You’ve done the work or provided the goods. The client is happy (or at least they’ve not said they’re not) and you’ve sent the invoice. But the deadline as stated in your payment terms has been and gone and no payment has dropped into your bank account. Now you have a dilemma.

The logical thing is to call them. But the prospect of an uncomfortable phone call sends your adrenaline levels soaring. The flight instinct kicks in and you avoid it. You’d be happier going to the dentist for root canal treatment than calling your client!

Yet there are things you can do to make the process a whole lot less painful.

1. Remember: it’s your money

You’ve done what you agreed to do, and you’re entitled to payment on time. If you discussed and agreed terms with your client before you either did the work or provided the product, there’s no excuse for them not to pay you on time.

Don’t feel guilty for asking for your money. You entered into a business transaction and you have upheld your end of that transaction. It’s not personal.

2. What do you want to happen?

Be clear before you even pick up the phone what outcome you want. It may seem obvious, i.e. I want you to pay this invoice. Yet you need to be more specific. I want you to pay this invoice by Friday, or whatever date you need it by.

3. Get your facts right

Preparation before a call is crucial. If you’re ill-prepared it’s all too easy to lose control of both the call and your credibility.

Make sure you are clear on:

• What are you owed for what goods or services
• When did you provide them?
• Any disputes there may have been and how were they resolved

Know the client’s payment history. Is late payment their usual modus operandi, or is it unusual?

Be clear on who you want to talk to. The person who placed the order isn’t always the person who pays the invoice, so if you don’t already know, find out who approves invoices and when their payment runs are.

4. Consider how you ask for payment

Communication is a very complex mix of body language, tone and the words we use.

Start with the right tone. The tone you use will determine the success of the call, so if you start in an aggressive manner it’s not going to end well. Be assertive, confident and professional and smile when you speak. Your client will hear the smile in your voice.

When we communicate with others we tend to use language and behaviours that we are most comfortable with. But not everyone will respond to those words and behaviours as we would.

The words you choose matter. “Why haven’t you paid?” puts your client on the spot, whereas “Is there something preventing payment that we should be aware of?” invites them to tell you what’s going on. You’ll find more examples in my blog What to Say (and Not Say) When Chasing Payments.

Listening without body language

When you’re dealing with people in person, you have visual clues from their body language to help you gauge how your message is coming across. As this article from Psychology Today, about the basics of body language points out, we throw out a storm of signals all the time.

On the phone though you have none of this. So you need to listen with care to the language and tone your client uses to respond to you. And, if necessary, change the words you use to get your message across.

Face to face, body language also tells you when someone’s about to speak, which stops you talking over each other. On the phone you don’t have that, so leave a pause, let them finish and listen. Listening is just as important as talking, if not more so.

I could talk all day about communication. I found Thomas Erikson’s book Surrounded by Idiots an interesting read and a good introduction to the topic. It explains the different ways people communicate and helps you recognise your own style and how you come across, as well as the style of the person you’re talking to, so you can create the right environment for a calm, open conversation.

5. Be prepared to listen and ask probing questions

Expect to hear some stories when you chase for payment, and if you deal with the same clients regularly, you’ll start to recognise them. In my corporate days, when we looked back over the call notes for one client, we found they’d had numerous grandmas who’d died suddenly!

Never dismiss what someone tells you outright, but ask questions to get to the crux of the problem. Listen for what isn’t being said too, as that’s often where the real reason for the late payment is hiding.

Sometimes your client won’t appear to say very much at all. You need to listen for clues that may help you understand why they haven’t paid your invoice.

Pick up on words the client uses that point to a significant event, e.g. illness, redundancy, death, cash flow problems etc. Sometimes people feel embarrassed that they cannot pay their bill because of a sudden change in circumstance. They can react emotionally or with aggressive language to cover up such embarrassment.

Let them have their say, stay calm, and then ask your probing questions to get to the bottom of the issue. You might find it more effective to politely end the call and try again later if the client gets very aggressive.

When you don’t have the answer

You won’t always have an answer to everything your client raises, and nobody expects you to. “I don’t know, let me look into that and come back to you by Thursday” is a perfectly professional thing to say. Make sure you do come back to them when you said you would.

You can empathise with your client’s story but stay focused on your objective here. For genuine changes in circumstances you can change the terms of the outcome you want but you should not change the end goal. If payment in full is not possible consider agreeing a payment plan with your client.

6. Get a firm commitment and follow up

You are looking for a commitment to pay from your client.

If they tell you the payment is stuck somewhere in the process, get the name and number of the bottleneck (for example, whoever has to approve the invoice before it goes on the next payment run) and call them.

Make sure you get the amount, the date, the payment method and the name of the person who’s committed to paying. Send an email confirming these details while you’re still on the phone, so they can confirm it there and then.

If you can’t get a firm commitment for a payment date, get a commitment for something else, such as a call back date. This is useful if the client queries the invoice or requests a copy.

The Six Steps in Action

I once coached a social media manager who’d emailed a client around five times to chase an unpaid invoice and heard nothing back. She was terrified of picking up the phone.

We talked through these six steps and got her ready for the call. When she rang, it turned out some parts of the work had stopped a little earlier than others during his notice period, and he didn’t feel he should have to pay for those. They agreed a small reduction, and she got paid. She told me afterwards that the call wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d expected.

If you’ve got a call coming up that you’re dreading, a one hour online focus session can help you prepare for it. For more hands-on support, a half-day focus session in person means I can listen in while you make real calls, or we can work through scenarios together.

If credit control isn’t something you want to be doing at all, get in touch to talk to us about doing it for you.

Last updated September 2026

About the Author

Nicki Kinton is the founder of Confident Cashflow and a member of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. She helps small businesses get paid quicker, with less stress and without damaging the relationships they’ve worked hard to build. Sign up for her weekly email, or follow Nicki on LinkedIn, for regular tips on getting paid.