Virtual New Jersey

And yes, systems would have helped the situation – especially if there’s one point in the process where it’s “If your bill is not paid within x days your VA support will cease from that date”

No, I don’t have a system set up for my team members because all are individual business owner/operators in their own right. I’m not their employer and as such each is responsible for what they set up to operate their businesses.

There is more to the story, which I won’t share here, but there does appear to be a history with the client which I only learnt after the fact, however having systems in place may well have helped this situation.

There should be a system in place for all small businesses for dealing with delinquent accounts, generally something along the lines of:
- invoice sent with x number of days to pay
- reminder email with copy of invoice sent one day after due dated
- follow up phone call after 7 days
- if still not paid another phone call at 14 days
- if it remains unpaid (without a good reason) then small claims tribunal or debt collection agency after x weeks.

A system would have prevented the stress for both the client and the VA, plus I’m sure the client now has concerns about continuing to work with her. And he’ll probably tell his friends and other business owners of his bad experience.

That’s really unprofessional on the part of the VA, to not follow up nor return his calls. Late payments are a part of doing business unfortunately, for whatever reason, and you need to deal with them.

The example also goes to show why it’s important we gather as many contact details for our customers as we can – you just never know when and how you’ll need to follow up.