Working with others
When the other party is a person, not a company
An employee, a tenant, a patient or a private customer does not behave like a supplier, and should not be treated like one.
Almost everything that works with suppliers can be applied to individuals, but four differences change the outcome. Ignoring them explains most cases where a process that ran beautifully with companies stalls with private individuals.
The four differences
| With a company | With a person |
|---|---|
| Someone's job is to answer you | Answering you is nobody's job |
| Email is read during working hours | The phone is checked at any hour, email almost never |
| They know what the documents are and where | They may not know exactly what you are asking for |
| The data belongs to the company | The data is theirs, and that changes your obligations |
Important
The fourth carries the most consequences and gets the least thought. When the other party is a person, what they supply is **their** personal data: ask only for what is needed, say what for, and do not keep it longer than necessary. Over-asking "just in case" is awkward with a company; with a person it is a decision you answer for.
What changes in practice
- 1
The channel
A phone message works far better than email, and is often the only one read.
- 2
The wording
Document names they recognise: "your ID, both sides", not "identifying documentation".
- 3
The effort expectation
If they must register or install something, half give up. By their link, with no account, they do not.
- 4
And the tone of chasing
Two spaced reminders, not five: with individuals, over-chasing burns the relationship rather than speeding it up.
Watch out
The commonest mistake is reusing the supplier template with four words changed. Text that looks normal to an accountancy firm — "you are required to submit the requisite documentation within the stated period" — reads to an individual as bureaucracy or outright fraud, and they do not reply. And when they do not, the conclusion is usually that they "are not cooperating", when the problem was the message.
What should stay the same
That last one protects both sides: in a relationship with an individual, proof of what they accepted and when is as useful to them as to you.
Worth knowing
If you will handle documentation for many people — staff, tenants, patients, students — decide beforehand what is kept and for how long. It is the part that cannot be fixed afterwards and the one that weighs most if someone exercises their rights.
›Can I remind them on WhatsApp?
If you have a basis to use that channel with that person, yes, and it usually works much better.
›What if they send the photo by messaging?
Upload it to the file: what cannot happen is it living only on someone's phone.
›Do they need to create an account?
No, and that is exactly what to avoid: they enter by their link and supply or sign.
A real case
The situation
A letting agency uses its supplier template with tenants and nobody replies.
What you do
- Rewrites the request with document names people recognise
- Sends by phone and leaves two spaced reminders
What you get
Tenant documentation arrives in days instead of weeks, with no phone calls.
The situation
Documentation is requested from a sole trader in the same tone and volume as from a hundred-person company.
What you do
- Requests the minimum that meets the requirement
- Explains in one line what each item is for
- Gives them somewhere to upload without registering
What you get
The sole trader delivers the same day instead of giving up for not knowing where to start.
The situation
They are sent a portal with registration and never get in.
What you do
- Sends the direct link with no account
What you get
They deliver without friction.
The situation
Nine documents are requested at once.
What you do
- Requests two and adds the rest later
What you get
The first attempt completes.
The situation
They are written to in large-company jargon.
What you do
- Writes as you would speak to them on the phone
What you get
The message is understood without a call.
The situation
Reminders arrive daily and they feel hounded.
What you do
- Spaces out the cadence
What you get
The relationship does not suffer.
The situation
They send a photo of the document from their phone.
What you do
- Accepts the photo if it reads and records it
What you get
The delivery counts and the file moves on.
The situation
A document that does not exist in their case is requested.
What you do
- Checks what applies to a sole trader before asking
What you get
The impossible is not chased.
This article answers
- requesting documents from a private individual
- signing with consumers
- the employee will not sign what i send
- tenant or patient documentation