I often get leads from different people inside companies or from suppliers and the first thing they tend to lead with is “They Pay Their Bills” which always struck me as odd. Maybe it’s because it would never dawn on me to do otherwise. You pay the bills for the good and services you receive. That’s the agreement. I have always been blessed with fantastic clients, but several months ago we took on a new client who had some definite issues.I will say the place was in DESPERATE need of our service. I sent a double sized team at no extra charge to make sure we had a good foundation to start from. This is a common practise of mine. I usually assume a loss in the first month of service to get things up to our standards. The contract had called for a weekly visit but when we showed up next week the doors were locked. I made contact the next day and they said they only wanted us every other week. I was sure this was just a small mistake. I paid my staff (assuming another loss) and said no more of it.
As time went on, I sent my team in on the days they requested, and they only allowed us in 50% of the time. Each time my team was turned away, I assumed losses that I did not pass on to the client as a sign of good faith. Finally, after leaving several invoices that went unpaid, we terminated services and sent a final invoice that has so far gone unpaid.
I have taken special care not to mention the client in question, because they are a fairly well known member of the Sarnia-Lambton community. Even after being so thoroughly wronged, I have continued to protect the name of the client, because it’s simply good business, but during the problem, I reached out to friends as to how to handle the issue. Unfortunately, they know exactly who I am talking about and that person is unlikely to receive any consideration from my associates, assuring that they will get a lower quality of service at a higher cost in the future.
On the other hand, the bulk of my clients pay their bills regularly and promptly. I can’t say enough nice things about them, and as such, each and every person I meet that enquires about them gets a glowing review about their services and their character. This “Word of Mouth” advertising is free and is invaluable.
The great thing about the Sarnia-Lambton business community is that the better one does, the better we all do. We really are all in this together. If you decide to not pay a bill to a local company, yes you may wiggle out of a small amount of money, but the cost to your reputation and future business dealings will far exceed the price tag of the invoice you are choosing to ignore.
Paying your bills is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
Squeak E Cleaners/ Sharp Cleaning Services
www.SqueakECleaners.com
(519) 402-3401
