Post by tomhoward on Apr 7, 2020 13:41:31 GMT
This is a message that I sent over to one of our fellow students. Thought it worthy of repeat.
"The WORD document combines my initial communications with the client. After talking on the phone with them and finding out what they want, I tell them I am going to send them an "Authorization to Proceed" document and that is our agreement. I let them know that I DO NOT NEED THIS Document returned to me, but to review it and understand that this is our agreement referenced in the upcoming estimate.
I tell them, I am going to send them an estimate from PayPal. I let them know that once you click acknowledge, this estimate will turn into an invoice that they can use to make payment. Once payment is made, then I will confirm our schedule.
PayPal will accept payment from any credit card or if they have a PayPal account, they can pay directly from there.
I chose to use PayPal for my transactions as most people are familiar with using PayPal through Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, etc... Most folks have confidence in using PayPal and I thought it a good tool to have in my bag of assets as it gives customers an easy way to pay.
I have had two paid inspections and neither one had issue paying up front.
I usually leave the money in my PayPal account until after the inspection is complete, been over the results with the client and get the impression they are happy with the service. After they are satisfied, I hit a button and the funds transfer over to my business account. Reason I leave the money in my PayPal account is that if I have to issue a refund, the money is already there and it is easier to do make that transaction happen. Example: my second client was concerned that the COVID restrictions would impact travel needs for either their trip to the dealership or my travel from Hampton, VA to Richmond, VA. My response was that the reason I use PayPal is for the convenience of the client and any refund is easy to process (if required). In her mind - that was the closing statement that sealed the deal - she was familiar with PayPal's refund protection policy.
Now there is a fee for PayPal, but it is no different than SQUARE or QuickBooks or any other merchant processing fee's. If you are going to accept credit cards, you have to account for fee's and these are a tax deductible operating expenses."
Curious to how others have set up their business on accepting payment. Leave a comment on what you have done to this point. Oh, and if you wish to get a WORD copy of the document referenced so you can massage as needed, feel free to request a copy at
tom@roroandt.com
"The WORD document combines my initial communications with the client. After talking on the phone with them and finding out what they want, I tell them I am going to send them an "Authorization to Proceed" document and that is our agreement. I let them know that I DO NOT NEED THIS Document returned to me, but to review it and understand that this is our agreement referenced in the upcoming estimate.
I tell them, I am going to send them an estimate from PayPal. I let them know that once you click acknowledge, this estimate will turn into an invoice that they can use to make payment. Once payment is made, then I will confirm our schedule.
PayPal will accept payment from any credit card or if they have a PayPal account, they can pay directly from there.
I chose to use PayPal for my transactions as most people are familiar with using PayPal through Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, etc... Most folks have confidence in using PayPal and I thought it a good tool to have in my bag of assets as it gives customers an easy way to pay.
I have had two paid inspections and neither one had issue paying up front.
I usually leave the money in my PayPal account until after the inspection is complete, been over the results with the client and get the impression they are happy with the service. After they are satisfied, I hit a button and the funds transfer over to my business account. Reason I leave the money in my PayPal account is that if I have to issue a refund, the money is already there and it is easier to do make that transaction happen. Example: my second client was concerned that the COVID restrictions would impact travel needs for either their trip to the dealership or my travel from Hampton, VA to Richmond, VA. My response was that the reason I use PayPal is for the convenience of the client and any refund is easy to process (if required). In her mind - that was the closing statement that sealed the deal - she was familiar with PayPal's refund protection policy.
Now there is a fee for PayPal, but it is no different than SQUARE or QuickBooks or any other merchant processing fee's. If you are going to accept credit cards, you have to account for fee's and these are a tax deductible operating expenses."
Curious to how others have set up their business on accepting payment. Leave a comment on what you have done to this point. Oh, and if you wish to get a WORD copy of the document referenced so you can massage as needed, feel free to request a copy at
tom@roroandt.com