Client not paying. System suggestions needed.

Geth_Prime

Geth_Prime

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I've been bitching about my clients not paying me before. I'm sick and tired of not getting paid and not making my rent due.

I'm doing freelancing to support myself and fund my next venture. If this doesn't work I don't know what else to do. My clients are treating me like their employees and I'm trying to avoid that impression of me to them.

I have tried deposit, but clients tend to run away when they have to make deposits, funny thing is some of them willing to pay me after the project is done.

Does anyone have some suggestions to get more quality clients (detect them) and a good payment system for them to pay me on time?

I have scraped tons of emails of potential clients and planning to bulk email them. Is this a good way to get good paying clients?
 
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What is it you do as a freelancer? What are the services you are having difficulty being paid for?
 
Its usually a good idea to avoid prospects that aren't willing to pay deposit. It is a good indicator they don't value the work you will be doing.

There isn't an absolute method to get good clients but you should have a list of questions to ask all prospects. I almost always ask what the clients' budget is. Most of the time they feel uncomfortable saying their budget. If they push for a proposal I'll give a proposal and then ask for a budget to see If I can work around it.

I recently lost a big client after a year or so of work for them. I had designed and developed an ecom website for them. We are talking 6 figure in take monthly. We had developed a very casual relationship over time, and I consulted them on a whole bunch of unrelated stuff. Recently their website started having downtime. This was after I had been asking them to change their hosts as they were on GD *fucking hate that shit*. Every time they would have some issue I would be there to fix or get it fixed. But their tone started becoming condescending and it came to a point where I had to say 'I am not one of your employees I would appreciate you don't speak to me like that'. That was it. They slowly replaced me with another person they know locally, who had been involved from the start. Maybe I should have kept my calm, but I can live with it.

I chose this way of earning to not be someones employee. If you are the same as me and end up being someones employee, you should reevaluate why you do what you do.

*edit
I use Perfex CRM

The best clients almost always come through word of mouth. You do good work for someone and they refer other people to you. I get most of my work this way.
 
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I work occasionally as a consultant, I require a 25% non-refundable booking fee, and a 25% deposit BEFORE I'll schedule a job. I require 25% before work starts and final 25% within 90 days of completion.

Sure, I've had clients refuse to pay 75% before work starts, at which point I thank them and wish them well.
I don't have time for clients that don't value me.
 
What we do is always ask for 50 percent upfront. So in case of website development, if the client refuses to pay, suspend the hosting where the website is hosted. Most clients dont want to lose their money and hence will be prompt to get things done and pay.
 
patriotnews said:
I work occasionally as a consultant, I require a 25% non-refundable booking fee, and a 25% deposit BEFORE I'll schedule a job. I require 25% before work starts and final 25% within 90 days of completion.

Sure, I've had clients refuse to pay 75% before work starts, at which point I thank them and wish them well.
I don't have time for clients that don't value me.
Click to expand...
Holy shit, i would shit myself if I was a client of yours, I would be like 'here's 125% just please, stop it with the numbers!'

Hey @Geth_Prime you know why they be doing this? Not so much out of disrespect but because they are vile and braindamaged human beings .
Their thinking goes like this: I have a 100 dollars. 1 dollar is a lot of money.
Upon this jobs completetion, I'll earn 10 dollars, my worker will earn 1 dollar.
IF THEY DON'T GET PAID or if payment is late, ITS NOT THEIR FAULT because their client fucked them over, they can't pay you 1 dollar out of their pockets, THAT'S THEIR MONEY.

Get what I mean? Just stingy, braindamaged, disgusting pieces of shit, avoid at all costs
 
Take payment upfront. It's as simple as that. Anyone who does work takes payment upfront, if not then part payment.

There is fuck all chance I'd work online without a payment upfront.
 
What kind of work do you offer? Knowing that, we might be able to give you a better idea of how to give them an ultimatum to pay.
 
ScribScribScrib said:
Holy shit, i would shit myself if I was a client of yours, I would be like 'here's 125% just please, stop it with the numbers!'
Click to expand...
Well, I don't list it as %s, but $. And list due dates for each. Works well when booking clients for $10k+ jobs.

