[bobby p]

im getting cheesed off with collecting when either nobody is home when i arrive OR  they cant rake up enough cash/cant find their chequebook.  i have been leaving a note to say "please leave money under doormat " but then if they forget to do it,i have wasted yet another journey .also quite a few have no doormat nor any plantpots or stones .  These are ordinary people,not " true waster" types, im just looking for ideas that might work

paying by invoice or online i dont think will work,im not keen on reminders

[TC1]

Leave an envelope with your address and a 2nd class stamp on it!! You will speed up your cash flow no end, it works for me and my customers

[rednick]

when i clean and they're not in i leave ticket which says when i will collect and if not convenient ring me to arrange payment...works for me.

[lee09]

offer credit transfers. If they internet bank, give them your account numbers but be sure to tell them to put their address as a reference.
Failing that get their phone number and ring them before you go out collecting to make sure that they are in. It's normally only a few I have to chase.
Lee

[darren clarke]

do u tell them what tiem and day u will be back,  ask if they got check book and offer paypal

[Sean Dyer]

i knock whilst working , and then straight after on compact work (which nearly all mine is) i do about an hour straight after work and only dont find in about 10 - 20 %

Then i go back on a wednesday to the ones i havent found, its working pretty well, i used to only collect one night a week but too many outstanding , i am going to bring in paying by cheque too for the ones who arent available straight after work , so i dont have too return at all

i find this way they are hapy to pay the day the windows were done, and i get my money straight away. plus i dont have to return  and i stay out later working as i know i have to collect when everyones home at about 5.30 - 6.00 only downside is in winter with early finishes etc i will have to hang around or call back but i will probably push more sae s through then instead

it means longer days for now but work is work eh and its no good working and not getting paid which can be very easy in this job unfortunately

[SB Cleaning]

Leave an envelope with your address and a 2nd class stamp on it!! You will speed up your cash flow no end, it works for me and my customers

This is what i have started to do, how long do you usually wait for them to post money on mate??

[the bfg]

I just call/text all my customers the night before and it serves 2 purposes

1)  they make sure there is access to property if they are out when I arrive meaning I don't have to go climbing over gates/fences

2)  they leave payment in a safe place ( usually at the back of property )   meaning I don't need to go collecting


has worked really well for me for the last 4 years and ok some people do forget but thats just human nature but out of say every hundred customers 5 may forget

by speaking to the customer on phone also builds a good rapport with the customer and they know exactly what day your coming.

as I say its been a great success for me as a lot of my customers are out at work when I arrive so by communicating with then solves both access and payment problems.

[TC1]

Leave an envelope with your address and a 2nd class stamp on it!! You will speed up your cash flow no end, it works for me and my customers

This is what i have started to do, how long do you usually wait for them to post money on mate??

usually within the week, some go 2 weeks and i've had the odd one which goes to 4 weeks but thats beacause they have been on holiday. I worked it out that i would spend more on fuel and time than on a 2nd class stamp, with the latter being more important to me, so it works 100% for me. I even have a few that send me a stamp back with my cheque, they get a extra good service, bless um

[Martin ccs]

heres what i do: when u pick up a new job - make sure u go through all of your 'rules'

price - for once a month and price for every other month - that way they know form the start the costs and then they wont say leave it this time and even when they do - they know the 2 monthly price.

how to pay - i normally ring before hand - that way gates open, dog poop is picked up!! and then agree a place where the payment can be left out in a sandwhich bag/envelope when u first pick up the job.

so if u manage to get the rules across from day one the customer gets in the habbit - u ring day before - they unlock gate - put money out - SORTED!

just make sure they get it from day one and after maybe a month or two they will def remeber to do the above.

