RIABU - Tips and tools for getting paid on time by your customers

Why you should understand your customer’s payment processes

If you have run a business you'd be familiar with this feeling: it is time for the customer to pay but you haven’t received anything, and you realise you have no idea who to write to or call. Or that you know exactly nothing about your customer’s internal payment processes. 

At RIABU, we recommend doing your homework on when your customer pays its suppliers, how it does it, and other details.

Listen to RIABU’s Simon J. Littlewood tell Mark Laudi how much detail you should get into when finding out about your new customer’s processes.

Top-down ownership - why it’s important

Collecting receivables is often seen as something that is done only by the finance department. And if you’re a regular listener of the RIABU podcast, you’ll know that we have broadened the responsibility to include salespeople.

But is there anybody else in the organisation who has to keep up with the state of collections?

The title might give it away, but listen to us as RIABU’s Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi about the most important people to keep track of receivables, and how such a culture must be present in an organisation that wants to be paid on time.

You have to educate your sales team!

Your salespeople are not the ones who are writing the invoice and they do not worry about your profit and balance sheet at night.

In fact, if their commissions are not tied to the receivables, salespeople are human and finding out about the balance sheet of the company is probably low down their list of priorities.

After all, salespeople are good at what they do - selling - and why should you complicate things?

RIABU’s Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi why it is important to educate your salespeople on certain performance metrics of the company, and how it can be an...adventure.

How to anticipate trouble with customer payments

Suppliers are often the last to find out if a customer is having problems with paying them.

Foresight is better than hindsight. But most of the time suppliers find out too late. Some rely on third-party resources such as subscribing to business intelligence services. But we think we can find out just as much from our contact with our customers.

What are the signs that customers show before they even start having financial stress?

RIABU’s Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi the signs to look out for, such as a decrease in business activity, slowing down in payments, an increase in unavailability of the people you want to talk to...listen to find out more.

How do you really measure the success of the RIABU method?

Let’s say you have done all that we have asked you to do. And you think you have some good processes in place.

But how do you measure the success of the RIABU method?

RIABU’s Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi how assessing some measures are as easy as Yes/No, like: "have we gotten this process in place?" And "do we have a proper credit policy?"

Then there are other measurements that are more quantitative, and just as important. Listen to find out more.

Even we get pushback from our suppliers!

Surprisingly, we have received pushback from our own suppliers when we remind them in good faith about some of our RIABU good practices.

They will actually say they feel embarrassed about calling or emailing us after sending the invoice, and they think that we are sure to tell them if something is wrong with the invoice or product.

Do they know what they are doing opens the door for more opportunities for any customer to not pay them on time?

RIABU's Simon J Littlewood tells Mark Laudi about some measures you can put in place to help your supplier get paid on time.

If you want to get an idea of how we do things at RIABU, you can check out the book we have written, Let The Cash Flow. You can get it here:

https://www.amazon.sg/Let-Cash-Flow-practical-customers/dp/9814928291/
https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/bw/9789814928298
https://www.goguru.com.sg/let-the-cash-flow-simon-j-littlewood-mark-laudi

Setting the right trading terms: What to offer and when to offer it

Getting new business is a key goal for any company, but are business owners often too eager to attract customers at the expense of receiving prompt payment?

In this podcast, RIABU's Simon J. Littlewood and Mark Laudi elaborate on why companies often fall short when it comes to ensuring punctual payment and repeat business, as well as the importance of setting the right trading terms when taking on new customers.

If you are having issues with late payment from your customers, Let the Cash Flow is the book for you. Get it here:

https://www.goguru.com.sg/let-the-cash-flow-simon-j-littlewood-mark-laudi

https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/Let_The_Cash_Flow/bw/9789814928298

The return of inflation: How will this affect small businesses?

As COVID-19 gradually comes under control, inflation is expected to gather pace and interest rates are likely to increase. How will this affect SMEs in terms of borrowing and debt servicing?

In this podcast, RIABU's Simon J. Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss how this will affect the relationship between lenders and businesses, and what SMEs should look out for in light of increased inflation.

If you are having issues with late payment from your customers, Let the Cash Flow is the book for you. Get it here:

https://www.goguru.com.sg/let-the-cash-flow-simon-j-littlewood-mark-laudi

https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/Let_The_Cash_Flow/bw/9789814928298

What to do when membership fees fall through

Overdue membership fees have been a perennial problem for associations, who are all too familiar with a whole host of excuses from members who have not paid up.

In this RIABU podcast, founders Simon J. Littlewood and Mark Laudi elaborate on the steps associations can take to ensure not only consistent payment of membership fees, but registrations from new members who will enthusiastically and pro-actively maintain their memberships.

If you are having issues with late payment from your customers, Let the Cash Flow is the book for you. Get it here:

https://www.goguru.com.sg/let-the-cash-flow-simon-j-littlewood-mark-laudi

https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/Let_The_Cash_Flow/bw/9789814928298

Legal letter templates: How useful are they for your business?

Late payments are such a prevalent issue — especially for small businesses — that some companies now provide legal letter templates designed to chase customers for payment.

In this podcast, RIABU's Mark Laudi and Simon J. Littlewood review legal letter templates from Zegal, a company whose services include helping to "chase late payments in just a few simple clicks".

Can using such services really ease your cashflow issues in the long run, or are they merely a stopgap solution? Find out in this podcast.

If you are having issues with late payment from your customers, Let the Cash Flow is the book for you. Get it here:

https://www.goguru.com.sg/let-the-cash-flow-simon-j-littlewood-mark-laudi

https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/Let_The_Cash_Flow/bw/9789814928298