In this week’s episode we take a question from listener Andy Thompson, about how to get paid on time by your clients. There is literally nothing worse than a client holding out on you. At best it can be frustrating and at worst it can be financially devastating. We talk about how to take back some of the power and ensure you get paid in full and on time by your design clients in the future.

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Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] In this week’s episode we talk about dealing with late client payments
[1:45] At the very beginning Tom used to put up with a lot to please his clients
[2:15] It’s important to find the balance between making your clients happy and respecting yourself and making you happy
[2:50] You can now see the video recording of the podcast over at https://www.youtube.com/designcuts by searching for the Honest Designers Podcast Playlist
[3:30] The relationship you have with your clients can help a lot when it comes to getting paid
[4:00] The bigger the client and the company, the harder it is to get paid
[4:20] Both Lisa and Ian rejected offers to work for big companies due to this issue
[5:00] Ian added a note on his invoice that payments need to be done within 3 weeks
[5:20] Businesses will delay paying people to improve their cash flow
[5:45] Struggling to get paid will cast a shadow over the work you love
[6:00] Ian’s car park analogy: the worst parking spaces are always next to the most expensive cars
[6:45] You won’t know how bad a company is at paying you until you’ve worked for them
[7:15] Big companies have big legal teams and getting into a legal battle with them can be very expensive
[7:50] Tom thinks this is almost like being bullied by someone bigger than you
[8:30] The same things happen with big companies stealing or copying designer’s work
[9:15] The big companies Lisa worked with have informed her of their time frame on paying invoices
[9:45] Ian thinks he should have been more specific with the payment process
[10:15] It’s important to ask the company how they deal with invoice payments
[10:45] Designers need to consider the hierarchy in big companies and the number of people involved into signing an invoice
[11:15] Lisa didn’t get paid once and since then has been insisting on a 50% upfront payment
[11:45] This will at least cover the cost of your work
[12:20] Tom asks the hosts what they think about watermarking the designs
[13:00] Ian thinks that watermarking will show that you don’t trust the company and it could mean starting off on the wrong foot
[13:40] Lisa suggests getting them to sign a quote as this might hold them accountable
[14:30] The way you present yourself will impact your relationship with the company
[15:10] Implement a workflow for dealing with late payments
[16:00] Tom’s experience with not paying the taxes on time
[16:30] Tom felt uncomfortable chasing a big company to pay his invoice
[17:00] Use templates for late payments emails
[18:00] Ian’s invoices will automatically be added to his calendar and he will get notifications for when it’s time to pay them
[18:45] Dustin hasn’t experienced not being paid on time
[19:20] He has mostly worked with smaller companies which pay on time
[19:45] When a company wants you to do more work, but they haven’t paid the invoice for the previous work you’ve done for them
[20:40] There is a just small percentage of companies that will intentionally not pay in time
[21:15] Most late payments happen due to other factors: bad communication, invoice lost etc.
[22:00] Companies have set dates on which they pay invoices – missing the date means your invoice payment will be delayed
[23:00] The bigger the company is, the more complicated the payment process gets
[23:30] Try to build a relationship with the person who makes the payments
[24:20] By doing so you also alleviate the stress of your client having to chase accounts for payments
[25:00] Big branding projects with lots of people working on them are more difficult to manage in terms of payment
[25:40] This is something to expect when dealing with big companies, but the remuneration is also higher
[26:15] The person who gets frustrated and angry is the ultimate optimist
[26:50] Expecting payment delays from the beginning could alleviate some of the stress
[27:30] Mention that you’ve had problems getting paid on time before and ask the company about their payment process
[28:30] It’s your responsibility to make sure you get paid on time
[29:00] The same applies to getting a pay rise: you don’t ask, you don’t get
[29:50] Find out from the beginning the details of the person that will pay you
[30:30] The mindset of dealing with late payments
[31:00] The awkward moment when chasing friends for money
[31:30] Dustin talks about middle managers and their main purpose to fire people
[32:30] Making up a fake person to email clients and deal with late payments
[33:20] Lisa believes women are not good when dealing with money issues
[34:10] She hates thinking about money, savings, retirement etc.
[34:50] Analyse yourself and find out why you’re finding it difficult to ask for money
[35:20] When they’re in the wrong and you’re right, remember it’s okay to fight them
[36:00] Build a contingency plan and have a buffer
[37:00] Tom suggests doing another episode to cover the self-respect part when dealing with late payments
[37:50] Dustin asks where is the best place online to continue a conversation after listening to the episode
[38:10] Tom suggests on the episode page at honestdesigners.com
[39:30] Please let us know where you would like to continue these conversations
[40:00] Thank you Andy for the question
[40:30] Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode


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