“Do what you’ve got to do”. I’ve always been intrigued by this statement from customers you are chasing for payment. Along with “you will get paid when I get paid”, there is no more frustrating response. It is patronising and dismissive in equal measure but they think being servile will appease you and buy them some more time, when in fact it just makes you angry and say something you may later regret. I find the best way to respond to “do what you’ve got to do” is something like this: “We certainly will but I would rather work with you rather than against you so if things are tough please just say so”. You will be biting your tongue as you say this and it will feel completely unnatural but one of my old favourite sayings is “Lose the fight if it means winning the war”- focus only on getting your money, not on winning an argument. Customers being difficult is a classic defensive mechanism designed to mask the fact they don’t have the money. Hope this helps guys
“Do what you’ve gotta do”