Listen, God, to my prayer; do not hide from my pleading; hear me and give answer (Psalm 55:2-3).

You thought the client was a good person. Someone you knew referred them to you, and you trusted them. They signed a contract—but somehow, they never paid you for the work you completed for them.

Being ghosted by a client can leave freelancers and business owners feeling frustrated, confused, and disheartened. It's a common occurrence, but it doesn't have to spell disaster for your business relationships. Here are five strategies that can help.

1. Prepare for Future Clients

It’s easy to think that a client will pay you because they are a family friend, a good person, or a Christian. But the law protects employees and business owners. There aren’t a lot of laws to protect contractors, which is why if you are a contractor, you need to be paid up front, before you do any work. If they don’t pay you, there will be little you can do about it without dealing with a lot of court fees—which often will be more expensive than the invoice balance.

If you offer an hourly retainer, have the client pay you for 10 to 20 hours at a time. If they run out of hours, let them know, and they can choose to buy more hours or end the engagement.

2. Stay Professional

When reaching out to a ghosting client, stay courteous and professional. Offer concern—maybe something happened to them—and offer to work with them.

3. Reinforce Deadlines and Commitments

Remind the client about the contract they signed and its terms, including the tasks and deadlines that they agreed upon when they signed it.

4. Seek Alternatives

If the client won’t respond to emails, try calling them. If that doesn’t work, try finding them on any form of social media you can find, including Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. If you have their address, send them a letter. If they are local, visit their office.

5. Learn and Adapt

Use this experience as a learning opportunity. You cannot force someone to communicate with you, but you can set a good example and follow the right processes to try to receive your payment.

Learn from your mistakes. Focus your energy on the clients who will pay you and help you grow your business. And, never do work without payment again. I would even encourage you to put people on auto-pay using an ACH or credit card authorization form as part of your contract or onboarding process.

As business owners or freelancers, we often must have unpleasant conversations. We have to do things we don’t like to do, which may include having upfront conversations with clients and prospective clients about how your payment process works. But, after all, we are all trying to make a difference with our business, and we can’t help others if we aren’t being paid for the work we do.

Beth Anne Kaczmarczyk is a cradle Catholic and wife who is passionate in helping others in her community with her husband through the Knights of Columbus. She has been a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor for over 10 years and runs her own Bookkeeping firm at BethAnneBookkeeping.com. She is passionate about helping small businesses understand their business finances so they can have less stress and grow their businesses. You can connect with her on her website, Instagram or join her monthly newsletter to receive a Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist!