A customer told me my invoices were confusing, and she was right

Had a lady call me up last month after I did her furnace tune-up. She said she couldn't tell what parts I charged for versus just labor. I looked at my invoice again and she was totally right - I had it all jumbled together in one block of numbers. So I changed my template to list parts first with their prices, then a separate line for labor. First time I sent out the new style I got an email back saying 'this makes way more sense.' Has anyone else had to redo their paperwork because a customer pointed out the problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

keith11623d ago

Yeah that's a good point about going blind to your own stuff. I think most people need a fresh pair of eyes on their paperwork every once in a while to catch the stuff you stop noticing.

emma34923d ago

Heard a guy on a podcast once talk about how customers ALWAYS see the stuff we miss because we look at our own paperwork every day and go blind to it. Your invoice example is classic - we design things for ourselves, not for the person paying us. That's a good move splitting parts and labor separate. Most people just want to know what they're getting for their money and where exactly it went. I'd bet half the confusion in small business comes from paperwork that makes sense to us but looks like gibberish to everyone else. Smart you actually listened and changed it instead of getting defensive.