[Templar]

I'm fairly new and biulding a domestic round from a small base. One thing I have noticed is that profitability is dented by having to go back round and collect monies on a Friday night from customers. One chap hadn't got any money (it was £6 required, and he had been in when I did his windows), I've been back on two subsequent Fridays and he hasn't been in. On one of the other threads someone seemed to be saying that they put an SAE through the letter box on completion of the job and the customer sends them a cheque. Does this work? Ideally customers should sign a direct debit form but I don't suppose this is realistic. Has anyone found a better way of obtaining payment?

[Neil Williams]

Internet banking is fast become a fav with ours.
We still use the send us a cheque please envelope system but without the stamp, a lot of these types use the franking machine at their work anyway

[Templar]

Internet banking sounds great. Just as an example, say I had one hundred customers how would I know who had paid money into my account and who hadn't?

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

sae works well for me

[pjulk]

I use SAE but have on the back of my bills other ways people can pay.

Internet payment does quite well but i also get people pay me directly by BACS.

I didn't think BACS would work for domestics but i have about  20 domestic customers paying this way now.

Paul

[supernova77]

When my customers are out I leave a slip with a SAE...

The slip says that they can send a cheque to me in the envelope provided, make a payment via BACS or pay by debit/credit card from my website at http://www.scs.uk.com/payments

Most people send a cheque within a few days, but more and more are now paying by BACS, and some pay by debit/credit card - but not many.

I have been window cleaning almost a year now and have never been out collecting at all.

Andy

[LSB]

i pay my dad 15% of what he collects for some of the round , and i leave sae ( without the s ) at the rest . i dont manage to get all moneis in before the next clean , but i do get most !

[dai]

Pardon my ignorance, how does this BACS thing work?
I just hate collecting, even more so this time of year Dai

[tatman]

SAE is a great idea works for me. Never had a problem if out pop a sae through letterbox wait for cheques to roll in Explain at the start. I do collect very local jobs cause cash always nice but anywhere over 2 miles never go back!!!

[matt]

i just leave a note saying

"your windows have been cleaned today

sorry we missed you for collection

you can either pay online, send a cheque or pay next time

please send cheque to : my house

thanks
matt"

works well, i have a steady flow of cheques and most pay

[macc]

Same here, SAE with no stamp on, i write 1st line of the address on the inside.

I get a very good % of cheques in & happy with it.

Bad payers get replaced but you get to know your customers & i have a few that never send a cheque, i know as soon as i see them i get weighed in. Its the ones that avoid paying get dumped.

Macc

[david68]

You may also try setting a PayPal account up

dave

[Templar]

Some brilliant answers chaps, thankyou. It would take me months to figure this out if I was left to my own devices. Right answers always seem so obvious after you find out what they are! It seems I do not have to spend my Friday nights collecting money!

While you have covered this pretty well there is one thing I am left to wonder about. For the customer to pay by internet banking I must give my account number, and my name and address is on the envelope I provide for them to send a cheque. So are there any security issues?

[Helen]

There are always security issues, but if you want to be perceived as a professional business and are so, the you should not have an issues with doing this. Remember when you pay this way to NTL or whoever they publish their details. This is one advantage of having a separate business account too! Once paid into that and cleared you can transfer your personal earnings out and leave the remainder in there for business expenditure. As this is a low cost industry should anyone hack into your account there won't be much for them to have

[shammy davis jnr]

just started this sae over a fortnight ago now and all ready the  cheques are flying in  the envelopes cost about a penny to produce compared to five guys and a transit to collect 
i dare say i will lose a few but thems the breaks  and thats after fifteen years out collecting i should have done it years ago dont hesitate  do it belive me
you will always  get a few bad payers but backed up with george systems take them of as they come in  and in a month our two the bad debt will show
then i will dump them
for  any biz change is scary but this i wort a punt id say

[mark dew]

Does any other service return to your house for payment?
Just going back to an area for 1 missed payment will almost double your petrol expenses.
And in my case would add an hour onto my workday.
Leaving a chit similar to matt's will free up no end of time and apart from a few maybe, most people seem happy
to pay this way.
If you add up what your time is worth per hour + fuel you will realise that almost no job is worth going twice for.

[S_RICHARDSON]

I'm contemplating using sae but i'm still collecting at the moment can be a bit annoying but i get there in the end!!

[rugby]

SAE works for me,i would rather the postman do the walking and bring my cheques to me,rather than trapes around houseing estates knocking doors for payment.2nd class stamps and cheap envolopes dont cost alot.

[craig jwc]

I don't collect anymore and just leave a "I have called and cleaned your windows" note.
I don't leave SAE and just ask the customer to post payment on.

I haven't lost anyone over this and most post payment quite quick. I only have a small few that need a couple of reminders.

Craig

[Templar]

I have gone over the suggestions several times and found all of them helpfull. Particularly Helen who suggested that I may have something to hide. As a result I have opened a business acount with Abbey that is free not just for a year but indefinitly and in that way people can write checks in my business name,( or pay direct into the account) I can have no concerns over giving out the account number along with my personal address (my name is no longer required), and with the added bonus of it all appearing more professional.

I do have a website, but am too tight for Andy's nocheques at present(but everything he says makes sence), and the paypal idea I haven't thought through properly yet.