Your Friendliest Client

The client who is most likely to hurt you is probably not the difficult one.

It is the one you have known for five years. The one who knows your name. The one you would call a friend.

Here is how it usually goes. The phone rings. Friendly voice. “Hey, listen, tiny thing. Would you mind if I pushed your invoice to next month? No issue at all, everything’s fine.” And you say yes. Of course you do. Because it is him. Because you trust him. Because the relationship is good.

What you do not know is that he has already been to the bank. And they said no. He has been hit by a bad debt of his own, he is fighting to keep the doors open, and he is hoping something comes through. He is calling his friendliest suppliers first, because they are the easiest yes.

Next month becomes three months. He is doing the same with a dozen others. And then HMRC lose patience, and a winding up petition goes in.

You do not hear from your friend again. You get a letter in the post instead.

When you tell me the story afterwards, you will say one of two things. Either I never saw it coming, or we had such a good relationship. But if I am honest, there was probably a moment. A small alarm bell. The trouble is, without a system in place to catch these things, it is very easy to miss. And even easier to say yes to a friendly voice.

Here is the thing. It is rarely too late to act. But you cannot be the last one. The last creditor is not a client relationship anymore. It is a problem you are dragging home to your family. And it might not just be the holiday you cancel. If it pulls the business down, it is everything.

If you have a client you are not sure about right now, call me 07710466166. No charge. I will give you two or three simple things you can do. You do not have to lose the client. You just have to make sure you are not last in the queue.

I am Mark Smillie. See you tomorrow.