How a Baseball Bat Can Help You Get Your Money from Delinquent Clients
By Jen A. Miller
Twice a month, I pull my softball bat from under my bed and put it in a corner of my office. I stare at it. Hard.
Then I go through my list of unpaid invoices, figure out which ones are late, and start swinging.
The bat becomes the “Where’s My Money?” bat. Sound aggressive? It is, but I need mental cue to remind myself that I have every right to ask clients about the status of my checks if they’re late.
Think about it this way: If I was 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days late paying my doctor do you think she’d just sit by and wait until I decided I wanted to write her a check? Absolutely not. They’d have sold my debt to a collection agency.
Just because we’re selling words and not medical care doesn’t mean we have to accept late payment because that’s “just the way it is.” Yes, things happen. Accounts payable people mess up. Checks really do get lost in the mail. But if you delivered the product on time, your client should pay you on time. And if there’s an error? They should correct it. Immediately.
When they don’t, it’s time to start swinging.
But you shouldn’t swing for the fences every time. Here’s how to hit just right.
Before you do, re-read your contract to make SURE that they’re late. They could be on time if they pay on publication or have a longer than traditional pay time.
1. Bunt.
This is the first go-round, a light tap to say “hello?” I start following up if payment is 15 days late with an email checking on the status of payment. If it’s a new client, this sets the precedent that I stay on top of your invoices and expect to be paid promptly. If a regular prompt payer, I ask why. Nine times out of 10, there was a breakdown somewhere along the invoice processing chain, and they appreciate me letting them know (and a check is sent out immediately).
2. Put the ball in play.
If, after bunting, the client either hasn’t responded or the check has not arrived at the promised date, dig deeper. Ask to speak to accounts payable directly, or the editor in chief. It could be that your editor isn’t at fault here, and that payment is out of his hands.
3. Swing for the fences.
Enough with the excuses – the “check is in the mail” for the third time, or “payment terms have changed” or my personal favorite “the woman who handles invoices is on maternity leave so you’ll have to wait until she gets back” – true story. Enough. Go to the publisher if you have to. He or she might not realize there’s a problem.
If the power of the Where’s My Money? bat has failed, you have a more options:
1. Threaten to report them to a writing organization.
I’m a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, which has a grievance committee that will handle such disputes and alert its membership of delinquent payers. Writersweekly.com is a free forum that also has a Whispers & Warnings section about late payers. Sometimes the threat of public shaming is enough to get a deadbeat client to pay up.
2. Have a lawyer send a strongly worded letter.
I bartered with an attorney friend: he wrote the letter, I wrote his bio for his website.
3. Take them to small claims court.
I have done the first two but not the last. It never got that far. In my 10-year freelance career, I’ve only been stiffed once, and I didn’t pursue it because the client was in Canada.
But I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had payment delayed, which is why I stare at my bat twice a month. The only person who is looking out for your money is you. So step up to the plate when necessary.
Jen A. Miller is author of Book a Week with Jen: 1 Year, 52 Books and a Year of Starting a New Chapter She writes about freelancing on her blog “Notes from a Hired Pen.”
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Sep 27, 2012 Writing
In my photography business, I maintain my copyright and only extend licensing upon full payment of the invoice. If a client were to stiff me, they would be clearly violating my copyright and I’d be able to come after them with the full protection of copyright law behind me – including statutory damages. Can writers do the same thing? This would be a hell of a lot better than going to small claims court.
From the wikipedia page on statutory damages “Plaintiffs who can show willful infringement may be entitled to damages up to $150,000 per work.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_damages_for_copyright_infringement
Well this is unbelievably timely. Thank you!
Thanks for the timeless advice. We have had to threaten legal action once, and with someone who was supposedly a “friend” of ours who wanted to stiff us for a very large consulting fee. We’ve also lost tons of money by not considering legal action many years ago with a different “friend” who was a client, and we still regret it.
It has take more hours than I care to admit, but I’ve been forced to act as our own Accounts Receivable department for many clients, who as you write, often do not pay their bills in a timely fashion. Those hours have been worth it, in that as a result we finally get paid. Nevertheless, it is a shame that many clients do not think of consultants and writers as professionals who need to be paid in the same way as physicians and plumbers.
Aneil
I’m at the the “threaten to report them to a writing organization” phase. How do you carefully word it so they get the message? I want to give them a warning but also sound professional. I also don’t want them to get so angry they say to heck with ever paying!
Really, really good advice here. I think the most important tip is to follow up IMMEDIATELY. Be on their cases as soon as an invoice is late.
Like you, I have only one client who hasn’t paid me. He, too, is in a different country. (Mine is in Australia.) My new strategy is to try to get people to pay upfront, before I do the work. This can be hard, but — especially if I don’t know the client — can save me untold misery later on.
Great article, Jen. I had to dump one client when he started getting slower and slower and I kept having to ding him for payments. “Oh, my AP person only comes in once a month,” was his eventual excuse.
Lesson learned though. Going forward, I request a deposit, deliver 2/3 of the project and then request final payment before the rest is delivered. Obviously, this doesn’t work with a blog post or freelance article and such but for these categories, I try to only stick with editors who pay promptly. If I wanted to be a collections agent, I would advertise myself as one.
Posting this comment for Jen Miller…she was having trouble posting:
Thanks everyone for commenting!!!
Colin, I’ve never seen that, but I think it’s possible that we could put that at the end of our invoices.
June, my advise is to stick to the facts: when you turned in the story/invoiced, terms of payment, how late payment is due. Leave out everything else (i.e. no “my mortgage is due soon” or “no one else is paying ontime.” Just stick to the facts.
Gwynneth, I set up my corporate contracts so that I get at least a third of the payment upfront. It seems to work pretty well!
In 35 yrs, I have run the gamut. Actually heard TWICE that the owner brought in his dog and the dog broke the checkwriter–variation on the homework eating deal, I guess. Or–my favorite–the owner is in Europe and forgot to do the checks. Europe, aw. I sometimes point out that until the rights have transferred in exchange for money–they cannot technically use the copy. This has worked. I also went to small claims twice in DC–and all day affair. I won, but then you have to collect, another phase. Only do it if your owed the small claims maximum.
You’re, your–pick one.
I just sent out three “where’s my money” emails today, so perfect timing. Whenever I feel shy about doing this, I always remember how it would never fly if the situation were reversed and I was weeks late delivering copy…thanks for the reminder!
The replies so far have been 1. snarky 2. short. Why is this?
I use a copyright website to register my work with.