- When you're in business and you don't get paid,
that's a problem, of course.
Whether you work for yourself, for a company,
getting paid is a key part
of what makes your business work.
So, when you're doing business in English,
you'll need to know what to say
to remind your client about an unpaid bill.
It happens, you know.
Are you ready to give it a try?
Hi, I'm your English coach Christina,
and welcome to Business English with Christina,
where you become better at English
and better at business.
In today's episode,
we'll talk about how you can handle
a potentially uncomfortable situation,
and in English.
It's when you need to follow up
or to remind your client
about an unpaid bill.
You know, today you'll learn some expressions
that you need in English,
and also some strategies that you need
for handling this situation in your business.
You'll get some specific expressions
that you need to know for two of the most common,
but very different situations,
when only one payment is late
or when you're following up after several reminders.
Before we learn all of these expressions,
you're gonna need a strategy
for handling stressful situations in English.
And we'll talk about that first.
You know, as a neurolanguage coach,
I know that when there is more pressure
or when the situation is a little stressful
or uncomfortable, it can feel
like your level of English
is not as good as usual.
It's totally normal,
but it does make it more difficult
to do a good job.
So that's why it's important
to prepare your strategy
so that you'll be ready
to deal with that challenging situation
and those feelings of discomfort.
So let's try that now.
My first rule of advice is to use
short and simple sentences.
Don't try to be super sophisticated
or complex or advanced.
None of that.
Because if you're using shorter and simpler sentences,
that makes it easy for you
to speak in English,
but it also makes it easier
for the other person to understand you.
You know, we live and work
in international environments.
So maybe the people that you're working with,
well, maybe English isn't their first language either.
And then there's the question of accents.
Of course, we all have accents.
You know, you do, I do,
your business partner in the UK
or in India, or China,
or Germany, or wherever,
we've all got our accent.
And it's totally fine.
But keeping your phrases shorter and simpler
makes the conversation easier
for everyone to understand.
Sometimes my clients think that being fluent
means speaking more quickly.
Speaking more quickly
if that was too quickly for you.
Now, of course, that's not true,
but when you're nervous,
we just naturally tend to speak more quickly.
But in challenging situations,
it's actually a good idea to slow down
when you're speaking.
It gives you more time to find your words,
and it also makes you seem
calmer and more confident.
That will also help the other person
to relax in this difficult conversation.
And of course, in an international environment,
it makes sure that everyone understands.
Now, when I work with clients
and coach them through handling difficult situations,
they often find that knowing the most important phrases,
the ones that you know you'll use a lot,
well, that can be very reassuring.
No, you cannot memorize
an entire conversation
and you can't predict what your, you know,
business partner or customer will say.
But knowing a few important expressions
very well can help you stay calm
and sound more confident and more professional.
So here's a few expressions.
Oh, and before we learn those expressions,
can you please just hit that thumbs up
and subscribe to my channel
to let me know that you're enjoying this lesson.
Alright, so when a client misses just one first payment,
of course, you want to remind them
because, you know, people get busy,
we all get hundreds of emails.
Maybe they saw your invoice
and they just forgot to take care of it.
It happens.
But here's what you can say in that situation.
Yes, hi!
Can I speak to Patrick, please?
Hi, Patrick!
This is Christina from Awesome Company.
I'm calling regarding my invoice for July.
The payment was due on August 15th,
and it looks like I still haven't received
the payment for it.
Just let me know if you need me to resend
the original invoice, and I'll be happy to do it.
Notice that I said it looks like
I still haven't received your payment.
And what you're actually saying is that
according to my records
or based on information that I have,
and it gives the person that you're speaking to
the opportunity to confirm that information
or to provide you with maybe an explanation,
or maybe to ask for some additional information,
like the date that you sent the invoice,
or maybe they made the payment
and they can give you the payment confirmation number.
If they say that they've made the payment
and you need to double check your records
to be sure of that, you can ask,
"Could you please tell me the date
"when you sent the payment?"
Or if they say something like,
"We're taking care of it,"
or "The invoice has been sent
"to the accounting department,"
then you can ask when you should expect
to receive that payment.
For example.
Can you tell me when the payment is scheduled?
And that way you know when to expect it
so that you can follow up again,
if you need to.
Now, depending on your line of work
or the customer,
you may have to follow up on a payment
or several payments that are months late
after you've sent several reminders already.
Now, this will depend on your situation
and your company's situation,
but here's an example to help you get started.
Hi, this is Christina from Amazing Company.
I'm calling regarding an invoice
that is currently past due.
It looks like I have already sent you
two reminders,
and I still haven't received the payment.
So, if this is just an oversight,
can you please make sure that the payment
is made by September 10th?
Now, of course, reminding a client
that their bill is past due
has the potential to be a difficult situation.
But if you go into that conversation
with the right strategies for staying clear,
confident, professional,
and if you've learned those phrases
that you need to get you started,
I'm sure that you will handle
this situation like a pro.
What if you realize that your situation,
it's way more complex,
like you have to follow up
on a lot of past overdue bills.
Like with some of my past clients.
In that case,
you may need some help and some practice
that is more specific to your situation.
So don't forget, my team and I,
we're here if you need some help with that.
And if you don't use it, you lose it.
So here's how you can use what you learned today.
What would you say to a client
who has a bill that's past due?
Can you write that down in the comments?
And then practice what you wrote,
slow, saying it in a slow, confident way.
It's the perfect opportunity to practice
and to feel more comfortable
with this difficult situation.
And make sure that you get all these expressions
into your active vocabulary.
Alright, if this lesson was helpful for you,
I'd love to know.
And there are three simple ways
that you can tell me.
You can hit that thumbs up
and subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
You can go over to my website
and get your free English Habits kit
so that you can start building
those solid learning habits
for lifelong learning.
And then, you can also watch this next lesson,
which is gonna help you to feel
more confident in English.
Alright, thank you so much
for improving your English
with Business English with Christina.
And I'll see you next time.