5 Ways To Get Invoices Paid Without Any Awkward Conversations

5 Ways To Get Invoices Paid Without Any Awkward Conversations

Article credit: Sage 

How long does it take for your customers to process your invoices and pay for your goods or services? And how many awkward conversations do you have to have along the way?

The average waiting time to be paid is 71 days. That’s substantially longer than the standard 30 or even 60-day terms most businesses rely upon to keep their cash flow healthy.

Sage’s own research reports that more than 1 in 10 are paid late. The research also found that across the world, the most common excuse given for late payments is… no reason at all.

That’s right. As incredible as it sounds, businesses simply have no excuse. They simply don’t bother paying on time.

As any business owner or finance professional knows, this can lead to tricky and often awkward phone calls or emails when a payment is overdue. According to the same Sage research, for most businesses, the biggest barrier to chasing payments is protecting the relationship with the customer or client.

Here are five ways to sail the choppy waters of invoice payments that should make those awkward conversations easier to navigate—or possibly remove the possibility of them ever arising in the first place.

1. Invoice immediately

If you take your time issuing an invoice then you send an implicit message to the customer or client that you don’t consider timely payment to be important either.

Sending a late invoice certainly won’t give you the strongest position should there be a requirement to contact the customer or client and chase the payment.

Issuing an invoice later rather than earlier can also create confusion for the customer or client, in that the time that’s elapsed might mean it’s not obvious what the invoice relates to. The person controlling the purse strings may have to investigate, which adds yet more potential for a delay until the payment is issued.

How soon should you send an invoice? Well, how about immediately?

If you use a modern accounting solution complete with a mobile app, you can even do this in front of the client.

Just completed a job or handed over some stock? Create and send the invoice there and then using a phone or tablet, and make sure the customer or client knows you’ve done so.

Following this, there can be no ambiguity about whether they received the invoice should you need to chase it up.

2. Offer many ways to pay

This point is a total no-brainer in the modern day and age. Any invoice your business issues must offer as many payment options as possible.

Credit card, debit card, bank transfer, PayPal, or even technologies such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. All should be offered in addition to the age-old methods of posting a cheque or arranging a bank transfer.

If you use modern accounting methods, your accounting software should let you include a “Pay Now” button in the email invoice that lets the recipient settle the invoice with just a few clicks.

This makes it as convenient as possible for your client or customer to settle the invoice, thereby eradicating the potential for procrastination.

Should you find yourself having to chase the payment, any awkward conversations are lessened if you can demonstrate how you’ve tried hard to make it as easy as possible for your client or customer to make their payment.

Even business-to-business (B2B) companies, some of which still rely largely on cheques or BACS, are coming around to the idea of paying electronically via more contemporary methods. Always ensuring your invoices offer this option is surely a step in the right direction.

Depending on the amount of the invoice, offering a variety of payment methods means it might even be possible for the person who authorised the purchase to pay it as an expenses claim.

This removes the need for the finance department to get immediately involved, which therefore removes further potential delays.

3. Know when invoices are read

A cutting-edge feature in accounting software shows a document timeline for invoices. As well as showing exactly when you sent the invoice, it lets you know when invoices have been viewed by the recipient.

This works in a similar fashion to the way some email applications let you know when an email has been opened by the recipient. You’re even informed of the time and date the invoice was viewed.

As such, you have some ammunition during the awkward conversation if the invoice requires chasing. If the client or customer says they didn’t receive it—perhaps the most common excuse—you can explain not only that they did indeed receive it, but even tell them exactly when they did.

That you can demonstrate the length of time since they became aware of the invoice means they are subsequently under pressure to settle it sooner rather than later because both you and they are aware the clock started ticking at that point, rather than at some nebulous point since then.

Additionally, now they know your invoices can be tracked in this way, they’re less likely to delay paying them in the future.

You can see when your invoices are being read

4. Make invoices clear, accurate and attractive

There’s a handful of details that must be included on an invoice but, beyond this, a clear and presentable invoice is something that demands action on behalf of the recipient.

The more professional the invoice looks, the more professional a response it’s likely to engender in the recipient—and this means the invoice is more likely to be paid on time.

All of us are unaware of subconscious cues that dictate our actions and in our professional lives, we tend to respond to professionalism with our own level of professionalism.

