Fear stops us from living a truly prosperous life at times. I have been in contracting for about 40 years, and in that time I have seen many people lose money and go broke because of the fear of asking to get paid.

I was working late one night in a new jewelry store hanging 54 inch vinyl wall coverings and was talking to the carpet layer. He said he was getting paid that night when he was finished. I was amazed. “How did you get that deal?” I asked. He said he told them that was the only way he would do the job.

He got paid when he was done. We got paid three months later from a company five states away. I never forgot that lesson. Boldness is far better and more profitable than fear.

You don’t have to be rude. Just ask. Or in some cases let them know that you need to be paid when the job is complete. We always do this on commercial jobs.

As we conclude the phone conversation about time and pricing, I just tell them we need to get paid the day we are done. They may say they don’t carry checks. We ask if they have a credit card and then ask if that will work for their boss. Also we add $3.50/hundred to do a card because that is what we are charged. Most of the time they agree.

That is so much simpler than trying to collect from a company that is out of state. If you have ever tried that kind of collecting, you will know what I mean. Generally, it takes three months to get money that way. We just don’t do jobs like that anymore.

With smaller, local contractors we usually ask them to meet us and pay when we are done when it is the first time we have worked for them. Usually people understand the situation and do just what you ask. If that goes well, we will bill them in the future.

If they object, then that raises a red flag. They may be ones that you would have a hard time collecting from anyway. Tell them you really need to get paid while you are there because they are a new account.

If you stick to your guns, usually they will do that.

This type of dealing with people about money also has the advantage of showing that:

1. You have some integrity.
2. You are not afraid of losing a job.
3. You respect yourself enough to conduct your business properly.
4. Thus, most people will have more respect for you and treat you better.

I worked with a young man years ago that told me the builder owed him for all the materials and labor for five houses. WOW! I asked him why he would do the next one if he was not getting paid.

Fear was the answer:

1. Afraid the builder would not pay for any of it if he asked for the money.
2. Afraid he would not get the next job if he insisted on getting paid.
3. Afraid of the confrontation.

He eventually went broke and got a job.

Fear… some call it sand in the machinery of life.

Boldness without being rude is one of the well worn paths to The Prosperous Life.

How has being bold helped you in your dealings with people?

Someone once said that we don’t communicate well enough. There may be many reasons for that: the wrong choice of words, being unclear about what we really mean, or because we are trying to imply something we hope you get but we really don’t know want to say.

By rephrasing the words back to the speaker, we can clear up many of our communications. This can be done with your spouse, children, coworkers or even your boss.

Rephrasing is to say back to the person, in your own words, what they said. “What I hear you saying is…..”

Example:

“What’s for dinner?”

“We were going to have chicken, but I forgot to thaw it out, and I have been so busy today I hadn’t even thought about it.”

“So are you wanting to go out for supper?”

“Would you mind?”

Here is another example:  The salesman writes up a repair order on two of his products sitting in a wholesaler’s warehouse. His company sends the repair order to an independent repair contractor. The contractor sees that one unit is a warranty repair and one has been damaged, probably by the wholesaler’s warehousemen. The repairman calls the manufacturer and the manufacturer agrees to pay for the one unit with the defect but refuses to pay for the other damaged one.

During the repair the salesman shows up and says to the repairman.

“You are new at this aren’t you? I would hate to lose an account like this as I only have two. Don’t let little “technicalities” cause us to lose this account. This time I will pay for the non-warranty repair.”

Rephrasing: “So what I hear you saying is that no matter what is wrong with the units, you want me to write up the invoice to the manufacturer to show that these are all warranty repairs. Is that right?”

If he says, “yes”, now you know he wants you to lie. You can:

1. Just end the conversation without confirming that you will do that and next time it happens, mention to the manufacturer what you have been instructed to do by their salesman.
2. Let him know that you will only bill warranty repairs to the manufacturer, and if he wants to pay for all the others, you will call him each time to confirm his continued willingness to pay.

Rephrasing can clear up many situations. It can help straighten out fuzzy thinking, help use the right words, make things clearer and at times keep you out of trouble.

Communicating well is part of The Prosperous Life.

How has this practice been of benefit to you?