The most common reason that business relationships turn sour is generally due to bad debt. No one who runs a business wears rose-tinted glasses about debt, believing that it will never happen to them, however, when an existing customer with a good history starts getting behind in payments, it is a difficult situation.
It leaves you with a bit of a challenge. On the one hand, you have a customer of good standing who has always paid on time and have a very sound relationship. But on the other hand, you have to consider the impact on your cash flow and how this could affect other areas of your business. So how do you handle this?
The answer is to understand what is happening and why they haven’t made a payment. There is the potential that the customer may bring you more business in the future, so understanding the situation and plan accordingly to safeguard the relationship should be a priority.
