Once I first began freelancing, I wasn’t very strategic with my shopper selections. I’d typically companion with red-flag purchasers (or scammers), which might both end in very late funds for my enterprise (suppose: longer 90 days overdue) or unpaid invoices.
Fortunately, that’s all modified now — I now have nice purchasers who’re a pleasure to work with (and likewise make well timed funds!).
Having mentioned that, I’m no stranger to the anxieties that include overdue funds. I’ve additionally bought to acknowledge that I’m not the anomaly right here. As freelancers, we’ve all had purchasers who pay later than we’d like or those that don’t pay in any respect.
As we speak, I’ll share a number of choices you possibly can contemplate for a number of choices you possibly can contemplate for fee reminder messages. I’ve both personally used these templates or have seen different freelancers leverage them. All in all, they’ve a wonderfully well mannered tone however will nonetheless enable you to receives a commission and preserve a constructive relationship.
A couple of templates to think about for reminder emails
With out additional ado, listed here are some tried-and-true fee reminder e-mail templates you possibly can steal.
1. A easy and candy reminder e-mail
This light reminder e-mail template is for while you’ve labored with a shopper for a substantial time frame and know they normally pay on time however have sadly forgotten to pay you by the mandatory timeframe. Consider a delay of possibly 2–3 days for this situation.
“Topic: Fast reminder about excellent fee
Hey [Client Name],
Hope issues are going nicely with you!
I needed to drop by and allow you to know that bill no. XYZ remains to be unpaid. I do know issues occur, which is why I’m rapidly sending a reminder message to ping you about the identical.
I’ve reattached the bill to this e-mail. Please let me know when you have any questions or issues about it.
I’d additionally admire it if you happen to may drop me a message as soon as the fee has been processed!
Finest,
[Your Name]”
SOURCE: TheFreelanceFiles.com
Alternatively, right here’s one other fee reminder template you possibly can contemplate sending:
Because you’d have already got some credible belief in your shopper (assuming you’ve beforehand labored with them), it pays to be well mannered and never assume the worst. Once you ship the primary reminder e-mail, all the time give your purchasers the good thing about the doubt.
2. Specifies dates in your reminder messages
One other solution to construction your reminder emails is so as to add due dates. In most cases, if you happen to ship your authentic bill to your individual of contact, they’re possible forwarding it to the accounting staff with out figuring out a lot about when your fee is due (or how late it’s been because you’ve been paid).
In the event you specify dates instantly in your message, it helps them see simply how behind they’re on fee, and so they can internally escalate the matter with the accounting staff that will help you receives a commission.
On that be aware, right here’s one fee reminder template from Kat Boogard that specifies due dates:
Hey [Name],
I hope you’re doing nicely!
I’m checking in to verify you acquired the bill. Pleasant reminder that fee for that is due on [Date].
Please let me know when you have any questions!
All the most effective,
[Your Name]”
SOURCE: TheFreelanceFiles.com
On this version of the e-newsletter, she additionally recommends making a logistical plan for funds with purchasers upfront (e.g., in some cases, purchasers might require you to fill out a direct deposit type or enroll on a fee portal).
3. Re-mention the phrases of your contract
Within the situation that you simply’re new to working with a shopper, and also you’ve already despatched them a number of fee reminders and have solely heard crickets in return, it is perhaps useful to re-mention the phrases of your contract.
This overdue fee reminder e-mail may look one thing like this:
Hey [Client],
I’m penning this e-mail to you to remind you in regards to the pending fee for bill no: [#] that’s due on [date].
Please be aware that, as per the phrases of our contract, if the fee isn’t made by this due date, a late price of [X]% shall be utilized.
If in case you have any questions, be happy to ship them over!
Finest,
[Your Name]”
SOURCE: TheFreelanceFiles.com
If the difficulty escalates, and also you’ve exhausted all choices to succeed in out to the shopper and get your cash from them, many freelancers have additionally thought-about the choice of enlisting the assistance of a lawyer and serving purchasers a discover.
I haven’t gone by means of this course of myself, however from many of the tales I’ve heard, most purchasers, even those who haven’t responded in eons and virtually ghosted you, nonetheless find yourself paying the cash at this stage.
Lest they don’t reply at this stage, my freelancing mates inform me the subsequent step of the method is to go to an precise small claims courtroom.
4. Attain out to completely different of us at completely different positions
It could additionally occur that your late fee is probably not the fault of your shopper or your individual of contact. It may very well be a simple mistake, like your level of contact leaving the group and your bill getting misplaced throughout the cracks.
