Are you surprised when your customer tells you they will pay late or, even worse, won’t pay at all? You shouldn’t be. After all, there is often at least one warning sign—a red flag the customer raises to let you know there is a problem. Be alert to the following signs of trouble:
- Threat of a dispute.
- Excuses about cash flow problems.
- Frequent changing of addresses.
- Emotional hostility or indifference.
- Unusually large product purchases.
- Payment with post-dated checks.
- Responsible party is unavailable.
- Will not share financial information.
- Unauthorized returns of product.
- Does not answer collection calls.
- Slow or new pattern of selective payments.
- Erratic pattern of payment.
- Does not honor, or complains about, agreed-upon payment terms.