Cash collection is usually the responsibility of the accounts or credit control department within a business. However, aged debts can soon mount up if the process of collecting payments is difficult or the ability for customers to make a payment is difficult.
Below are four tips on how you can improve your cash collection and reduce the amount of aged debt within your business.
Remove barriers to making payment
Make it as easy as possible for your customers to pay you. Having too many barriers can cause delays in collecting payments. Telephone numbers where no-one answers or they need to wait on hold are examples of where customers can become impatient and ultimately choose to delay payment.
Increase the payment methods you accept
You may be already taking online payments, but expanding your available payment methods will increase conversion. Do you currently only accept debit card? Could you accept Credit Cards and even Amex cards or Direct Debit. Offer your customers a range of options when it comes to making payment.
Take payments 24/7
Having the ability to pay 24/7 is vital for some businesses, especially for those where their typical customer profile is of those that could potentially make payment any time of day or night. For example, a plumber or electrician out on the tools all day may only have the evenings or weekends available to them to pay their bills to their suppliers. Therefore, providing your customers with a facility to make a payment any time of day will help reduce barriers to payment.
Take payments online
An online payment page, whether standalone or embedded into your website will help your customers as this achieves all of the above. It removes barriers as customers can pay easily without fuss or having to call a number. It increases the payment methods you accept as with online payments, you can offer your customers a range of card types such as debit card, credit card and other such as American Express. Taking online payments also allows your customers to make a payment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, thus removing the limitations of an ‘office hours only’ service.
