Collecting money from clients when they cancelled with short notice.

[Matt Hanson]

Forgive me, I searched "short notice", and "no shows" but didnt find what I was looking for.

I teach drums, and as any private music teacher will know, cancellations are the main problem in the week.

I would appreciate input on how YOU go about emailing/speaking/phoning or otherwise obtaining fees that are rightfully your if the client cancelled with insufficient notice.

I charge weekly, or two months at a time. Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours before the start of their weekly lesson.

Some people cancel, pay the lesson, and its easy, others won't offer, and I must admit it because it is currently a huge flaw in my business, that I some time (not always) dont have the courage to confront them about it.

• Sometimes it is because the student has been with me since the beginning of my business when I was less strict and in a sense I have trained them to "walk over me".
• Some times it is just hard because there exists a repore between student and teacher which sometimes makes it hard to take off the educator/motivator hat and put on the administrator hat.
• Other times I fear I will lose the student, but then at what cost and I keeping them booked in at a regular timeslot when better clients could occupy that timeslot?

Here's a concrete example that I currently haven't dealt with:

A student provided short notice for a lesson last week. They were genuinely sorry for missing their lesson. Coming up to Christmas things got busy and they simply couldnt get here. They left a voice message, and followed up with an email which I appreciate. The did not however make an attempt for a catch-up lesson or offer to pay for the missed lesson. There is a small possibility that they will simply give me the money at the start of the next lesson (infact many students do this because over the last 6 months I have made an effort to change my enrolment forms and make the policy well known).

Should I reply back and inform them they owe me? If so how would you word it? Should I simply send an invoice? Would it just put a wedge between our currently good repore? If I shouldn't be so bold as to expect my money that they signed a contract to pay, then how much should I compromise? My livelihood should not be at their discretion, while to them its just a single small fee (but to me its not just them doing this on a weekly basis).

I'm sure this topic might seem 'adolescent' for some businesses, however I'm sure also this topic is highly relevant for others new/emerging or similar businesses.

If I could get a gym contract just to it as a template because it is so watertight I could theoretically send debt collectors out for the unpaid fees, but I don't want to go this far, and wouldn't that be bad for my reputation? If so, then dare I ask why are music teachers less entitled to their income than say a plumber or doctor?

I know this is long winded, however I hope the question is clear.

How do YOU go about requesting overdue fees or unpaid fees etc (whichever is relevant to your business)?

[JaneB]

I seem to recall stating my policy on these forums before - maybe when you first came on board.

I charge students by the month in advance.

There are no cancellations under any circumstances. They have paid for that time slot in my calendar and I - nor you- should not be expected to fill it with another student at the last minute.

They pay for however many days of the month there are that fall on their lesson day. i.e. - 3 Mondays 4 Mondays or 5 Mondays - and they pay at the beginning of the lesson NOT the end. No money no lesson.

You need to get tough.

It's easy for me since I'm probably a old as your granny and don't give a rats if people complain - it takes a few years to develop a tough hide but once you do you will find that everyone respects you a lot more and the game playing and excuses stop.

[Matt Hanson]

Originally Posted by JaneB

I seem to recall stating my policy on these forums before - maybe when you first came on board.

I charge students by the month in advance.

There are no cancellations under any circumstances. They have paid for that time slot in my calendar and I - nor you- should not be expected to fill it with another student at the last minute.

They pay for however many days of the month there are that fall on their lesson day. i.e. - 3 Mondays 4 Mondays or 5 Mondays - and they pay at the beginning of the lesson NOT the end. No money no lesson.

You need to get tough.

It's easy for me since I'm probably a old as your granny and don't give a rats if people complain - it takes a few years to develop a tough hide but once you do you will find that everyone respects you a lot more and the game playing and excuses stop.

Yes thank you. I am getting tougher, which is reflected in my growing good client list and weekly cash flow. however it is still my weak point. I am planning to renew contracts in February and take on a new approach at that time.

I find half my students are willing to pay upfront and the other half simply cannot or will not.

I am going to do a tough transition for sure, however its still best to do it sooner than later I'm guessing.

