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Gocardless Direct debit – Why is it the only payment option we offer to our domestic regular window cleaning customers?

Gocardless Direct Debit is a brilliant way to pay regular bills.

In the past we used to accept all forms of payment. But for many years now, Gocardless direct debit has been the only payment method we offer to new customers.

So why did we make the change? – Cash, Standing Orders and BACS payments are great aren’t they?

Well actually, no. As we grew as a company, we realised very early on that we would need to find a way to streamline our admin. Reconciling and chasing hundreds of individual customer payments each month just isn’t practical. And if you have a customer that you can’t get hold of, or is a poor payer, chasing just one customer can consume a significant amount of time each month (none of which we charge for).

Standing orders also get out of sync very quickly because we offer 4 or 8 weekly cleans rather than monthly or bi-monthly cleans. So standing orders don’t work either. And with payment by BACS, it’s easy to make mistakes. A customer can accidently miss a payment and need chasing, or pay the wrong amount, creating more admin for us.

Gocardless direct debit has helped us streamline our business and keep our costs as low as possible.

But there are so many benefits – here are a few;

A clear record of payments

Long gone are the days when our cleaners would collect cheques from our customers, only to accidentally leave said cheque in his trouser pocket…and wash them. With Gocardless, there is never any uncertainty over who has paid what. There is a clear record for us and our customers to see.

No more late payments

After each clean, we request payment from Gocardless. If the customer takes no action, payment lands in our bank about a week later.

Customers can “set and forget”

Our customers are busy people, so it really suits them to set up Gocardless and then forget about it. (They receive an email from Gocardless each time we request payment, so they remain in control)

Great for one-off payments

Gocardless isn’t just useful for taking recurring payments. We can take one-off payments for one-off cleans as well. Many of our customers want to book one-off Gutter Cleaning, Fascia & Soffit cleaning, Solar Panel cleaning or Conservatory Roof cleaning services as well. Gocardless makes it easy to take one-off payments for these one-off services.

It’s so easy to set up

All our quotes are sent by email, and in that ‘Quote’ email will be a link to Gocardless. So it’s super easy for our new customers to set up Gocardless and complete their booking. It takes less than 2 minutes.

It’s secure

We don’t hold any bank details for our customers, Gocardless looks after all that. Gocardless is a vetted and approved payment provider. Nearly 100,000 businesses, from start-ups to household names, use GoCardless to collect payments. And Gocardless strictly adheres to the direct debit guarantee; so, our customers are in safe hands.

So, in review, after having used Gocardless to collect payments for well over 10 years now, we think it’s brilliant! The above benefits are by no means an exhaustive list. But in short, Gocardless direct debits are quick to set up, convenient, simple and safe. Plus, they save us a lot of admin! (which I am very grateful for) So what could be better?

Until our next blog, take care everyone!

Rebekah Jones

Company Director