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Alice Chen's avatar

What lovely tips thanks for sharing! My old boss gave me tip number one - love it! I once read a story where a woman invented a male assistant, who negotiated for her… She got higher rates. I haven’t done it, but I think it’s a fascinating idea… I need to try to channel the male mindset.

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Kate Darracott's avatar

OMG that is genius re the virtual male assistant, I can see that would totally work… sadly. 👏

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Alice Chen's avatar

I should put up a sign on my wall, think like a man LOL

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Kate Darracott's avatar

That would only be good for some occasions, overall I think we’re better communicators. 😉

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Alice Chen's avatar

That’s true! Maybe have the confidence of the Man 😅

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Kate Darracott's avatar

I totally agree with that!

I’m endlessly fascinated by their confidence, it’s astounding. 😳

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Alice Chen's avatar

I know! She had her brother pose as the assistant, whenever they wanted to talk to a man…

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Kate Harvey's avatar

Fabulous tips! Funnily enough my inner critic is called Brenda. She probably works in imaginary accounts too! 😅

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Kate Darracott's avatar

You don’t want to mess with Brenda, she’s a force to be reckoned with! 😉😂

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Kate Harvey's avatar

She is, I keep having to show her the door! 😁

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Kate Darracott's avatar

😂😂😂

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Keris Fox's avatar

Really great tips. I’ve claimed the late payment fee and interest before and either they’ve paid the original invoice instantly (ignoring the fee and interest) or they’ve paid the lot.

I see people saying they don’t want to charge it because then the company might not use them again and a) didn’t seem to make any difference when I did it, and b) not that keen on working for someone who doesn’t pay anyway!

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Kate Darracott's avatar

Great that you’ve used it too! 👏

I’ve never had any pushback from clients afterwards either, maybe as Brenda is dealing with their Nicola it’s all at arm’s length by the time you get to payment chasing. 😉

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Terry Freedman's avatar

JUst out of interest, if we ever meet up in real life, who exactly would I be meeting?

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Kate Darracott's avatar

Hee hee, I’m now a Google mash-up of me / Brenda / Lucy… but I’m seriously thinking of inventing a Ryan to negotiate for me, as per Alice’s comment above! 😂

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Terry Freedman's avatar

🫣

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Terry Freedman's avatar

Me too, Keris. A couple of times I ended up sending the interest penalty letter, at which point the company discovered and apologised for an administrative error. Really? In the end I turned down work from two clients because getting money out of them was too time-consuming. I'd rather spend my energy on people who appreciate the quality of the work.

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In-Her-Words's avatar

Fantastic tips, thanks so much! I must channel my inner movie buff for some "authentic" assistants😉 This is going to be so much fun!!

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Nicholas's avatar

"Brenda would like a word" ... would haunt me with fear if I was juggling payments. She has that look in her eye.

After you published this, I have heard she freelances for a large number of small companies, doing the rounds, collecting debts.

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Kate Darracott's avatar

Oh yes, she runs a tight ship! You don’t want to pay late on Brenda’s shift! 😉😂

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Rick Bowers's avatar

Thanks for the tips, Kate.

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Ororo Munroe's avatar

I love the fact that there's a business--in the UK, no less--named after a character from the James Bond movies. That is bloody AWESOME!! I named my second cat Moneypenny when I was in high school.

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Kate Darracott's avatar

It's a great name for a company of personal assistants... and indeed a cat. 👏

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Ororo Munroe's avatar

Indeed. As well as a personalized license plate. LOL Which I did. 6 letters. It was perfect. Because she was, basically, an assistant. I clicked on the link to check them out, but didn't even think to read their About page to see the inspiration behind the name. I know I can't be wrong about that, though. That's just so awesome. I saw that and I was like WHAAAT? FOR REAL?

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SleepyHollow, inK.'s avatar

I love the part about making up people to do the dirty work of money collection and such. Brenda, so funny and useful.

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Sarah Shoesmith's avatar

Brilliant tips! Fortunately I've never had a problem with late payment (I can't work out whether that's because I have exceptional clients, or I'm scarier than I think I am), but I have a number of friends who could seriously do with Brenda. I will let them know where to find out about her.

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Kate Darracott's avatar

You are lucky with your clients, well done! 👏

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Sarah Shoesmith's avatar

Very lucky, but now I know I can fall back on Brenda should I stumble upon a late-payer, so thank you for that!

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Kate Darracott's avatar

She’ll always be waiting in the wings to help, should you need her. 😘

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lucy sweet's avatar

You are a genius! BRENDA KICKS ASS

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Kate Darracott's avatar

She really does! 👏

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Antonia Taylor's avatar

Oops...got to number 1 and realised I'd failed...and every year I swear is the one I'll bring in late payment fees...it's always the same client :(

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Kate Darracott's avatar

You need to virtually hire Brenda, she’ll sort out those late payers. 😉

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Alice Chen's avatar

Let me clarify – the “male” assistant got her higher rates, and less pushback during negotiations with clients

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Terry Freedman's avatar

Great tips, Kate. I like the idea of always having a 'Liz'. Interesting about using 'we': I never did. I set up as Terry Freedman Ltd because I was already well-known and respected in my field before I went freelance. It always used to make me smile, though, when someone who didn't know me would phone and ask if they could speak to the marketing manager/ Customer support/new work scheduler. "Oh, that would be me I think!", I say to myself :-)

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Kate Darracott's avatar

Absolutely, if your name carries weight, then by all means use it! 👏

It took me a while to figure out using a pseudonym on Livechat too rather than just Kate, as I would be talking on the phone to a prospective client/supplier, who would invariably go to the website and then be asked by Kate how they could help them. 😉

I adopted Sarah after that... and latterly Lucy... after I had to let Sarah go for walking out on a customer mid-chat. 😂

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Terry Freedman's avatar

LOL.

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