And 90% of my consulting gigs are "holy shit" situations where I am getting them out of potential million+ dollar fines.
 
If you find prospects offline/ locally => ask for 50% advance payment and 50% after completion of the work.
If you work with clients from online source => unless you have a proven reputation - not all clients will be ready to pay upfront payment or advance payment.
In such cases try to do work for a small order and once you build a rapport you can work on upfront payment/part payments.

For clients who say they will pay only after work completion => dont ever deal with them. You would only waste your time and efforts.

I have been freelancing since 2008 - to be honest with you I have had customers who started with low amount and over the years I have earned thousands of dollars through them. Having said that risk always exists I too have had customers who failed to pay. The key is to keep your risks minimized. Dont take big orders from new clients.

Finally this may differ depending on the services/products you offer and the payment method you use.
 
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GringoMonkey said:
What is it you do as a freelancer? What are the services you are having difficulty being paid for?
Click to expand...

I'm doing 3D Modeling for Architectural Service.

cheva said:
Its usually a good idea to avoid prospects that aren't willing to pay deposit. It is a good indicator they don't value the work you will be doing.

There isn't an absolute method to get good clients but you should have a list of questions to ask all prospects. I almost always ask what the clients' budget is. Most of the time they feel uncomfortable saying their budget. If they push for a proposal I'll give a proposal and then ask for a budget to see If I can work around it.

I recently lost a big client after a year or so of work for them. I had designed and developed an ecom website for them. We are talking 6 figure in take monthly. We had developed a very casual relationship over time, and I consulted them on a whole bunch of unrelated stuff. Recently their website started having downtime. This was after I had been asking them to change their hosts as they were on GD *fucking hate that shit*. Every time they would have some issue I would be there to fix or get it fixed. But their tone started becoming condescending and it came to a point where I had to say 'I am not one of your employees I would appreciate you don't speak to me like that'. That was it. They slowly replaced me with another person they know locally, who had been involved from the start. Maybe I should have kept my calm, but I can live with it.

I chose this way of earning to not be someones employee. If you are the same as me and end up being someones employee, you should reevaluate why you do what you do.

*edit
I use Perfex CRM

The best clients almost always come through word of mouth. You do good work for someone and they refer other people to you. I get most of my work this way.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insights and tips. I rarely get offline clients so word of mouth seems to be a little bit hard to me, though I sent my portfolio to every company ever via bulk emailing.

Dagreyon said:
What kind of work do you offer? Knowing that, we might be able to give you a better idea of how to give them an ultimatum to pay.
Click to expand...

Architectural 3D Visualisation service.
mickyfu said:
Take payment upfront. It's as simple as that. Anyone who does work takes payment upfront, if not then part payment.

There is fuck all chance I'd work online without a payment upfront.
Click to expand...

Good tip. I'll do that next time.
 
Geth_Prime said:
Thanks for the insights and tips. I rarely get offline clients so word of mouth seems to be a little bit hard to me, though I sent my portfolio to every company ever via bulk emailing.
Click to expand...
I'm speaking of online clients. Word of mouth meaning, your client tells other people about you. Good luck
 
I never start a project without 50% up front. Ever.
 
Ideally you should work with people in your own country, get a contact drawn up in advance regarding payment and any other important details. That way if they mess about paying, there's the legal avenue. One thing about the UK, is the law is good if you have a genuine case and not been paid. Interest due on monies owed, options are plenty there for legal actions too.

Another option is take a % up front and insist on the balance in escrow if that would work.
 
cheva said:
Its usually a good idea to avoid prospects that aren't willing to pay deposit. It is a good indicator they don't value the work you will be doing.

There isn't an absolute method to get good clients but you should have a list of questions to ask all prospects. I almost always ask what the clients' budget is. Most of the time they feel uncomfortable saying their budget. If they push for a proposal I'll give a proposal and then ask for a budget to see If I can work around it.

