Collection letter template: 60 days past due
In our previous post about collection letter templates, we talked about how many business owners, controllers, and bookkeepers suffer from accounts receivable writer’s block. This struggle becomes even more intense when the customer is over a month past due.
Because now the clock is ticking. It’s been 60–90+ days. There’s pressure from the CEO and CFO. Pressure from the sales team who wants to see their commission checks. Pressure because this invoice might represent the difference between making payroll vs. using a factoring service and/or taking out a loan from the bank.
The emotional challenge the owner/controller/bookkeeper faces is how do you express this growing sense of urgency without feeling like you’re being rude or off-putting to the customer. Is it possible to say things like, “We are now going to charge you late fees” or “We have no choice but to shut down the service” in a friendly tone?
What we’ve found is using the same “write like you’re talking to a friend” philosophy applies as well in the seventh or eighth attempt as it does in your first.
Think about it this way, imagine you loaned your car to a friend for the weekend and then three months passed without receiving the car back or even hearing from them. You would be rightfully concerned about them (and the car). The tone of your message would be a little bit different. It would be normal to say something like, “I’m sending out a search party” or, “If I don’t hear back today, I need to file a police report for a missing car.”
Now, granted, police don’t need to get involved with accounts receivable but a collection agency might. And it’s ok to reference that as an option.
Check out this article by Crystalynn Shelton for FitSmallBusiness.com. She has a couple of great collection letter templates to choose from.
Let’s take a look at the way they end their fourth outreach email:
If we do not hear from you by (month/day/year), we will have no choice but to turn your account over to (collection agency name). To avoid collection, mail a check asap or call us at to make a payment by phone. Thank you in advance for promptly taking care of this matter.
Nothing off-putting about that messaging. Nothing rude. Nothing that would be considered a bad customer experience.
Your product was never meant to be loaned out for free. Payment isn’t a “nice to have” it should be an expectation. Even from a friend.
Other insights from FinanceFuel
Top Five Things to Put in an Invoice
FinanceFuel is an accounts receivable management solution that automates manual tasks to collect payments 25–50% faster. You can learn more about FinanceFuel on our website or, if you’re interested in speaking directly with a member of our customer success team, send us a note (sales@financefuel.co) and we’ll get back to you right away.
