The intriguing thing these days is how many businesses find that when their customers don’t pay them, they complain “… it was not their own fault’, or … it is always somebody else’s fault”. For instance, you may hear them say:
“… it was the debt collector’s fault” they could not collect the debt, or
“… legal action is not worth it because you cannot force the customer to pay even if you win the case” etc.
The sad truth however, is that the same people never look inwards to their own businesses. If they did investigate with an open mind, they would usually find the fault(s) were a result of their action or in-actions.
It is always enlightening when you start interviewing the people who complain about their non-paying customers and hear their excuses on why it wasn’t their fault. It is not unusual for them to say for instance, we couldn’t afford:
- the cost of a proper trading agreement;
- to complete due diligence
- to employ qualified staff because they cost too much;
- to follow up on the unpaid invoices;
- to send the files in a timely manner to their debt with the documentation which was necessary to help collect the debt;
- legal action because they tried it once and it didn’t work so it was a waste of money; etc.
In these and almost every other reason which is supplied, we note it was the complainants’ own decisions which caused the problems. At the end of the day therefore, if you don’t seek to properly protect your business’s assets, you cannot really blame other people when they steal from them.
Ensure your policies and procedures are in place which will enhance any recovery action if required.