call. Put everything in writing To be absolutely sure that your client respects your payment terms, put everything in writing before work commences. Contracts offer that added protection and can be referred back to at any time. They also give you that extra weight if things should turn ugly. Send statements As soon as that payment term timeframe runs out, send a 'statement' with some clear text indicating that 'payment is now overdue'. Send another statement if you've still not received payment after a week, repeating clearly that payment is late. Sometimes, clients just need a gentle reminder and statements can do the trick without being too pushy. Be pro-active You are within your rights to be paid on time, so be proactive and start contacting your client every other day, requesting payment if none of the above has worked. You want to be friendly not pushy, so make sure you get your tone right in any written correspondence. For example, you could write 'Hi there, I'm just going through my invoices and noticed the attached is outstanding. Here it is again, just in case you haven't got it. Any problems, just give me a shout.' At this stage, you want to keep things really light. Remember, your client might have innocently forgotten or might even be ill or be on holiday. Even so, stay 'on the ball' and know when to start chasing for payment. Pick up the phone Sometimes, a phone call is all you need to ensure