For such conditions, you may remind the brand new level of contact in regards to the overdue bill. Or you possibly can shoot an e-mail to completely different of us from the identical group.
Often, this individual would both be the CEO, proprietor, or somebody from the accounting staff — no matter contact you will get. LinkedIn or a software like Hunter is an effective way to seek out the correct contact data.
On that be aware, right here’s how one can construction this e-mail:
Hello [Name],
My title is [Name], and I’m writing to you as a result of I’ve an impressive bill with [name of organization] and thought you’d be the best individual to contact.
As you would possibly know, my level of contact, [Name], has left the group, and I feel my bill has slipped by means of the cracks as a consequence of their departure.
As a result of similar, I’ve hooked up my bill to this e-mail. You may as well contact [name of point of contact] to reconfirm all particulars.
Please let me know when you have any questions!
Finest,
[Your Name]”
SOURCE: TheFreelanceFiles.com
You may as well copy and tweak this template even when your level of contact hasn’t left the corporate and as an alternative has simply ghosted you—-it’s a sadder actuality, nevertheless it occurs.
A couple of greatest practices from one freelancer to a different
Now that you’ve a number of templates you possibly can attempt, let’s cowl a number of greatest practices to remember when sending these emails to get you paid quicker.
- Contemplate automating the whole fee course of so that you don’t have to take a seat and observe every fee and ship reminders. You should use cash tracker apps for this use case, and lots of of them will ship reminder emails in your behalf. Your fee particulars are already locked and loaded.
- All the time create a contract — in the long term, that is one thing that’ll assist each events. As a freelancer, you possibly can point out fee phrases (like net-X days, late fee charges, scope of labor and fee for every deliverable, and so on.).
- In the event you can, attempt to ship your invoices on the final enterprise day versus the final day of the month (that is one thing I realized from Stefan Palios).
- All the time point out the fee due date in your invoices. Why? In the event you’re working with a big group that hires a number of freelancers, all of them would possible have completely different fee phrases. In the event you don’t specify your fee due date, the accounting staff would possibly pay you in response to their pay cycle.
- Make it tremendous straightforward on your purchasers to pay you. Many freelancing mates I do know join completely different fee portals (like Payoneer and Clever) that enable purchasers to course of funds by means of credit score/debit playing cards or different fee strategies.
[Side Note: As a freelancer who lives in a different country than most of my clients, I can personally vouch for this tip. This is mainly because direct bank transfers from one country to another can cost a pretty penny in transaction fees, but payment platforms have a considerably lower fee.]
- In the event you can, all the time get some upfront price in order that even if you happen to don’t make any cash on the challenge, you don’t lose out on a lot. For reference, many of the freelancers I’ve spoken to cost a 100% upfront price for smaller initiatives and a 20–50% upfront price for bigger initiatives.
It’s additionally worthwhile to say that upfront charges are primarily essential while you’ve solely simply began working with the shopper — most long-term retainer purchasers may not require an upfront price because the belief has already been established.
- Attempt to have a number of extra fee templates readily available (e.g., thanks notes for funds — on that be aware, you possibly can copy a number of templates from right here).
- When unsure, you possibly can all the time contemplate authorized motion for severely overdue funds (and lack of response). Ship one closing e-mail reminder with the bill fee particulars and any missed fee deadlines. Preserve an expert tone.
Develop your freelancing enterprise with Millo
As a result of freelancing is a career that requires most of us to work in our personal bubble from dwelling, it additionally creates some discrepancies about essential subjects like cash, shopper administration, work alternatives, creativity, and extra.
However one factor I’ve observed about freelancing is that it’s a genuinely useful neighborhood. You may:
- Develop what you are promoting by means of on-line assets which have expert-led recommendation.
- Discover solutions to your burning questions on platforms like X and LinkedIn.
- Share your tales on locations like Superpath.
- Attain out to a fellow freelancer for ideas.
One useful resource that I’ve personally loved up to now few months is the Millo e-newsletter, and right here’s why:
- It doesn’t take a lot time out of your day-to-day routine to learn (I’d virtually be doing a disservice to my enterprise if I didn’t want a free, 5-minute e-mail each week).
- It covers all the mandatory subjects (i.e., purchasers, cash, progress, productiveness, legality, creativity, and so on).
- It additionally sources its insights from precise freelancers, so you realize their cash is the place their mouth is.
On that be aware, if you happen to’d prefer to entry this useful resource, right here’s the place you possibly can enroll!
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