Breaking Knees

It’s happened to all of us at some point, we’ve done work for someone we REALLY don’t know all that well, and they disappear. So what are your options if your client won’t pay? There are a couple of things you can do to help ensure payment or partial payment. It won’t ALWAYS work, but it’s worth a shot.

1. Hire a collections agency. Typically they’ll take about 30%, but it’s better than nothing. Many collection agencies won’t charge you anything if they don’t collect, so you won’t lose anything if it doesn’t work. But use them as a last resort.

2. Get a lawyer. Again, the last resort method, talking with a lawyer can be expensive and doesn’t always work. Many times a lawyer can “settle” for a price rather than taking it to court, but if it’s enough money, it’s worth it.

3. Show up. I’ve gone into people’s offices and set down at their desk. Lots of times, people will just ignore phone calls and emails. Go in and talk to them face to face. They are a lot less likely to ignore you if you are right in front of them.  But DON’T go in with a bad attitude. Go in and be understanding of their situation. You want to make sure not to cause a scene and make things worse than they already are.

4. Have a friend act as a collection agency. If your friend is a good friend, they won’t charge, but ask a friend call on your behalf. They can say something like “I’m calling on behalf of Design Firm X and we need to have a chat about an overdue balance.” This might scare your client into making the payment.

5. Remove their website, work, whatever from the internet. This is the first thing you should do. If you have already sent their work to print, ask your printer to put a hold on the work. If you work with a printer on a regular basis, they’ll have no problem doing this.

Hopefully you won’t have to call in someone to break their knees, unless you’re the mob.  In that case, people probably won’t be stiffing you in the first place.

It’s a good idea to ALWAYS have a contract, and set a payment schedule so they are always invested in the project. When they pay 1/3 up front, they already have some investment in the work. If you don’t have a contract, in many states, you’re out of luck.  Some states view emails or phone calls as verbal contracts, and they can hold up in court, but if your state doesn’t, then you have no recourse. So sign a contract first, and then do the work.

Share your ideas with how to collect money from dead beat clients.