[KarenC]

You have a great opportunity to change all procedures, terms and all from 1st January and stick to it. New year, new terms. Make sure all current students receive the new terms with an invoice for the first term payable in advance and make sure that the terms and conditions are clear on your website. As Jane B said, get tough and do it now not later.

All the best.

[LemonChip]

Yeah that's a great idea. Just give them all plenty of notice, make them pay upfront. Then the ball is in your court if you decide to keep their money, or let them have the credit for another lesson (if you're feeling compassionate).

[onsiteTECHS]

Whatever you decide on as far as your policy, the key is to be clear, consistent and confident when you ask for the money. You DESERVE to be paid, and you need to behave like you do, otherwise people sense that you feel like you don't deserve it and will start to question why (even if only subconsciously).

If you don't tell people your policy in a clear and confident manner, you have no right to feel upset when they don't follow your policy - they may just not realise that you expect payment.

And don't assume that because you wrote your policy once in an email, or it appears on your website, that people actually know it - most of us don't read things fully anymore because there is so much information out there. Consistently getting your message out, in this case I suggest by having it written clearly on every invoice, will mean that there's less chance of people missing it. Follow up immediately by phone or in person as soon as someone owes you, and again - be CONSISTENT and CONFIDENT!

Don't be apologetic for asking to be paid for giving up your time (regardless of whether they show up while you're giving up your time for them).

Good luck!

Cheers,
John

[LemonChip]

Yep totally agree with the above post. What's more is that when you have a clean cut set of rules that you don't deviate from, your customers will respect your more for it. It'll make you seem more professional because they'll know that you're prepared to lose them if they don't play by your rules.

Trust me when I say that 9 times out of 10 this will make them like you more because you're so much more professional.

I got burned once when I started my web business by a single client who took advantage of me and my lack of policies... I immediately had a work agreement written up, and even on the phone I'll let the client know of what the policies are. I don't try to hide them in some sneaky small print disclaimer at all. I go out of my way to tell them what the rules are, then before work starts they sign an agreement with those rules explained again. So there's multiple opportunities for them to understand and disagree if they wish to... Let me tell you, none of them do. They all respond very well as they have a clear set of guides that they can operate within.

[Matt Hanson]

I'm proud to say I have a new system set up, online, on my enrollment forms, on the wall, and in hand out form for all my students this week.

I expect to lose some students, but I've worked out that I'll end up working for my money instead of waiting for it and not getting it. Meaning more time for me to be effective.

Thanks for the input.

[David@Verve Recruitment]

Yep I think you need to start charging up front, like a month in advance like someone else said.

There's no way a debt collectors going to help you. Not unless you charge an extraodinary amount for each lesson.

You have an existing client base so you can implement these new rules on a gradual basis. All new customers have to pay a month in advance. If you want to be flexible. They can pay the 4 lessons on a casual basis, subject to your existing cancellation rules, and after that it has to be month in advance.

See how that goes, and then you can bring in existing clients - not necessarily all of them. We have a new policy, it will be starting as of this date. Give them a good amount of notice (4 weeks) and then take it from there.

Do it on a gradual basis to get a feel for it and you can reverse it if it all goes horribly wrong.

[LabourHireSydney]

I would have to agree with everyone else, i think you should step up a bit and be more tough on them you can't let your cilents or students do that to you as a) its not fair on you you haven't got time to waste on them or deal with that sort of issue and b) you could have had another student for the meantime since the original student canceled on you i mean they should give you a good amount of amount of notice before hands.. about the payments you should charge extra maybe at the end of the month you should call them and inform them about the reason to why your going to charge them the new amount!!

I mean your running a business here and all the students whether new or old should understand that i mean your willing to help them and not have anyone take advantage of you!!!!

I think you should make new rules and state all kind of information you want into a booklet and giving them to your old and new students stating all the new changes and conditions that will apply from a certain period for example lets say you want all the new changes to occur starting from Janurary 9th 2012 since Christmas Holidays might affect your business so it's best if you start a new fresh week where its a normal working week that way you will feel comfortable about the new changes!!

Good luck with everything and hope it goes well with you and hope those students of yours will understand that you are running a business here and also helping them out so they won't take any advantage of you!!!!