Posted by Sarah Jordan

If you’re like many busy, working individuals, paying your bills is a last-minute activity that you start after noticing that it’s about the 25^th of the month and there is a stack of unopened envelopes on your kitchen table. Or perhaps it’s been especially hectic this month and somehow it’s already the due date. After checking the clock, you reassure yourself there is still time to get it to the mailbox before the postman comes. You scramble for your checkbook, scribble an illegible amount, stuff it into an envelope and start searching for stamps. Damn. Buying stamps is on the to-do list.

If you are a small business owner whose only method of bill collection is by paper check, you are not only creating a burden for your customers, but also inhibiting your business’s flexibility—opening yourself up to late payments and cash flow problems.

Payment option variety is becoming an increasingly important factor to consumers. There are numerous benefits of recurring billing, electronic checks, and direct-debit for both you and your customers. Your customers will be rid of the cost and stress of paying bills on time, being stocked with envelopes, and remembering to buy stamps. Your business will be providing better customer service, decreasing late payments, improving cash flow, and reducing cost and manual labor associated with paper checks. So the real question isn’t, “Why don’t customers pay their bills on time?,” but “Why aren’t we making bill pay easier for our customers?”.

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Technorati Tags: small business, bill collection, recurring billing, electronic checks, direct-debit, customer service, late payments