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            Companies gearing up for slowing receivables. If customers are paying on time, your company is fortunate> When payments do not come, you will not be the only one calling the customer. To help you get payment, AIPB interviewed Charles W. Kyd, founder www.exceluser.com, a site for Excel users, and former CFO and VP-finance for many small growth companies. He warns you to be prepared for the following ploys and excuses, and gives ways to handle them that worked for him.

• “Your paperwork is incorrect.” There may be real problems, such as pricing errors, shipping damage, wrong quantities, etc. Regardless of the cause, your invoice may be in someone’s “problem file.” Follow up letters will go in the same file. When you call, you may get a grateful response: “I hoped you’d call- I need to work this out before we can pay you.” But if the response is “I don’t have it in from of me, I’ll have to call you back,” ask for a date and time and say you are in and out a lot, could you call them, if they waffle on a date and time, politely suggest one: “Can I call tomorrow at 11? Would that be convenient?” That way when you call, you can tell whoever answers, “Doris asked me to call now.”

Avoid: An accusatory response or tone: “All right, then you tell me when to call.” (Implies that you think they are lying). The person you are talking to, like you, is just doing the job. Don’t give a personal reason to avoid you.

• “We lost/never received your invoice.” This does happen. When a customer uses this excuse, write it in a log and track how often that customer says this. Remind repeaters of their track record. Don’t hesitate to send a duplicate by express delivery with a receipt or by UPSP Certified Mail, Receipt Requested.

• “You didn’t send enough copies of the invoice.” If you don’t send the required number of copies, your invoice may sit until a bored employee feels like making the copies. Ask: “Exactly how many copies do you need?” Mail, fax or e-mail (an image) of them, and record the request in the customer’s file for future reference, both the number of copies needed and the excuse. Do not imply that it is a lame excuse; stick to facts: “I’d be glad to send it again, but is there a reason copies can’t be made of that one?”

• “Our computer is down.” This may be true, too. But remember, a company can write checks manually.