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When you make it easier for your clients to pay you, your photography business will benefit greatly.
For starters, when you aren’t chasing down business payments, you have a ton of time to do other, much more profitable things for your business, like marketing to bring in new clients or actually shooting (which is why you got into the business to start!).
But, if you make it easier for your clients to pay their invoices, those clients are actually more likely to use you again in the future.
Even if you aren’t really haggling over money with your clients, it can sometimes feel that way to them simply because of the outdated payment methods that your business is using. Since nobody wants to be harassed for an invoice, this could affect someone’s willingness to use your business again in the future.
But, the real question is not why you should make it easier for your clients to pay you, but how you can make it easier for your clients to pay you.
We’ve got the answer, along with some other photography business advice, here.
Be Clear Upfront
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The best way to make it easier for your clients to pay their invoices is to ensure that they understand the relationship between themselves and you.
You need to create a really solid contract that protects you and your business legally, but you also need to explain that contract in a really straightforward way to your clients.
You are likely the only one in your business who has read your contract front to back and tweaked it for hours. If other people working for you aren’t even willing to go through your contract, then the chances of your clients doing so are slim to none.
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Explain the terms of your contract to your clients in clear language. It is helpful for you to do so both in person and in writing, so that you can be assured that your clients understand your terms and that they have it in writing if they ever need to go back to it in the future.
A lot of business relationships are more informal than professional bookkeepers or human resource representatives like to think, so don’t assume that just because someone signed your contract, they read it.
You need to pay special attention to whether your clients understand the terms of payment. This is where it can be helpful to use a client engagement platform, like the one Podium offers.
Podium allows you to keep all of your correspondence with each of your clients on one platform so that you can be sure you’ve explained everything as clearly as possible before you ever begin a working relationship with someone.
Make Your Invoice Easy to Understand
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Another way to make it easier for your clients to pay their invoices is to make your invoices easier to understand.
A young business executive may not understand what “net 60” means, for instance. Likewise, they may have never even gotten to the part of your contract which explained payment. That’s why your invoice should be written in plain English.
While I understand that it’s frustrating to feel like you need to create a simplified version of your invoices, with simple language and colorful text, it really does make it easier for your clients to pay your business.
Plus, if you don’t feel like taking the time to make your invoices prettier or more simple, Podium already did it for you. All you need to do is sign up for their free trial to figure out whether their invoicing system works for your business.
Learn More:
Use Easy Payment Methods
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It’s pretty obvious that I think one of the best ways for you to make it easier for your clients to pay you quickly is by using an easy payment method. It’s the main reason why I’ve been hyping Podium up so much in this article… they offer a simple invoicing process that includes text to pay.
The text to pay system means that your clients are receiving invoices to their emails, but they’re also receiving them right in their text messages. Podium allows you to send multiple reminders on the platform as well, but to be honest I haven’t needed to do so quite as often since I started implementing a text to pay program.
My clients are thrilled with the ease of a text to pay invoice and my accountant is happy she no longer needs to ask me about long overdue payments!
Throw Out Industry Jargon
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As someone who has been in the photography industry for decades, I sometimes find it pretty hard to cut out industry jargon.
But, I’ve actually practiced my spiel with my wife and had her stop me each time I mentioned a term she didn’t recognize. Before doing this exercise, I had no idea how much I was confusing my clients.
You can make it easier for your clients to pay you simply by cutting out industry jargon and talking to them as if they’ve never worked with a photographer before. I promise that a more seasoned client will let you know if your explanations are getting tedious.
This also happens to be one of the easiest photography business tips to implement, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t try it!
Learn More:
- 4 Ways to Avoid Being an Underpaid Photographer
- It’s Time to Use Contactless Payments for Your Photography Business