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Vent: My B2B client in Denver said my invoices were 'too aggressive' so I dumbed them down and lost $4k
Last month I was at my desk in Denver wrapping up a retainer for a software client when their CFO called my payment terms 'hostile' because I asked for net 15 instead of net 45. I caved and switched to net 45, plus I dropped my late fee from 3% to 1.5%, thinking it would smooth things over and keep the account. Three weeks later they paid 11 days past the new due date and I ate $4,200 in cash flow I had already promised to my own subcontractor. Now I'm wondering if being the nice guy in B2B is just code for letting clients walk all over you, has anyone else pushed back on terms and actually won?
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the_paul23d ago
That CFO pulled a classic move calling net 15 "hostile" when net 45 is basically asking you to be their bank for free. Here's my question though, when you dropped your late fee from 3% to 1.5%, did you actually put that in writing with a hard cutoff, or did you just tell them over a call and hope they'd respect it? Because 11 days past due on a 1.5% fee is almost nothing to them, it's like $60 on a $4k invoice, so they had zero reason to pay on time. Did you ever go back after that late payment and tell them the terms are going back to net 15, or are you still sitting on the dumbed down version right now? I'm asking because I've seen guys push terms back after a late payment and keep the client, but it only works if you frame it as "this is what keeps me able to staff your project" instead of "you hurt my feelings." So what did you actually say to them after they paid late, if anything?
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