SUMMARYCompany: Levelset Customer Since: Type: # of Employees: Primary Levelset User: Responsibilities: Challenge: “When doing collections, it wasn’t unusual for it to take 20 calls and emails just to get a customer’s attention about a past due invoice. Now, when I use the Levelset platform, my customers call me and ask, “how can I pay?” | BackgroundMarisol Velasquez is an A/R manager at Bay Plumbing, a plumbing subcontractor based in Miami, FL that does both residential and commercial projects. Bay has an office/support staff of 5 people, but collections are her primary responsibility. When we first got to know Marisol, she was dealing with a problem that may sound familiar to just about anyone reading this post: Bay was having trouble collecting on a few past due invoices. In Marisol’s case, she was dealing with 2 delinquent customers, and even though she had called and emailed each customer 20 or more times trying to collect, neither was responding. Deciding to Use LevelsetAfter weeks of diligent effort, all to no avail, Marisol was beyond frustrated, and her boss was starting to worry that they might never see payment. With both Marisol and her boss at their wit’s end, they reached out to levelset for help. After a consultation, Bay Plumbing signed on as a Levelset customer. Marisol then went through Levelset training process. All of Levelset‘s training is hosted in personalized sessions at the customer’s pace. We understand the learning curve and provide live customer support to answer any questions. Marisol found our live chat to be the most helpful and loves always having someone there to help her navigate the system. Immediate ResultsMarisol sent a preliminary notice (called a Notice to Owner or NTO in Florida) to her 2 delinquent customers, and both paid their past due invoices almost immediately. She then sent an NTO to a third customer that was heading towards delinquency status, and they paid immediately as well. After all the time and effort Marisol spent trying to get these customers to pay their bills, finally sending an NTO through the levelset platform got her customers to pay their invoices almost immediately. |
WHY DID IT WORK?
When Marisol sent preliminary notices, it finally got her customers’ attention in a way that another phone call or email never could. In her opinion, sending the preliminary notices was so effective because it showed the delinquent customers that Bay meant business when it came to getting paid.
It’s easy for delinquent customers to ignore yet another collections call or email. But when they receive a preliminary notice or notice of intent to lien, they will see that you understand that the lien laws are on your side, and that you aren’t afraid to leverage your rights to get paid fairly and on time.
Lien rights are powerful. Marisol has joined the ranks of thousands of our customers who have secured payment through our platform.
“Now, my customers call me and ask,
‘How can I pay this invoice?’”
~Marisol Velasquez
Even though lien rights exist in all 50 states to help construction companies get paid, many construction industry professionals incorrectly assume that they have to hire a lawyer to exercise their rights. However, as our customers have discovered, you can bring the full might of your state’s lien laws to bear just by using levelset, without having to call a lawyer.
Avoid Payment Problems in the Future
After collecting on 100% of her delinquent customers, Marisol and her boss saw first-hand the value of leveraging their lien rights to get paid. As Marisol herself says, “nothing makes a collections manager happier than getting paid!”
With guidance on construction payment best practices from Alyssa, Bay’s Account Manager at Levelset, Marisol is developing a plan to utilize Levelset for all of their projects up front, rather than waiting for payment problems to arise. Instead of spending time trying to track down delinquent customers, Marisol is looking forward to being able to spend that time building positive relationships with her customers instead.
The more often our customers use Levelset on the projects or jobs, we’ve found that late payments are less likely to occur. Sending preliminary notices through the Levelset platform alerts other parties on the job of your company’s involvement while also saying loud and clear that, you mean business when it comes to getting paid.
