october2021 - 4

EDITOR'S NOTE
Published by Endeavor Business Media, LLC
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Fort Atkinson, WI 53538
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Show me the money
Why is it so darn hard to get paid?
I
AMANDA SILLIKER
EDITOR
asilliker@
endeavorb2b.com
t completely baffles me that
some people just don't seem to
understand the concept of paying
for a product. If you took the
tool home and are using it in your
business, then it's yours and you
need to pay for it. It's not something
you borrowed from a buddy
to test out, it's not something you
can just pay 75 percent of and feel
like that's good enough, and it's
certainly not something you can
flat out skip on paying. Yet people
do this - all the time. According
to our Professional Distributor
reader survey, collections are
a critical issue for 61.6 percent
of readers.
So, how do you get paid? What
are your methods for collecting?
How long do you give your customer
to pay up? When do you repo?
Now, I understand that sometimes
extraneous circumstances
arise that make it suddenly very
challenging to your customers to
pay for the tools they purchased.
For example, one mobile tool
dealer told me that during the
height of COVID-19, he dropped
the required up-front cost of his
tools. While he normally requires
50 percent down, he decreased it
to 25 percent during the pandemic.
He was able to do this because he
trusted his customers and knew
they would pay him back - and
they did. But you need to really
know your customers and only
offer deals like this to the ones you
trust will make good on their word.
Unfortunately, life is always
throwing us curve balls and if your
customer is suddenly experiencing
financial hardships due to unexpected
life events, it doesn't mean
they can cause financial difficulties
for someone else - their tool
dealer, for instance - who is also
trying to put food on the table for
their family. In fact, that's the tactic
of one mobile tool dealer: When a
customer is having a hard time paying
up, he pulls them aside and has
an honest conversation with them
about how if they don't pay, it takes
away from him being able to provide
for his family.
Matt Sledge, a successful
independent mobile tool dealer,
says skips aren't a big problem for
him because he is always working
with the customer to help them
understand what they can and
cannot afford.
" I'm more of a regulator, " he
says. " 'I know you owe me $500.
If you buy this you'll be at $800
and now you'll need to pay $70 per
week. Do you want to make that
decision?' So I have to talk to them
and ask them what their financial
situation is. Ask if they can afford
it, and sometimes they put that
product back on the shelf. "
Read Alan Sipe's column
on page 44 for advice on dealing
with skips.
I have never ran my own
business and can't imagine how
stressful and difficult it must be
to be constantly chasing people
for money. I had a hard time just
getting a few friends to pay me for
a weekend away! I give you all a
ton of credit and encourage you
to keep in mind that you may be
buddy-buddy with your customers,
but when it's time for them
to pay up, don't be afraid to be
stern and tell them you expect to
be paid.
4 Professional Distributor I October 2021 I VehicleServicePros.com
Printed in the U.S. Volume 29, Number9; October 2021
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - TRANSPORTATION
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october2021

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