also the ones that do forget or u couldnt get hold of them over the phone - on your collecting card put something like - please note: making several attempts to collect outstanding balances is very costly to us in time and fuel - please phone if the stated collection day/time is not suitable.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

im getting cheesed off with collecting when either nobody is home when i arrive OR  they cant rake up enough cash/cant find their chequebook.  i have been leaving a note to say "please leave money under doormat " but then if they forget to do it,i have wasted yet another journey .also quite a few have no doormat nor any plantpots or stones .  These are ordinary people,not " true waster" types, im just looking for ideas that might work

paying by invoice or online i dont think will work,im not keen on reminders

I don't go out collecting anymore, I leave them a stamped addressed envelope if I know they pay by cheque, all my customers have a windows cleaned slip after each clean, on this slip I have my bank details and they can pay by bank transfer/BACS or Standing Order.
I haven't been out collecting for 18 months, its great, I can spend more time at home chilling out or down the pub lol



Matt

[tony talbot]

Leave an envelope with your address and a 2nd class stamp on it!! You will speed up your cash flow no end, it works for me and my customers

i do the same, if a custy is always late in paying replace them with one thats reliable. its your buisness, fine tune it and get rid of the dross till you have a nice shinney round that you enjoy doing

[Simon Brannon]

I do the same as BFG - text or speaking to customers builds their confidence in you that you are reliable and professional - once that trusts established theres no more collecting, they just leave it out for me.

( Its also much more difficult for people to cancel you when you have the banter with them every month )

Simon

[Dave Anderson]

Started in Aug 06 and started with the intention of NEVER leaving the house to collect and to date never have.

After each clean the customer gets a card and on that card amongst other information is my bank account information/numbers and when to pay by.

Have around 6 oldy types that like to pay cash but once a week I check into my internet, check off those who have paid and chase those who have not....along with this making a real effort to get their email address's is a must. Of course there are those who will not have an email or want to pay by internet banking...

Of course those who pay late...pay late....you'll get to know who they are very quickly.

Some love the face to face of collecting...personally if I never saw a customer again....no great loss.

Dave.

[Ian101]

How do you set up online payment for customers ?

[bobby p]

cheers for all your tips 

 its only a handful,probably no more than 10 or 12 who are driving me nuts with this collecting lark. one customer yesterday gave me food for thought when i finally caught up with her-said to me "oh youve put your prices up have you? , you used to be £6.50 ".

"ive never been 6.50, always 8,in fact i havent a 50p ,on my round"

"are you sure??"

"yes,yes i am sure" (said through gritted teeth,after fick knows how much time/fuel wasted on a pittance collected)

"mmmm,okay ,maybe its the hangover iv got" as she eyed me suspiciously

 this conver was the icing on the cake for me, will change my way of collecting sharpish !

[dazmond]

bobby most of us have a few late payers !i have a full round and as i take on more better paying work i drop these as i lose interest in them unless its a good paying account.

i clean twice then no more until payment.if they constantly have no money even when their in when i clean and wont send a cheque get dropped!!

try getting the late payers to pay by cheque in advance.thats what i do with a few.they pay 2 or 3 cleans in advance then no bother with collecting for a few months.

i collect usually once a week for an hour or so.a lot pay me when i clean.knock straight after clean/after that days work should improve cashflow.

my own cashflow dries up a little at this time of year though due to the summer holidays!same in january after the xmas!

[gary999]

leaving envelopes never really worked for me,i found people
took even longer to pay.

i find collecting far easier all my work is within a 2 mile radius
so not really much skin off my nose to go collecting ive had
a few bad payers but as my round has grown i have slowly
weeded them out over time and got rid

[Tom White]

I collect from two estates where I've got compact work and I can just park up and walk around.  I collect once; and if they're not in I leave envelopes with payment instructions.

Everything else is envelope or standing order only.

I find the above keeps my cash flow fairly decent.

[mci services]

what I have found with cheques and online payments is that all the nice customers who had the money set aside for when I collected and never gave any problems immediately paid by either cheque or internet banking. The ones that were a nightmare are still a nightmare and I have reverted to collecting from them again but they will slowly but surely over time get replaced with better customers