Matterport Pros when do you get paid & why?4887
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hi All, When do you get paid and why? For example, We Get Around Atlanta does not invoice a client until the client is totally happy. We did a job on Tuesday, 13 June 2017 and we have still not sent the client an invoice (as of Sunday, 25 June 2017). Best, Dan |
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 PremiumMember North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I used to do it on the day of the shoot because you don't get to try the toaster out until you paid for it at the store. Since I now process everything online, its now at the time of the order. Credit Card only. Theres no chasing late payments this way. You don't get to download software and pay later either. If their card declines, we still go on the shoot, but they don't give them tour until they have paid. This ensures prompt payment and they normally give us a card that works by the next day at the latest. Of course, their happiness is number 1. If they are not happy with something, we fix it. We bend over backwards for them. Thats what you should do if you want to keep your customers happy. This leads to them telling others which leads to more business.  |
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LewisBishop private msg quote post Address this user | |
| We submit our invoice in an email that is sent directly after delivery. Invoice is due upon receipt. We do not pre-invoice (sending invoice before model delivery) as when it was tried the process generated push back from first time clients and we found that some shoots required an adjustment due to the clients wanting other areas/building scanned. Current process seems to work for us in our market. It's the rare exception that the invoices takes 2-3 days to get paid. "Knock on wood"... We've never had an unpaid invoice. |
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North Myrtle Beach, SC |
cswartz private msg quote post Address this user | |
| For a single property shoot I send the file for them to review to ensure they are satisfied and they normally are. If I need to fix anything, I do it right away. I'd rather not be paid if they are not 100% satisfied. I've never not been paid. I have a couple vacation rental companies that I have arrangements with and bill them on a monthly basis. It works fine. I done some fixes and tried to accommodate picky clients but have never been refused my payment. |
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Premium Member North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Ive had agents approve all angles at the appointment on a 12.9 inch iPad. Yet when they get the photos back, they complain about something. How could this be? They said that they liked all the photos on the day of the shoot. So we have to go back to get the different angle of the kitchen shot, living room or what ever to keep them happy etc. In my market, some Realtors can take forever to pay. "Im out of town". "Just waiting for a commission on a closing next week" etc. etc. Want a good lawyer for representation? $5000 retainer please. Yep, you pay upfront for labor services not yet performed. I don't like lawyers, but I can understand that they don't want to spend anytime chasing money after they have put their time into it. Its not a fear of getting knocked by agents, its the chasing them to get paid. This is unnecessary wasted time having to keep account of who has paid and who has not. I had someone five weeks past due "Alright, Alright, Your gonna get paid" with a real attitude. Although I did have one who tried to knock me. She owed me about a grand. I had an email tracker so I knew when she opened my emails. She was opening them and not replying. Then after she opened several emails without responding, I screen shot the email tracker that showed the opened emails and sent it to her. I sent her two emails telling her that if she didn't pay up, I would lien the properties. I also told her if I had to do that, she was also going to pay the costs associated with placing the liens ($100 per property). She didn't open the emails. Thats when I knew she had absolutely no intention to pay. 3 and a 1/2 months had passed. So I went ahead on placing a lien on the 4 homes (in the UK, you call it putting a charge on the home), sent a registered letter with copies of the lien. Only 2 of the homes were still actively for sale. In my letter, I said that if I did not get paid in full within a week (cashiers check only) then copies of the liens would be sent to the owners of the homes. Guess what? I got paid within 2 days. Im not sure if the late payers is because I am in Florida. Most people on the east coast of the U.S. that know anything about Florida is that it does attract quite a few undesirable people, so maybe its my location. Initially I got a little pushback when I started to charge at the time of their order, but that went away real quick when I started delivering their tours the next day after their shoot. If a client wants their money back if they are not happy even though their tour exceeds our sample standards, I give it to them with a recommendation of another company with whom they may prefer. You see, when this happens, I know that they are just trying to get their money back because the home went 'under contract' on or the next day after the shoot. "Hey, let me save myself $300 by telling them I am unhappy with the tour" they say to themselves. We tell clients that our policy is that she has to allow us to try and fix any issues that she is not happy with before we can issue a refund. A particular client agreed that this was fair policy. But I smelled a rat. This agent had used us a couple of times in the past and the tour we did for her was no different to the previous ones we did for her. So we did a complete re-shoot of the property so that nothing could be the same as the one she said wasn't acceptable. I sent a different photographer too. She got the new tour back the next day. She said it was still not good enough and wanted the refund. Thats when I knew for sure that the whole thing was a farce. All she did was just go through the motions of our policy in order to get a refund. She had no intentions of liking what ever we did for her. So I checked and saw that the home was placed 'under contract' the day after the re-shoot. I refunded her with a recommendation of another company that she may find more suitable for her needs. So instead of me making $100, it actually cost me $240 after I paid both my guys that shot the property. If she has the $@lls to order again, I will politely tell her that nothing has changed with our tour process and that she won't be happy with our results. Are you saying to yourself right now, why on earth would she order from us again after this? Well the first story in this post, about the lady that owed me $1000? Of course, I banned her from using her account. About two months later, we had a new account from a lady that used use 6 times in about 2 months. On the 7th order, she asked if we could add another name on her tour template as she had partnered up with someone. Waddaya know, it was the lady that tried to knock us. Of course we said nothing to her as it was her credit card that we now had on file. Nothing surprises me anymore with agents. You just have to cover your bases. |
