I've worked in industries where customers don't like paying invoices.

Fortunately, the widget we sell is good enough they'll want to buy again within a few months. So our rule is pretty simple - we won't send another batch of widgets until they've paid the overdue invoice for the last batch.

And if they've dicked us around too much in the past - we send them a proforma invoice. They can pay before we dispatch.

> just let it slide because the relationship feels more important than the cash

What use is a 'relationship' with a customer that doesn't pay?

Sure, you might hope to parlay a good relationship into larger orders in the future. It's natural to have dollar signs cloud your vision when you're talking to someone at a well known multi-billion-dollar company. You hope this person ordering $500 of widgets for a prototype will place an order for $500,000 of widgets in due course.

But the truth is, for every person with the authority to place that huge order there are 100+ interns building one-off prototypes during 3 month summer internships. If your contact can't get a $500 invoice paid, then you're not talking to someone with the authority to spend $500,000.

> What use is a 'relationship' with a customer that doesn't pay?

The most important take-away you’ll learn in this thread, OP. Sometimes it’s a hard lesson to learn, but the sooner you learn it, the better.

In what industry do you work?