From now on, This is how I will get paid...

I have had 0 issues having a customer pay me on completion. I do net 10 with one customer only because of rapport. Many customers I never meet, I leave a bid while they work, and do the work order, while they work...They call and ask how I want payment after they check out the work and mail it, no problems EVER. So I would some of this has to do with how you are censoring your clientele.
 
NickGann said:
I have had 0 issues having a customer pay me on completion. I do net 10 with one customer only because of rapport. Many customers I never meet, I leave a bid while they work, and do the work order, while they work...They call and ask how I want payment after they check out the work and mail it, no problems EVER. So I would some of this has to do with how you are censoring your clientele.
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Well said
 
NickGann said:
I have had 0 issues having a customer pay me on completion. I do net 10 with one customer only because of rapport. Many customers I never meet, I leave a bid while they work, and do the work order, while they work...They call and ask how I want payment after they check out the work and mail it, no problems EVER. So I would some of this has to do with how you are censoring your clientele.
Click to expand...

You mean Qualifying????
 
Man, maybe... I feel like some of the residential clients (specifically when they're not home) have given me problems.

Commercial is never an issue.

I will start asking them where the heck they'll be lol
 
I never clean residential when they aren't home. I had one person call me and said they were going to run an errand. I told them I could wait.
 
^What? Seriously? I hate doing any work at all while a customer is home. Especially spraying bleach.

Anyways, the biggest problem I see with this idea is that not only will you scare away the deadbeats, but also a portion of your potentially good clients. There's 0.000% chance I'd ever pay a contractor up front for any services, ever. Or give my CC info before hand. Especially not to a contractor in a field like pressure washing where there's so many deadbeat fly by night convicts.

The only issues I've ever had with getting paid were when the SOW wasn't explained thoroughly and the customer was less than pleased with the work performed. Once I made them happy, always got paid. I can think of 1 time I got stiffed and it was for like $600. The person purposefully screwed me because they lost their job and had to put their house up for sale and couldn't afford to pay someone or the equipment to do it themselves. It was a shitty thing to do, but I put myself In their shoes and realized the desperation.

Managing expectations properly will typically weed out the deadbeats anyways.
 
You guys must live in areas full of dead beats who don't pay their bills or you do sub par work. Not getting paid never even crosses my mind.
 
Scott D. said:
You guys must live in areas full of dead beats who don't pay their bills or you do sub par work. Not getting paid never even crosses my mind.
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Agree 100%. Never been stiffed.


Doug Rucker
Clean and Green Solutions
Pressure Washing Roof Cleaning School
Call or Text 281.883.8470
 
Sounds like a communication problem Luis- or lack of with your residential clients

When you book the job- Tell them the payment expectation

When you confirm the job before going (which i do on EVERY JOB, either call/Text)- Tell them the payment expectation

It has to be clear and concise what is required- this should eliminate any issue
 
Well it's 3 residential accts at 2.8k

Still...

It's not that I'm not communicating, it's just that I need to start implementing standards in how we get paid.

I mean... not starting without a check present is genius. I can't believe how people will take advantage of other people like that... but maybe I'm just naive and always hopeful that people will do the right thing.
 
Matter of fact, I had a customer call today to say she wasn't going to have the full payment for work that was scheduled to start on wed. I told her very nicely, I understand, just give us a call when your ready to start. I even told her I wouldn't cash her deposit check until we have a firm start. She was happy, I'm happy, and will be paid.
Small fish you gotta fry hard and fast, cmon Luis...
 
I don't have any accounts that pay on completion. Most pay within 90 days though. We are at the lowest bad debt year in the history of our company. I'm sure part of that is because of a lack of growth over the past year. Most of our customers have been with us for at least 3 years.

There is nothing worse than expecting a check and getting a bankruptcy notice instead.

We went through a rash of that from 2009-2011.

It seems to have stabilized now though.

Commercial is an entirely different world from residential.
 
Due to all the scams by crappy contractors of all kinds here, there are always tv stations reporting on the situations showing the contractors, partial interviews and such, always reminding home owners to never pay anything up front as people are always ripped off.

I have never and will not ever pay up front for work to be done.

I got jerked around on one job many years ago and after "talking to him in a certain manner" and that I will be there in 20 minutes to collect I also let him know that I will be putting a lien on his wife's house if I am not paid, I will be collecting one way or another at this visit. His wife answered the door and I told here what is happening (she was a doctor, owner of the house and just had a baby) she did not know what was happening and understood the situation and wrote me a check right then and there.

As I left, I could hear her yelling at him calling him a deadbeat and jeopardizing here house due to his incompetence. It was funny to hear.

Sometimes the right tone, accent and right words can help in a lot of situations. I did not threaten him but I made promises that I would keep.
 
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