People come up with all kinds of excuses for non-payment when confronted on the phone. But quick: What’s the first excuse that comes to mind when you think about a delinquent customer?

No, it’s not “my dog ate my invoice.”

If you guessed The Check Is In The Mail, you nailed it. That excuse is used so often, it’s become a cliché!

Most of the time, it’s just not true. Sure, they may hang up the phone and immediately drop the check in the mail right then. And if they do, good! You’re getting paid. It’s not nice to be lied to, but in the end you have a check.

When you hear that excuse, there’s not much point if trying to figure out if it’s true or not. What’s more important is that they send a check immediately. To expedite that, request the check #, the amount on the check, the date written on the check and a copy of it sent by fax or scanned and emailed.

In many cases, the customer faced with the request for information from the check will simply write it and send it once they hang up the phone. Case solved.

What’s good about this strategy is that your customer quickly learns that saying the magic phrase, the check is in the mail, isn’t effective with you. You squeeze a little when that excuse is used, therefore, they’re not as likely to use it again.