Ensure you provide the information you have to on the invoice, but also ensure any information the customer or client requires is also included, such as:

  • The purchase order number
  • The name of the individual or department that placed the order
  • A concise description of what’s being invoiced for.

This will help avoid delays when they’re processing it.

However, don’t include too much information because you want the key information to be visible immediately.

Many accounting packages include a variety of invoice template designs that you can choose from. You might even choose to experiment with using each temporarily, to see which of them gets the best responses from businesses in terms of timely payments.

5. Set up regular payments

If your business provides regular goods or services to a business on a repeatable basis, why not set up regular payments with the customer or client? Then you can be sure the money will be collected on the invoice due date.

It’s good for the customer or client, too, because they don’t have the administrative overhead each time of having to raise the payment.

Even the smallest businesses can create direct debits for their customers or clients using their accounting software and a provider such as GoCardless, Stripe or PayPal.

The charges are comparable with other forms of electronic payments but the benefits go way beyond just receiving regular payments without having to chase them. Payments are automatically reconciled when received into your accounting software, so the background processing work requirement is also reduced.

A direct debit set up for a client or customer doesn’t just need to be used for regular payments, of course. You can set one up and use it to claim payments as and when required on a semi-regular basis.

Again, the reduction of administrative overhead for both you and the client compared to traditional invoicing and payment collection can be very attractive.

Conclusion on getting invoices paid

Conversations with your customers or clients should be productive and proactive, rather than awkward and strained.

By using the techniques highlighted here, you should be able to turn around your invoice payments processes so awkward conversations to chase up money become a thing of the past, or at least less of a strain on your time and emotions.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Customer Success: The Formula For Exponential Growth

Customer Success: The Formula For Exponential Growth

Article credit: Sage 

The rapid shift towards cloud computing and software as-a-service purchasing models is freeing technology buyers from vendor lock-in, upfront payments, long implementation cycles and heavy software customisation. That means software vendors and their partners need to focus on continuous customer success if they are to grow and retain their customer base over the long run. This was my key message as a speaker during the Sage Enterprise Management Partner Summit held in Dubai last week.

In practical terms, this means we are seeing customers expect vendors and implementation partners to help them deliver against their business outcomes. Efficiency and scalability are no longer enough – as the recent IDC European Enterprise Services Survey shows, the number one priority for technology buyers is for their providers to deliver results against their desired business outcomes.

Customers want inspiration, innovation, guidance and solutions. If they don’t get if from one vendor or service provider, it is easy to move to another in the digital and subscription world. This means technology vendors and resellers that want to thrive in today’s market must pivot to a customer success-driven approach.

The emphasis moves away from features, functionality and cost towards ensuring the tech company delivers on the customer’s business outcomes. If the vendor does not get this right, the customer will not renew its subscriptions, let alone buy more solutions and products from the provider or become an advocate for its brand.

Here are three steps towards becoming a customer success-driven enterprise:

1.              Start with the end in mind

Large-scale enterprise software deployments don’t have the best track record. They often fail to deliver the expected benefits or run over time or budget. To improve success rates, vendor, implementation partner and client must begin each project by defining what success looks like in terms of the desired business outcome and how it will be achieved.

This begins with an honest assessment not only of the service provider’s ability to deliver on the brief, but also of its success potential. If there is a significant divide in the culture and expectations of vendor and client, the project is not likely to succeed. The effort is also likely to fail if the client doesn’t have the necessary skills, platform or change capabilities for the transformation.

When defining customer success, a generic benefit like saving time or becoming efficient is not enough. One should have a detailed, measurable definition of success, whether the goal is better budgeting, more accurate reporting, cost reduction or production increases. Knowing the desired outcome and regularly measuring against defined success milestones and metrics increases the likelihood of customer success.

2.              Remove silos and barriers between customers

Leave behind discussions about who owns the customer relationship within the enterprise or its wider partner network—vendor, implementation partner, third-party software provider. Customers want solutions to their business problems, which in today’s complex world requires the cooperation of cross-functional and cross-organisational teams.

It’s up to all parties, vendors and service providers to align themselves behind the customer’s goals and to make it easy for the customer to interact with their team. Breaking down silos means establishing shared strategic metrics to measure collective success. This requires a mindset change, from a transactional focus on project profitability towards focusing on retention, repeat business and references.