I recently lost a big client after a year or so of work for them. I had designed and developed an ecom website for them. We are talking 6 figure in take monthly. We had developed a very casual relationship over time, and I consulted them on a whole bunch of unrelated stuff. Recently their website started having downtime. This was after I had been asking them to change their hosts as they were on GD *fucking hate that shit*. Every time they would have some issue I would be there to fix or get it fixed. But their tone started becoming condescending and it came to a point where I had to say 'I am not one of your employees I would appreciate you don't speak to me like that'. That was it. They slowly replaced me with another person they know locally, who had been involved from the start. Maybe I should have kept my calm, but I can live with it.

I chose this way of earning to not be someones employee. If you are the same as me and end up being someones employee, you should reevaluate why you do what you do.

*edit
I use Perfex CRM

The best clients almost always come through word of mouth. You do good work for someone and they refer other people to you. I get most of my work this way.
Click to expand...



That’s a hard decision to make. I’ve had to ‘put clients in their place’ before at risk of losing them. So I know the feeling. And you’re right, it’s all about how you want to run your business. Personally I do not mind firing customers if they’re going to not be a good fit. Realizing that sooner rather than later is key.

Just curious, why didn’t you get them a nice dedicated server and host then yourself to remove the stress of GD out of the situation and get you some more income?
 
stressfreehost said:
That’s a hard decision to make. I’ve had to ‘put clients in their place’ before at risk of losing them. So I know the feeling. And you’re right, it’s all about how you want to run your business. Personally I do not mind firing customers if they’re going to not be a good fit. Realizing that sooner rather than later is key.

Just curious, why didn’t you get them a nice dedicated server and host then yourself to remove the stress of GD out of the situation and get you some more income?
Click to expand...

They had multiple projects they had approached me with. Prior to that 'that local person' was handling all of their digital marketing; websites, social media etc. Since all of their websites, including the ones I had nothing to do with, were set up on that account they were hesitant to set something new for one website or move everything. I make decent anyway so my intention wasn't necessarily to make a little extra with hosting it. I gave them honest advice and wanted their business to succeed. It sounds cliche, but if they made money I would be making more. I am sure that local person was a little resentful that I stole her clients so it was probably easy for her to convince them they did not need me anymore. For maintenance/updates I work on a month to month basis and if a client has been with me longer than 6 months they need to give me 2 months notice before cancelling. 3 months if they have been with me over a year. Usually by the time it comes to upkeep and updates I know enough about the client to know if I will have issues getting monthly payments. In 8 years of doing this only a few Iv had issues with for payments.
 
I used to do work as a designer. Initially i had similar issues and agree it is difficult to be as forceful with clients as some on here suggest.

But this is what i added to my invoice terms...

You just dont give them the source files or pass over copyright until you are paid in full.

In addition any work you show them is watermarked. Again you will remove the watermark when paid in full.

I found that did the trick. As nobody who is going to presentations and passing your work off as theirs wants a bloody great watermark in the middle saying something different.

Infact they used to pay me a lot quicker because typically they had ordered something at the last minute and they needed it for a presentation that was imminent and you just stand firm on your terms, which are not unreasonable.
 
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Yes, watermark is the solution. Drawing up a contract is another solution. Stick to your RULES is another solution. Read your online client through chats before you supply him your artwork is another solution. Your instincts usually give you the right signals well in advance. Develop your instincts -- rather develop your reading the instincts capabilities. It is your best pal in need, and rather, even before your need goes out of control and makes you helpless.

Others have given you the right advises. I'm telling you to develop a mind over matter capability if you wish to succeed not just in your business, but in your life as well. It's quite easy, btw if you put your mind to it! :)

These failures are pointing you to your negative abilities. They show you what you're doing wrong. Use these experiences to change for the better. I've learnt over the years that every drawback is good if you know how to study it and make it push you in its opposite direction. They actually are there to make you grow all around...if you make money your boss, then the money will in fact become your boss and will make you toil harder to gain its sympathy/satisfaction..make money your friend, not The Friend, but a friend among other such friends. They together will make your life easier and probably very successful...

Whatever you're afraid of, it becomes a monster....earning money, satisfying a client AND make him pay -- if this is a hard thing in your mind, then you've already lost both -- the client, and his fees.
 
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