SMEs, and Customers
There will be no business without customers. The goal of every business is to make a profit from sales to customers thus, they are our biggest assets. In a bid to satisfy them sometimes we take certain risks like selling on credit, delivering goods to them before they make payment etc, just to retain their trust and loyalty.
These days however where people transact businesses online without even seeing each other, there is a rise in cases of customers refusing to pay after goods have been delivered to them, or refusing to pay the full amount. While this comes from a place of lack of integrity on the part of the customer, as an entrepreneur this could lead to debt, loss of profits & goods, health challenges, general discouragement etc
While you can bring different legal suits against the customer, it will cost you more money using the litigation process. Also, there are certain customers that you might still want to maintain relationships with. Therefore the best dispute resolution mechanism is ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), particularly Mediation.
Here the defaulting customer will be invited to a mediation session where both parties with the help of the Mediator will negotiate by themselves on new terms of the settlement. This can include, to pay the full amount but at a later date, to pay a substantial amount of the balance and other agreements made by the parties. Parties can negotiate either by themselves or through a mediation advocate representing them.
For more information about how you can use mediation for disputes in your business, feel free to chat us up on our WhatsApp phone line for free consultations
