Tuesday 9 October 2012

Payment Terms and Why They're Wrong



And so for a brief interlude from the story of my life to share some thoughts with you. Have you noticed how a good number of blogs out there are nothing more than rants in written form? There’s nothing wrong with that – I mean you only have to look at some of my older posts to see that I use writing as a means to vent my frustrations without resorting to alcohol, violence or listening to anything by Morrissey. 

None the less, this week I feel like challenging the status quo, and I would love to get your thoughts on the subject. Why is it, in the corporate world, that the buyer gets to dictate the payment terms? 

Just so you understand what I mean, I have people who will ask me to do a job for them and then tell me that their terms are to pay in 60 days. Well how exactly is that fair? I’m the one who provided the service and my terms are substantially less than that!

It doesn’t work that way in other walks of life does it? I mean it’s not like you go into McDonalds and point out to the person behind the counter that you usually pay in restaurants after you’ve eaten the meal! They have a system in place and we – the customer  - need to work within that system.

So how have we let this happen? We’ve considered ourselves as smaller than the customer. If some mighty organization wants to pay us within 60 days then we should be grateful for their business and just accept it, right? WRONG! They have come to you because they want to use the service that you provide. They could probably find someone cheaper, faster, more local or with better terms but no, they’ve come to YOU – you and you alone have exactly what they are looking for. 

Now don’t get me wrong, as a small business I am genuinely thrilled at every enquiry I receive, so please keep them coming, and I am sure that we can agree on some payment terms that work for both of us.

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