Customers Who Don't Pay

It's one of the biggest pains in the backside that window companies have to suffer, customers who don't pay when you finish the job.


What is the best way to deal with them? In my experience it's always best to filter out those who you think are most likely to be problem customers. You can decide then if you want to deal with them or not. Of course when time's are as hard as these, turning any business down isn't an easy decision. But sometimes you have to think ahead and anticipate what possible problems these customers can cause and how much it could cost you to put the situation right.


Dealing with non-payers at the end of the job is sometimes a difficult one to judge. Do you threaten to take back the products, even if it means leaving holes in their property? Do you threaten court action (once reminder letters have been sent out of course)? Taking back products can often lead to confrontation, and can give the impression that your company is slightly heavy-handed. Though from a contractual point of view, companies are still well within their rights to take back what hasn't been paid for. More often than not, the threat of court action and constant reminder letters usually does the trick. Customers tend to see how long they can get away from paying, though they know at some point they will have to hand the money over.


I would also like to make the point that the company I work for has a policy where as soon as the work is finished, we expect payment straight away. No dragging feet for a few days or over the weekend. When the work is done, it's to be paid for. If the customer has any little niggles (though I'm glad to say we have great fitters who don't cause so many), then we get it sorted ASAP - which means the customer doesn't have an excuse not to pay promptly.


However, a lot of the time it is the fault of the company for customers not paying. Poor customer service, product quality, bad workmanship and lax after-sales care are the biggest causes of customers refusing to pay at the end of the job. If you expect prompt payment, don't give the customer an excuse not to pay.

Is Sales Still A Male Dominated World?

A report out today has said that at the current rate of pay, it is going to take about 98 years for women managers to catch men up for them to have equal pay.


So this whole gender issue got me thinking about our own industry and the role women play, especially in sales.


The majority of sales people I've come across working in this industry have mostly been men. In fact all the sales people that have worked where I do have been male. Not through choice of the business, but only because it has only ever been men that have applied for jobs. I pose the question then: do we need more women in sales in this industry?


Would women be able to improve the image of the industry? I've always been of the perception that men have always been quite aggressive in the way they go about their work. And the industry does still have the image of a stuffy, old fashioned, middle-aged men controlled sector. Maybe more women sales people with a less aggressive approach might help to shake off that smokey old image.


Women are certainly capable of doing the job. Which brings me on to the issue of pay. There should be no reason why the pay for women should be any less than men. Same amount of work, same amount of pay - simple!


In a general context, there shouldn't be such a large gap in pay between men and women. We're living in a modern age, everyone should be paid in the same manner, and based on the work they do and how well they do it. Though as a parting shot to women tennis players. If you want to be paid the same as men in Grand Slams, play the same amount of sets! I would fully expect the men to be paid less if they played less sets than the women.