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kellysuesharp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| We invoice the day after we do the shoot. Since we normally deliver the model the next day it is not a big deal. We will work on model until they are 100% satisfied. We have an event venue that has tweaked their model 3 or 4 times (only 3 tags so not too much trouble), but we use them as a major reference so we continue to edit as they see fit. We have never not been paid and sometimes they even pay the same day we invoice. Kelly Owner, virtualATX Austin Texas |
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Premium Member North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @cswartz So by that measure, if the client told you that they were 99% satisfied and it wasn't possible to get them to 100%, you would tell them not to pay you?. You think that Ruths Chris Steakhouse would comp. an entire meal costing $240 if one of the customers told them that the french beans had a little too much garlic in it when in actuality it had the measured amount that goes in every serving? Even if they fixed the beans and re-served them with less, the experience for the client still wasn't 100%. So lets comp the meal for them? In business, you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. Yes, its good policy to try but to say that you'd rather not get paid because a client was not happy for 1% is not business savvy |
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North Myrtle Beach, SC |
cswartz private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @hometakes Dearest Abe, it is important to me to do the best job I can do to explain the challenges and limitations of the technology before agreeing to provide the service. The client needs to understand and accept the fact that a 99% solution far exceeds the photoshopped images and virtual tours they are currently using. If they choose to ignore that after the fact, we have the ability to control "public sharing" and that can be very powerful. If a client contracts for your services, chances are very good they like the technology and are willing to pay for it and turning off their access will get their attention quicker than anything else. If a client is not happy, I choose to remain positive and do my level best to solve the problem. We are in an open market with few barriers to entry and anyone that chooses to buy a camera becomes our competitor. I have been working a long time to gain the respect and build a trusting relationship with my clients and if that means I may have to eat the cost of a shoot, then so be it. I would analyze what went wrong and learn from it so I can avoid it in the future. And by the way once the meal is consumed, there is no going back (at least in a civil way) so expecting a comp at that point would be a little bold. If I complain after receiving the $240 meal but before consuming it, chances are good most issues can be resolved before a confrontation ensues. |
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Premium Member North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @cswartz Ive been working at this a long time too. 12 Years . We bend over backwards to get our clients happy. But there are always a few that put the hair in the soup after eating all nearly all of it and then call you over to tell you that there is a hair in their soup. Even though you know what they did, you don't charge them for it, right? Of course, you let it slide. But what happens the next time when they do it again and put a hair on their desert after eating almost all of it. Do you keep taking it off of their bill? Or do you call them out and tell them that you saw them put it there? Or would you cut them loose and not accept their next order? Im just curious how you handle an absolute @$$ & B@ll Buster that doesn't want to pay you? If you haven't had any like that, then you are seriously a very lucky person.  |
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North Myrtle Beach, SC |
cswartz private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @hometakes I have spent more years than I choose to remember in business and I have been with Matterport since late 2014. I have never had a Matterport client not make a payment. I had one that was slow to make the payment until I cut off his access and I quickly received a phone call and payment. I'm not sure if its luck or I just choose to spend time with my client up front setting expectations for both of us. A clear understanding of the agreement we are entering into is important. Over the years I have definitely caught more bees with honey than vinegar. |
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North Myrtle Beach, SC |
cswartz private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @DanSmigrod Do you have an opinion on the ways different providers approach payments? Is there a right and/or wrong approach? Should we have a standard we could all benefit from by conforming to it? I certainly value your opinion and input and I'm thinking you may have had a reason for asking the question. | ||
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kellysuesharp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| We have never had a customer ask for a refund so will approach that issue if it ever happens. if they are 99% happy that is awesome. I think we run a great business. My point was if they want changes made to the model such as labels names changed or a couple of extra matter tags we will do it. Not quite so literal. Kel |
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Expertise private msg quote post Address this user | |
| We invoice the day before a shoot, and we release images upon payment. That is our policy, and we explain that this system allows us to keep prices low, turn around time fast and quality high. The simpler you make your business, the more business you can handle. | ||
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Premium Member North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @expertise Thats what we say too. | ||
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Expertise private msg quote post Address this user | |
| A thought: run your business like a business. Don't run it like a hobby. "Here's your Matterport scan, pay me when you get around to it" is not business like. |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DanSmigrod While I do invoice the moment that I send the client the link, I request payment upon complete satisfaction. So far, I'm batting one hundred. No one has stiffed me. I have had one unhappy client concerning a GSV conversion - and his dissatisfaction with Google Street View's 'see-inside' no longer being an option is shared by me, understood, and I was happy that I managed to sell him a Matterport Tour from a GSV lead Just didn't get the GSV bonus! |
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