Prevent nonpayment at the sale, not afterward
Photo: Avila Ops Tecnologia
Nonpayment is prevented when you decide how to collect, not when the boleto becomes due. Five rules handle most of it: Pix or card for customers without a history, boleto only with verified customer details, a deposit on every custom order, a credit limit per customer, and every credit sale recorded in one place. None costs money. All require the courage to say “upfront” to someone asking for time to pay.
In December, these rules loosen: there is a line, everyone is rushing, and nobody wants to lose a sale. It is also the month when January’s overdue debt is born. The R$ 900 credit sale on December 22 becomes February’s collection effort.
Why does prevention work when collection does not?
Because at the sale you have power: the customer wants the product, and you decide the terms. During collection, you have nothing: the product is gone, the money did not arrive, and the customer decides whether to answer. Every rule you fail to apply at the sale becomes a collection attempt you make without leverage.
If your nonpayment rate is 8% and your margin is 15%, more than half the profit disappears with nonpaying customers: of every R$ 15 per R$ 100 sold, R$ 7 remains. Moving 30% of credit sales to upfront Pix reduces that number without losing most customers, because people who intend to pay will pay either way.
What are the five rules, and what does each cost?
| Rule | How to apply it | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| No history, no payment terms | First purchase is Pix, card, or a boleto paid before release | Some sales to people who only buy on credit |
| Boleto only with customer details | Verified CPF or CNPJ, phone, address, and email | Two minutes per new customer |
| Deposit on custom orders | 30% to 50% when ordered, without exceptions | Nothing; someone who will not pay a deposit was not going to collect it |
| Credit limit | A written maximum amount per customer that counter staff check | Saying no to customers over the limit |
| One record | Every credit sale with name, amount, and due date in the system or CRM | Discipline, not money |
The deposit rule saves Christmas more than any other. A custom gift basket, cake, altered garment, made-to-measure furniture: without a deposit, you buy the materials and the customer decides later whether to collect. With a deposit, someone paying 40% collects the other 60%.
The credit limit rule protects you from a good customer who turns bad. They buy reliably for two years, the account grows, and when they stop paying, the amount is too large to absorb. A R$ 300 or R$ 500 limit, known to the people selling, ends the problem before it begins.
How do you say no without losing the sale?
Customers asking for payment terms want the product. Offer another route to the same product: immediate Pix with a small discount, card installments through the terminal (the risk of an unpaid card bill stays with the card’s bank), or a boleto paid before delivery. The phrase is “this is how we work with everyone,” which is true and does not make the refusal personal.
For longtime customers who have always had payment terms, the change needs a reason and a date: “starting in January, new orders require the previous one to be paid off.” Notify them in December; apply it in January. People who pay reliably are not offended. The offended ones are the ones who actually owe you.
All this depends on knowing who is who at the counter and on WhatsApp: who has a history, who is at their limit, who has an outstanding balance. Without records, every credit sale is a guess. The guide CRM for small businesses with WhatsApp shows how customer history becomes visible at the sale.
What to do now
Write the five rules on a sheet and put it by the register by December 24. Apply the deposit to every custom order starting tomorrow. In January, send “new orders require the previous one to be paid off” to customers with outstanding balances. If you want customer history visible at the sale, at the counter and on WhatsApp, describe your business; the assessment is at our expense: avilaops.com/jornada or contact us on WhatsApp: wa.me/5517997811471.
Frequently asked questions
Can I check a customer’s CPF before selling on credit?
Yes, through paid credit-check services. The LGPD permits data use for credit protection (article 7, X), and informing the customer you will run a check is the most transparent approach. For a small business, your own history (did they pay for their last three purchases?) is usually enough and costs nothing.
Are card installments safer than boleto?
Yes. With cards, the default risk stays with the issuing bank; you receive payment even if the customer does not pay the bill. The cost is the fee, and the remaining risk is a purchase dispute. With boleto, the risk is entirely yours.
What if a customer complains about losing the terms they always had?
Explain that the rule applies equally to everyone and offer card installments. Customers who have bought and paid for years usually accept. Someone who absolutely refuses is telling you something about their next purchase.
Turn what you learned into your next step.
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