3.              Design services for the future

IDC predicts that, by 2021, 30% of the tech partner ecosystem will not exist in the form it does today. But it also forecasts that 70% of cloud service providers’ revenue will be mediated by partners in the same timeframe. However, the services that business partners provide may evolve along with the move to the cloud.

At Sage, we agree that our Sage Enterprise Management Partners will be a key part of our continued journey to the cloud, which is why we are continuously working to align with them to create customer value and success. We envisage there will be less customisation work to be done, but that data security, cloud integration, business strategy, change management and other services will only become more important.

Together with our partners, we are looking at tomorrow’s tech opportunities, from artificial intelligence (AI) to blockchain. We are also thinking about how the market and customer will change. Millennials are moving up the ranks and emerging as decision-makers. Are we ready for this confident, tech-savvy IT purchaser who demands instant gratification and collaboration?

Are we able to recruit the young talent we need to serve these customers and their needs? How can we capitalise on the explosive opportunity of new and emerging markets to further growth? Change is constant and brings enormous opportunity.

The future is about customer success

The successful IT services and software companies of the future will be totally client-aligned through sharing risks and rewards, joint ventures and other means. They will use external technology and ecosystems to their augmented capabilities, building better customer solutions and outcomes. They will do what it takes to make their clients succeed – because that’s their only path to exponential growth.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Under-Rated Skills Every Small Business Owner Should Have

Under-Rated Skills Every Small Business Owner Should Have

Article credit: Sage 

No one can confidently say that they have nothing to learn. Technology is advancing rapidly, and we don’t yet know what the future of work will look like or what skills we’ll need to stay competitive and relevant. Our best defence against uncertainty is to ensure that we’re always learning something new.

Learning can take one of two forms:

  • Learning for intellectual edification, where you go where your attention takes you, like reading books or listening to podcasts on topics that interest you; and
  • Learning to acquire practical competence in something new. This is deliberate skills development with the aim of gaining a functional understanding of practical actions that can enhance your life or take you on a different career path.

As a small business owner, you probably already know a bit about sales and marketing, financial management, customer service, and project management. While you can certainly tap into resources that will help you perform these functions better and faster, you should also make time to learn something you don’t know. Think of it as an investment in your future self and your future business.

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Get comfortable with data

Learn how to capture, process, and analyse your business’s data. It might sound daunting but data analytics is no longer just for data scientists. Modern analytic solutions have been designed with business users in mind, to make it easy for anyone to experiment with data and create useful, visual reports.

For example, knowing exactly when customers enter your sales funnel, from what sources, and when they drop off and no longer engage with you, is invaluable when planning your communication and engagement strategies.

skills-for-small-business

2.  Become a modern marketer

By capturing and analysing customer data, you can build a solid database that makes email and direct marketing a breeze. Knowing who your customers are and how they like to be contacted lets you plan everything from mailing lists and social media posts, to search engine optimisation and display advertising, for maximum impact.

3.  Think differently about business structure

A typical top-down hierarchy can stifle your business’s growth and hamper innovation. Aim to implement a business structure that allows for the free, frictionless flow of information across your organisation. Build a culture that rewards people for trying new things and makes employees feel like they’re vested in the future of the business.

4.  Look on the softer side

With many jobs being automated, our ability to relate to, engage with, and work well with others will be crucial to our success. These ‘soft skills’ create connections between people, helping us to build relationships based on trust and common ground. Here are some of the softer skills that I believe will become critical in future:

