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Finally got paid after resending the invoice with a smiley face
Had a client in Austin who owed me $850 for a small design job. They kept saying the check was in the mail, but after 4 weeks nothing showed. I was about to send my usual cranky follow up, but instead I just wrote 'Hey, no rush, but my rent reminder just pinged. Can you double check if this got lost?' and added a silly emoji. They replied in 2 hours, apologized, and paid the next day. Maybe the tone mattered more than the words. Has anyone else had luck softening the ask instead of going straight to lawyer mode?
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danielk841mo ago
That smiley probably did more work than the actual words, honestly. But the real trick there is that you kept it light and gave them an easy out. People get defensive when they think you're accusing them of something, even if they did forget to pay. Softening it makes them feel like a good person who just made a mistake, not a deadbeat.
One thing though, $850 for a small design job feels low to me. If you're in Austin and doing custom work, you might be undercharging which attracts clients who don't respect your time. Not saying that's what happened here, but the ones who drag their feet on smaller invoices tend to do it more when they think the work was cheap.
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