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Many entrepreneurs find themselves in need of making collection calls and emails for past due invoices. It is a time-consuming process they often do not have the energy to complete. The issue is that collecting money owed to them is very important. The survival of their business depends upon collecting on past due invoices. This is where you can collect money faster by using a virtual assistant.
Let’s consider the scenario that involves our very busy entrepreneur, Mr. Busypants. Mr. Busypants is always working hard on his business. When he is done with a project he invoices his client. Mr. Busypants then moves on to other projects while waiting for his client to pay their invoice. As time goes on, Mr. Busypants suddenly realizes that it has been months and his invoices are sitting unpaid. He now has a decision to make. He either needs to stop his work and begin chasing the money he is owed or he can continue working on projects, hoping his invoices will eventually get paid. Neither is a great proposition for Mr. Busypants because, well, he is very busy.
Mr. Busypants tells his wife, a virtual assistant herself, what is going on. She immediately lights up hearing this.
“You should hire a virtual assistant to collect the money!” she responds.
Mr. Busypants looks perplexed because he doesn’t know how a virtual assistant could possibly be the answer to his problems. His wife breaks it down for him into 4 easy ways a virtual assistant can collect money faster.
CONSISTENCY
Mr. Busypants will definitely have to allocate time to both collections and business growth. This means he can’t be as consistent with his collection calls. A virtual assistant will definitely help with this issue. A virtual assistant can make calls daily. They can take notes and follow up as needed. This is going to increase the probability that the money will be collected. By being consistent with collection efforts, the clients understand how serious this issue is and they will be more apt to pay up.
FOLLOW THROUGH
A virtual assistant can focus on exactly who owes money, how much they owe and then contact them on a regular basis. They can also set up and follow through with payment plans to get the invoices paid down. This follow through will be invaluable to the collection efforts.
FREED UP TO DO OTHER WORK
By using a virtual assistant to do his collection work, Mr. Busypants is freed up to continue business building tasks. He can continue to work on marketing. He can continue to make contact with new and existing customers. His focus continues to be on what he does best–building business.
COLLECTING SOONER
Because Mr. Busypants is so busy that he misses the fact that an invoice is overdue. A virtual assistant can ensure that money is collected sooner. The virtual assistant can review invoices as soon as they become past due and follow up with the customer. This avoids the potential problems that arise when you allow the invoices to go past due for a long time. We tend to teach people how to treat us. Having a virtual assistant work on collecting money is a way of setting a boundary with your clients. Mr. Busypants needs this boundary setup.
In the end, everyone is happier. Mr. Busypants gets to do what he loves, the virtual assistant gets to make money and feel satisfied when they collect past due money, and clients will be happier because they don’t get harrassed.
