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How to word the second email reminder of an overdue account

May 30th, 2011 by Michael Todd
In a previous article Michael Todd explained how to word your first email to a client who has not paid an account. Now, he steps you through the process if a further reminder is needed.
Writing a cheque
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The second reminder email should be sent as a FORWARD so it can use the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Short and Simple). It doesn’t need to repeat details of the overdue invoice as those can be seen in the first one.

By doing this, it serves two purposes. It reminds the debtor
1: of the overdue account and
2: that he or she has been reminded before.

The wording used is still deliberately “soft”:
- “hope to”…. instead of “will”
- “help you with” …. Instead of “contact me”.
Such a gentle approach is less “threatening” to debtors and as a result, more debtors will contact the creditor if they do have any queries or disputes.

Wording for a SECOND Reminder Email:

From: accounts
Sent: 20 February 2011 9.35 AM
To: your debtor's email adress
Subject: FY: name-of-your-business

Dear Sir or Madam,

The amount below was for a December invoice.

Please advise when you hope to be forwarding this balance or
let me know if you have any queries that I can help you with.

Regards,

________________________________________
From: accounts
Sent: 10 February 2011 14:39 PM
To: your debtor's email adress
Subject: name-of-your-business

Dear Sir or Madam,

Invoice for: Your Debtor Pty Ltd
Invoice No: 12345
Amount: $1,200.00

According to our records, the above amount appears to be outstanding.

If payment has been made, thank you.
If it hasn't, please organise for settlement in the near future.

Please contact me if you have any queries or if I can be of any assistance.

Kind Regards,

Expected Responses

In our experience, these are the results that can be expected using this two-tier email reminder process:-

•About one third (33%) of debtors that receive First Email Reminder will respond. Some pay, some make a part-payment, some dispute, some ask for an invoice copy but they respond.
•About half (50%) of debtors that are sent an Second Email Reminder will respond to this second reminder.
In other words, if there were 100 overdue accounts.
33 would respond after receiving the First Email Reminder.
33 (50% of the remaining 67) will respond after the second.
Leaving only 34 debtors who have not responded at all.

And all done using non-confrontational wording and at low cost. But the “trick”, as always is to Start Early.

You will find an article on how to word the first reminder here.

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About the author

Michael Todd's picture
Michael Todd

Michael Todd is the Senior Consultant to OPS Global. This business helps and shows companies in Australia, New Zealand and now internationally how to get paid more quickly by their account customers - without any client upset.