“Debt collection” brings to mind lawyers, courts and broken business relationships. In many companies nobody wants to do it, and a customer who receives a message with those words in the subject line immediately feels accused. Yet most receivables work has little to do with debt collection. It is routine follow-up on payment dates, and it is worth starting before an invoice is even overdue.
The best time to send a reminder is before the due date
Often the first message to the customer goes out only after the due date has passed. The company sends the invoice, waits, and starts sending reminders once it is late. By then several things could have happened. The customer may have paid already or forgotten about the invoice, it may be stuck in an approval process, or a customer short on cash may have paid other suppliers first.
A short message a few days before the due date catches the invoices that were forgotten or got stuck, and it puts nobody in an awkward position. It reminds the customer about the payment while they are planning it and shows that your company keeps track of its receivables. Customers read it the way they read an appointment reminder from their dentist, as plain information.
A different name changes how your team works
Once you stop calling this work debt collection, it becomes easier to organize. Following up on payment dates is a routine that you carry out calmly and according to rules, without wondering whether it is appropriate. Debt collection sounds like confrontation, so people put it off and treat every call like firefighting.
Our customers talk about it the same way. They rarely tell us they have a collections problem. More often they say “we do it by hand” or “someone has to keep track of who has paid.” That is an accurate description. Most of the time goes into repetitive work, and difficult conversations are less common.
A sample schedule
A steady rhythm of messages can look like this.
- 5 days before the due date. A polite note that invoice 1234 is due on March 15, with your bank details or a payment link.
- On the due date. A short reminder that the payment is due today.
- 3 days after. A message that the invoice is a few days overdue, asking the customer to let you know if the payment has already been made.
- 7 days after. A firm reminder with the amount and the date by which you expect payment.
- 14 days after. A call or a message from the account manager, followed by an interest note or a demand letter.
For the first week after the due date, this is still routine follow-up. The schedule has to run consistently and must not depend on whether someone has time. It can look different for different customer groups. A large regular customer might get a call from their account manager instead of a firm email. You will find ready-made wording for these messages in our payment reminder email templates.
A steady rhythm instead of one person’s effort
Companies that follow up on payments in bursts tend to look alike. The CEO or CFO personally calls about the largest invoices, the team reacts only when a problem appears, and delays of several weeks become normal. In companies with a steady reminder rhythm, the team steps in for customers who don’t respond or who raise a problem, and the remaining invoices get paid without anyone’s intervention.
When the team stops treating this work as a fight with customers, it also becomes easier to decide on automation. A system sends routine reminders more consistently than a person does. Sunbay runs a schedule like this for every invoice by email and text message, and when a customer raises a problem or a conversation is needed, it passes the case to someone on your team. See how collections automation works in Sunbay.
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