Finding, getting and keeping customers is the challenge every business faces. Very few are lucky enough to have new prospects queuing at the door!  But can you be sure that the customer, after all your hard work, will pay? Once the tender is in and the bid has been won, will all the payments be made on time and as invoiced? What can you do to get a client to pay an invoice? How can you get customers to pay on time, and if they do not, how should you dispute late payments?

After a few years of trading you may feel that the relationship is good and you will be able to trust your customer so these problems will not affect you. You may believe that because the organisation is very large it will surely pay your invoice in order to protect its reputation. Perhaps the buyer has assured you that a budget is in place and there is no danger of non-payment. Your sales team may have checked the track record of the customer elsewhere and be confident that the customer is robust financially.

These indicators are all important, of course, but don’t be surprised if payment delays do occur. A well-designed sales process should be tracking and monitoring customer performance and standing in the market, but that can be difficult when time is short and there is limited information available.