What is the goal of your invoice?
To get paid?
If you think this is the answer… well, you’re only half-way there. Actually, the singular goal of your invoice is to get your payment sent to you as quickly as possible.
I’m sure you’ll agree to that.
And for this reason your invoice is much more than a bill. Or statement of work completed.
It’s a marketing document.
Why invoicing IS marketing?
The goal of marketing is to communicate the value of your goods and services to customers and/or clients.
And typically people think of marketing in terms of getting new customers. However, one overlooked aspect of marketing is the ongoing connection you have with your customers or clients. Ongoing marketing generally means communicating new goods or services to your existing customer base, such as specials, promotions, or new product releases. But one aspect of ongoing marketing is to cement or deepen the relationship you have with your customers or clients by reinforcing to them that they made a good decision when choosing you as their vendor or service provider.
With me so far?
Well, your monthly invoice is more than simply a bill.
A well designed invoice communicates value to them. And to do this well there are few things to keep in mind:
- send out your invoices on-time
- clearly list the goods and/or services delivered that month
- make it easy for your customer or client to pay
For example, my landscaper does a great job maintaining my property.
The problem is that he generally sends out his invoices 3 to 4 months late. So even though he starts up again every April I don’t see my first invoice until July or August. And the next invoice typically doesn’t arrive until late October or November.
Now, between you and me he does great work, and for a fair price. But I don’t mail his check out the door once his first invoice finally shows up at my door. Nor do I pay the entire invoice in full. I’ve asked for a monthly bill, and he mentions every year that he’s behind on billing and tells me not to worry about it.
But the fact of the matter is that if you want to get paid on time, mail your invoice on time.
As for listing your services, your invoice should communicate value.
This is key.
If you are a service provider or professional practice, you want your invoice to be as detailed as possible. You want to clearly list as much useful information as possible because this helps to communicate all the work you’ve completed for your client. So avoid abbreviations and brevity. If you did something for them, list it in as much detail as possible.
Does that make sense?
Even the best invoice goes unpaid from time to time. Should this happen to you more often than you’d like to admin maybe it’s time to get some professional help…
Find the right collection agency
To find a collections agency that specializes in helping businesses like yours, simply request a free services quote from qualified and reputable companies.
Click the link and compare free collection agency quotes today.
This way you can save time, money and aggravation by hiring a professional who can help you collect some (or all?) of your outstanding accounts receivable.
After all, when you get down to it you really have two choices:
- you can keep doing what you’re doing (and hope for a different result), or
- you can find a collection agency that can help you recover what’s rightfully yours.
Either way it’s your money… you decide.