Lesson 4: Explain Preliminary Notices to People You Work With

Now that you have an understanding of what preliminary notices are and how they can improve your payment process, it’s time to figure out how you can start sending them.

Which jobs will you send preliminary notices on?

Some companies send notices only on certain jobs or only to select customers, but the best practice is to send preliminary notices on all jobs, so you never lose out on the benefits and protection. Having a blanket policy also makes it easier to communicate your policy to coworkers and customers.

If you’re not sure where to start, ask yourself:

• Which jobs do you want to get paid faster on?
• Which jobs do you want to build better relationships on?
• Which jobs are you not willing to risk non-payment on, or lose a night’s sleep over?
• In an ideal world, would you send notices on all jobs if time and expense weren’t an issue?

Use these questions to guide you as you write up your policy and share it with your team.

What process will you follow to send notices?

Some of the hardest parts of rolling out a new notice process are figuring out the requirements you need to comply with and coming up with a consistent process to make sure you don’t miss a deadline or a step.

Every state has its own rules for when the document needs to be sent, who it needs to be sent to, how it needs to be sent (certified mail, certified mail return receipt, etc.), and what language or details must appear on the form.

That’s why outsourcing your notice procedures is usually more cost-effective and time-saving than trying to manage a notice process in-house. Using a software solution to manage your deadlines and outsource your mailing can save you lots of time and money. See the next lesson, How to Start Sending Preliminary Notices Through Levelset, to see how we can help.

Who else needs to get on board?

It’s important for your customer-facing teams to understand the benefits of preliminary notices so that they can set expectations with customers and answer any questions that may arise.

It’s also important for your boss and leadership to understand the value of rolling out a notice process, so they can support you and help you measure the impact of your new process on the business as a whole.

At Levelset, we aim to empower you to have these conversations with your team, leaders, and customers. We’ve put together some resources to help start this process of rolling out a new notice policy. Click here to check out our resources for communicating your notice policy to customers and coworkers.