The season of red and white, snow and snowflakes is back! Yes, Christmas is knocking at the door and I don’t want to dance on ‘We wish you a merry Christmas..!’ However, for businesses, it’s quite the contrary – It is a period where productivity goes down, overheads go up and available cash flow goes for a toss. This can lead to considerable hardships for your business in the lead up to Christmas and the new year if not tackled appropriately. Instead of sitting there asking yourself about how to get clients to pay during the Christmas period, read on to see the best ways to go about collecting international debt during the merry season.
Know What to Expect in Terms of Costs
Talking about finance, there is not a single doubt that Christmas is an extremely expensive time of the year. As a business leader, you have to arrange for special holiday food, gifts, and all the travel expenses. Additionally, for your staff, there is a holiday bonus to look into, maybe a grand Christmas party and then for your clients, special Christmas gift cards. It is all about the extra money spent to build relations and keep the energy positive.
Now, since each business leader has these expenses, they will definitely tend to look over the creditors and the respective dues they owe to you, in order to reduce cash outflows during the end of the year. Hence, try to be as understanding as possible towards your debtors, work to get your overdue invoices paid as soon as possible and keep an eye on each debtor.
Work in Advance, Round The Clock
To collect the debt, you have to work your own way through the outstanding invoices and bills you have. In fact, be ready to do this quickly and efficiently. Start emailing any dues you have in a timely manner before Christmas even arrives.
In fact, to avoid any delays during the festive season, start asking for debts and sending out the memos by the beginning of November itself. Moreover, as soon as December hits, the client might start dodging or delaying payments. It’s also vital that you remember that not only are most businesses running on less staff during this period, but they are also most likely to remain extremely busy with other holiday activities. Hence, with December on the door, paying debts might not be a priority for your client but it will be yours.
If you think delayed payments won’t cast a lasting impact on your business: Check out this report by Xero (You will be changed a person by the end of the article!)
Look at The Other Side Too
Like mentioned, each business runs on the festive mood, the staff gets their time off and parties are all around. If you haven’t sent out your invoices early, you have to consider your client’s business environment during the festive time when knocking on their doors for bills.
A good way to request the payment of your dues from debtors during Christmas time is to probably be nice about the whole exchange and send out your Christmas cards a bit early. An even better option is to drop them off in person if possible. This way, with the Christmas card, you send out a positive reminder for the bill and if you are there in person, you could get the money paid on the spot. After all, it’s Christmas and everyone wishes you merry!
Whatever you do, remember to not send any invoices or demands for payments on public holidays or worse, on the day of Christmas itself. This will look incredibly insensitive and your client might take this as a sign of disrespect, thus your chance of future business may get hampered.
What if Things Still Didn’t Work Out?
Even after all of it, if things didn’t turn up well, there are still payments left and you are struggling with the finances, you have to pull it together. The payment will come, yet the time will be ticking. Many businesses may still be feeling the Christmas pinch, but the holiday dust will soon start to fade off.
So don’t wait anymore! Start following up on unpaid invoices and start prepping your Christmas business cards early. Plan a little in advance and you’ll see your dues coming in.