  • Negotiation: Poor negotiation skills could land you situations that cost unnecessary time and money. Get the upper hand by ensuring you have complete awareness of your own situation, while gathering as much information as possible about the person or entity you’re negotiating with. Know what you want from the negotiation but be willing to compromise if it benefits both parties.
  • Communication: Clearly communicating your intentions and extracting relevant information from others will boost team collaboration and productivity.
  • Teamwork: Organisations thrive when everyone works towards the same goals. If your team is not aligned and isn’t willing to put in extra effort, failure will be unavoidable.
  • Adaptability: Change happens quickly and often – especially in the digital age. If you’re not flexible when faced with change, you could get stuck in a rut. When things change, adapt quickly and early, learn from failures, and get ready for the next round of change because things will never be stagnant again.
  • Problemsolving. When faced with a challenge, you have two options: complain and do nothing, or accept it and take action to solve it.
  • Critical thinking: Don’t take everything you see at face value – dig deeper, ask more questions, and try to understand why things are the way they are. Seek out fresh perspectives and innovative thinkers, especially when faced with a problem.
  • Conflict resolution: Conflict is bound to arise in an organisation that embraces diversity. But not all disagreements are bad if they get people thinking differently and considering other perspectives. Know when to let conflict run its course and when to step in to douse the flames. Be sensitive when addressing issues and maintain open, non-judgemental channels of communication throughout your business.
  • Leadership: In times of uncertainty, people desperately need guidance and assurance from those in power. Confidently communicate your vision for the business, promote transparency and visibility, inspire and motivate others to achieve their potential, and always be on the lookout for leaders within your own team.

In the digital age, it’s no longer business as usual and soon it will be business as unusual. Start preparing for it now.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

10 Steps To Grow Your Customer Base

10 Steps To Grow Your Customer Base

Article credit: Sage 

Customers are the lifeblood of any business, so it’s vital you can keep generating leads and retaining your existing customers. But doing so is often a concern for businesses, with more than one in three companies saying that generating new business is their biggest worry.

We spoke to two small business owners and asked them to share their experiences of growing their customer base.

1. Get to know your prospects and customers

There’s a lot of talk about personalization and customer insight – that’s because it works.

Understanding your customers’ needs can lead to better insights into your audience and allows you to develop services that are matched to your clients’ needs.

It can also help you stand out from your competitors, something that Alice Boden understand. She’s managing director of Bodice of Holt, which offers a home delivery service for fruit and vegetables. “We know our customers really well and know their preferences so we can tell them when certain things are coming – when they’re in season and in stock. Our service is completely personalized to their needs.

“This is where we have an advantage over bigger suppliers. I have a good relationship with our customers and I know the business. Because I source the produce and pack the boxes, I know exactly what’s happening and can provide a fully personalized service.”

And it’s not just consumers who like this approach. It also works for business clients too.

Mike Cockburn, Director at Sogno, a positive psychology coaching company, says, “It’s important that we understand what our clients are trying to achieve: their mission, their goals. Then we look at how we can accelerate that and customize our services to meet their needs. It leads to a more balanced relationship.”

2. Divide your time: support existing clients and look for new work

In simple terms, there are two ways to get more business – win new business or get your existing customers to spend more. It’s important to ensure you don’t focus on one at the expense of the other, as both are important for growing your customer base.

Mike says, “We do have a lot of repeat business and feel we offer the most value to long-term clients. But you need to keep bringing in new business too. Old business can falter if budgets change or people move on, so it’s important to look for new opportunities. You need to start a relationship early so that it’s mature enough to deliver new business when your other work is completed.”

3. Offer great customer service

To keep your existing customers coming back, it’s important you offer great customer service. In fact, research shows that 78% of people have walked away from a sale as a result of poor customer service.

But if you get it right, it has a positive impact on your customer base and your bottom line. Loyal customers are worth up to ten times the amount they originally spent.

Take the time out to evaluate your customer service, make sure you respond to your customers quickly and keep an eye on social media so you can offer great service online too. Your customer numbers should grow as a result.

4. Make the most of your networks

Ask a business owner where their customers come from and most will tell you that word of mouth is their main source.

Recommendations from others are valuable: “It’s the idea of social capital – the value of relationships,” says Mike. “If I know people that they know, then there’s an implied trust.”

Most of his clients come from networking, something he’s passionate about.

“I think people sometimes equate networking with sales and prospects can be sensitive to a sales approach. But if you recognize that only so many contacts will go on to be clients, then it reduces the pressure. The work we do is based on trust and openness so the way we make contact is a good opportunity to demonstrate that. I meet up with loads of people and if I can help, they remember that. That can open new doors.”

Alice agrees. “Networking is really useful. It’s not just about selling, it’s about what you can do for people.”

5. Look for partnerships with other businesses

Your ideal customer will already have relationships with other businesses and this offers a great opportunity.

By partnering with other firms which offer complementary services, you can not only reach a new audience but also potentially offer more to your customers.

