to pay for services rendered and you don’t know what to do? If YES, here are 5 ways to collect your money from them.
If you are in business, whether a small-scale or well-established business, you would have come across some customers who are good at not paying for services that you render them. These types of clients cut across both the rich and the poor; there is no one mold fits all when it come to clients not willing to pay for services rendered to them.
No doubt, some of these clients may have justifiable reasons why they choose not to pay for services that are rendered to them. Some of them would always hinge it on “this was not what I was expecting when I requested for your services” and other sundry excuses.
The bottom line is that whether for good or bad reasons, as a business person, you should be able to arm yourself with the techniques of collecting your money from clients that won’t pay for services rendered to them.
How to Collect Money from Clients That Won’t Pay for Services Rendered
- Appeal to The Conscience of The Client
The first thing you need to do when you encounter a client that refuses to pay for services rendered, is not to raise your voice or try to make any trouble of some sort, but to appeal to their conscience. In appealing to their conscience, you should be able to make them see reasons why they need to pay for the service.
You should make them see that the money is needed to pay your utility bills, pay for rent, pay your workers or even feed your family, and if they go away with the money it will affect a lot of things. The truth is that if the client has conscience, he or she may reconsider their actions and pay up what they owe.
- Show The Client The Law That Frowns at Their Action
Another strategy that you would need to adopt if you come across a client that refuses to pay for services rendered is to show them the law that frowns at their action and the consequence they will face if they stick to their guns of not paying for services rendered.
Although this method is only applicable if there are laws in your state of country that clearly covers service providers from being taken advantage of by unreasonable clients. The truth is that there is hardly any reasonable person that knows the consequences of absconding with a service provider’s money and the punishment they stand to face and would want to go ahead with the decision of not paying.
- Threaten to Report the Client to a Third Party
There are clients that you know people related to them or their employer or boss. If peradventure this is type of client that you are dealing with, then what you should do if they refuse to pay for services rendered is to inform them that you are going to report them to their boss, or company, or pastor or parents or any person that has authority over them.
Please note that this method is only applicable if you have relationship with the client or if you have some information about the client. In some situations, this method can be counter-productive because some clients will damn the consequence and ask you to go ahead with your threat. So, you must study the client before making use of this method.
- Call in a Security Officer
If the client is uncooperative and proving unruly, then the best method you should use in order to collect your money from them after rendering a service is to call in a security officer. If you have an in – house security officer, then the process will be easy, the client will be locked up in the office or facility until they pay for the services rendered to them.
When carrying out this method, make sure that you are not infringing on the right of the client unduly. Just make sure you are familiar with the law in your city as regards this action. If you don’t have an in-house security, then you should call in the police. Please note that if you go ahead to make use of this method, you are likely going to lose this client for good and perhaps his family members, friends and people within his network.
- Take the Client to Court
Taking a client to court should be the last option when you come across a client who refuses to pay you for a service rendered. You should try as much as possible to make use of other methods listed above before making use of this method. As a matter of fact, you should be aware that when you take a client to court, you must be ready to spend money on filing the case in court, hiring a defense attorney and on logistics et al.
Of course, if you win the case, the client will be fined and asked to pay for your services and possibly for other inconveniences they cost you and your business. Please note that if you go ahead to make use of this method, you are likely going to lose this client for good and perhaps his family members, friends and people within his network.
In Conclusion;
In as much as all the methods stated above can help you collect your money from a client that refuses to pay you after you have rendered services to them, it is important that you weigh your options very well before going ahead to choose an ideal method that is suitable for the moment or the type of client.
There are situations where it will be to your benefit to allow the client to go away without paying as against going ahead to make trouble, these include; if the money involved is what you can forfeit, the client is one of your biggest clients and they have family members and friends that came through him or her.