I pay my bills quickly. It is my way of telling the people with whom I deal that I value their services. I want my suppliers to remember that I am the guy who pays them the same day that I receive their invoice. I figure that there will be days in January when the furnace stops furnacing, or in July when the air conditioner stops conditioning. When something like that happens and they can only get to one more customer that day, maybe they will choose me over that other guy who only pays them after the third follow-up call. (Of course, this general principle does not apply to people like Bell Canada or Rogers who I pay on time, but not early, because they don’t value me, so I don’t value them. If Air Canada did not demand the ticket price in advance, I would never ever pay them.)
Back when I was practicing law, I would move heaven and earth for clients who valued what I did for them. If they loved me, I would love them right back. And how did I know who loved me? If I had asked Cher, she would have said: “Does he love me? I want to know. How can I tell if he loves me so? Is it in his eyes? Oh no! You’ll be deceived. Is it in his sighs? Oh no! He’ll make believe. If you want to know if he loves you so, it’s in his kiss.”
With all due respect to Cher, and everyone else who sang those famous lyrics, I beg to differ, at least when it comes to law firm clients. How did I know if they loved me? I knew if they paid me. In full. Without question. Quickly.
That is how I knew.
I had some clients who talked a good game. They said thank you and professed to be appreciative of what I had done for them. However, their real appreciation never seemed to show up until after 60 days. Often longer. To them, I would quote Julie Andrews who famously sang, “Don’t talk of stars burning above; if you’re in love, show me!”
This article is dedicated to someone who says that they love me, but recently paid me slowly, very slowly. I feel that my love is unrequited.
(I have always wanted to use the word “unrequited” in an article.)
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.