It’s something that Bodice of Holt are looking into at the moment: “There’s a body development firm in Bath, which offers personal training and nutrition advice. Part of their service is to help their customers to understand what they should be eating when they’re training, which includes fruit and vegetables. They are recommending us to their clients – and we’re looking at delivering directly to the gym once a week.

“It’s about looking around and keeping your eyes peeled for opportunities. Be open to new ideas and speak to people to see if they’re interested.”

6. Make use of social media

Social media has revolutionized the way customers and businesses can share information and have conversations.

From online customer service to using social media to get insights into your audience, there are now excellent opportunities for businesses to reach out via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other networks. Which ones work for you will depend on your business, your audience and the way you like to communicate.

7. Think big

If you’re a small business, can you work with a big company? The simple answer is yes.

But many small companies find it intimidating to make contact. Mike has a range of big clients, from Greggs to Kia, and says it’s worthwhile approaching large corporates.

“Our success with clients goes back to developing a network of long-term connections. But small businesses now have more opportunities to work with big clients. I think that’s changed since the credit crunch. Big corporates may have been suspicious of smaller businesses in the past but they now recognize that they offer value and have lower costs too. There is less prejudice now.”

8. Play to your strengths

It’s definitely worth testing a range of marketing approaches and seeing what works. But remember that every business is different, so you may find that some approaches don’t work. Don’t be afraid to drop these.

9. Adapt as your business grows

It’s important to keep trying new ways of reaching your audience and don’t automatically reject things that might not have worked in the past.

As your company becomes established, you may find your customers come from different sources. This is why it’s important to keep track of business analytics and your financials.

“We get new customers from a wider mixture of places as the business has grown,” says Alice. “We’ve been going for about two years and at the start, it was through friends and family. Now we get people through word of mouth, advertising and from attending markets. We also get people through Google and the website.”

10. Measure what works for you

As you try out new approaches, be sure to monitor where your customers come from and which sources offer the most value.

You can then keep refining your approach or scale up activities that work to grow your customer base further.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Ten Good Reasons To Choose Sage 200 Evolution

Ten Good Reasons To Choose Sage 200 Evolution

Article credit: Sage 

Are you looking for an integrated and holistic software solution for a dynamic business environment? These ten reasons below show why Sage 200 Evolution is exactly what is needed for you to optimise and streamline your business.

1 Accountants recommend Sage pastel accounting

 

2 Fully integrated business management application

 

3 The lowest total cost of ownership

 

4 Easy to use

 

5 Specialised modules for industry-specific requirements

 

6 Simplified reporting

 

7 Improve and enhance customer and supplier relations

 

8 Access to skills

 

9 Increased productivity

 

10 Backed by an extensive national service and support infrastructure

Sage 200 Evolution delivers an entire business management solution

Features

  • General Ledger
  • Unit of Measure
  • Dimension Items
  • Cash Book
  • Goods Received Voucher
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Alert Management
  • Accounts Payable
  • Advanced Security
  • Inventory Control
  • Microsoft® Office Integration
  • Import Cost Allocations
  • Graphs
  • Central Search and KPI Dashboards
  • Invoicing
  • System Audit Manager
  • Sales & Purchase Order Entry
  • Tax Module
  • Visual Reports
  • Project Tracking
  • Report Writer & Stationery
  • Customisation
  • SagePay (SA Users)

*The above features and modules are referred to as the core Sage Evolution system.

Add-on Modules

Annuity Billing
Lot Tracking
Bank Statement Manager
Manufacturing
Bill of Materials
Sage Evolution Mobile
Branch Accounting
Multi-Currency
Business Gateway
Multi-Warehousing
Sage Evolution Intelligence Reporting
Municipal Billing
Debtors Manager
Payroll*
Customer Account Consolidations
Point of Sale
Customer Credit Risk Management
Pricing Matrix
Delivery Management
Procurement **
E-Business & E-Billing
Advanced Procurement**
Fixed Assets*
Sage Evolution CRM Standard
Retail Point of Sale
Sage Evolution CRM Premium*
Job Costing
Serial Number Tracking
Voucher Management
Service Manager
Global Tax
Mobile Sales
mSCOA

* These modules can be purchased as stand-alone applications.
** Requires Sage Evolution CRM Premium module.

Isn’t it time you evolved to something sleeker and simpler to implement?

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!