7 Ways To Improve Your Dunning Email Recovery Rate Now!

You know, how it isn't easy to get your dunning emails across to customers and get them to pay faster. It takes a lot of effort and patience to follow up with your customers regularly. But with these seven ways, you can improve your emails without pressuring your customers while following up with them to pay the receivables.  

 

Here's How to Improve Your Dunning Emails For A Efficient Accounts Receivable Process  

 

1. Personalization   

A little bit of personalization can go a long way!    

Adding the customer's name and maybe a few questions related to their previous interactions or from customer data can show a noticeable difference in the click-through rate compared to regular, boring emails. It can set apart your dunning emails and make your emails seem more trustworthy and reliable.  

Dunning emails are sent to customers to remind them of unpaid invoices or late payments. Personalizing these emails can dramatically boost your recovery rate and enhance your accounts receivable process. Here are a few ideas for personalizing your dunning emails:  

• Address the customer by name: Using the customer's name makes the email feel more personalized and less like a generic form letter. In the greeting and throughout the email, use the customer's name.   
• Relate to the individual invoice or payment that is past due: Instead of issuing a broad reminder, refer to the specific invoice or payment that is past due. This demonstrates to the customer that you are paying attention to their account and emphasizes the significance of the payment.  
• Explain why the payment is necessary: Provide a concise explanation to the customer as to why the payment is necessary. You may describe how it affects your ability to deliver services or your cash flow.  
• Provide help: If the customer is experiencing trouble making the payment, assist. This might take the shape of a payment plan, a discount for early payment, or a date extension.  
• Adopt a nice tone: Dunning emails may come out as harsh or intimidating, which reduces the likelihood of customers responding. Instead, use a polite tone and underline your desire to collaborate with the customer to solve the issue.  

Personalizing dunning emails can make customers feel more appreciated and ready to participate in the payment process. You may enhance your dunning email recovery rate and strengthen your customer connections by using these strategies.  

 

2. Give them the FOMO  

Fear of loss or missing out can make your customers pay as quickly as possible in order not to lose the company's services/products. This method can be used while following up with your customers. Persuade them of the value of your services and the benefits that they would lose if they don't pay on time.  

You can try the following tactics to increase the dunning email recovery rate by creating fear in your customers:  

• Limited-time offer: Consider giving a limited-time discount or promotion to entice customers to pay their unexpected balance before the offer expires. This increases the chance of a response by creating a sense of urgency.  
• Benefits should be highlighted: Address the advantages of paying the outstanding debt, such as avoiding late penalties, maintaining a good credit score, or retaining access to a useful service or product. 
• Social proof: Indicate to customers that others have already taken advantage of the offer and reaped the benefits of settling their outstanding balance. You might provide testimonials or data on the offer's success.  
• Personalize the message: Make the message more relevant and engaging by using the customer's name and referencing particular data about their account. This might make the customer feel more obligated to answer.  
• Create a sense of community: Build a feeling of community by emphasizing the group of customers who have previously settled their outstanding debt and are reaping the advantages. This can foster a sense of belonging and encourage the consumer to act.  
• Use urgency in the subject line: Employ a title tag that conveys a feeling of urgency, such as "Last opportunity to prevent late fines" or "Don't miss out on this limited-time offer."  

You can enhance the effectiveness of your dunning emails and persuade more customers to settle their outstanding debts by implementing these tricks or by implementing accounts receivable software with the above-mentioned features. Nonetheless, avoid overusing these strategies or creating a false feeling of urgency, since this might harm your connection with your customers.  

 

3. Being Concise & Clear  

Make sure the emails are short, crisp, and to the point. It should be able to convey all the details required with the brand's tone. Create a strong brand identity and a sense of trustworthiness in the emails while persuading your customers. It helps them believe that they can rely on you and feel confident to engage with you more.  

Being brief and clear when dunning emails can dramatically enhance the recovery rate. Here are some pointers to get you started:  

• Employ a succinct and clear subject line: The subject line should clearly explain the objective of the email and capture the recipient's attention. Use generic subject lines such as "Payment Reminder" or "Invoice Due" to avoid being noticed in a packed inbox.  
• Make the email short and to the point: A long and wordy email might be confusing and difficult to understand. Maintain a succinct and to-the-point message. Provide an overview of the problem and what steps the receiver should follow.  
• Employ bullet points and formatting: Bullet points and formatting can help to make an email simpler to read and understand. Include the outstanding balance, due date, and any other vital information in bullet points.  
• Provide specific instructions: Make it clear what action the receiver must take. Give payment instructions, including the amount due, due date, and payment options available.  
• Consider using jargon: Avoid using industry-specific jargon or acronyms that the receiver might not understand. To guarantee that the recipient receives the message, use clear and easy-to-understand language.  
• Provide an explicit call to action: Conclude with a strong call to action, such as "Please make a payment before the due date to prevent any late penalties or collection procedures".  

You can raise the chance of a favorable response, boost the recovery, and enhance your accounts receivable process rate by being concise and clear in your dunning emails.  

 

4. Dispatch Multiple Emails  

You cannot expect to receive your collectibles by sending just one email (unless you are lucky). Hence, you need to send multiple emails at regular intervals, say one or two weeks, while building up the urgency and creating a sense of loss aversion with each follow-up email.  

For businesses, dunning emails are a crucial part of the accounts receivable process, and sending several emails may be a successful approach for increasing recovery rates. Here are some pointers for sending out repeated dunning emails:  

• Send numerous dunning emails in a row: Sending many dunning emails in a row will help you stay top-of-mind with your customers and remind them of their overdue amount. You may arrange a series of emails to be sent at particular intervals (e.g., one email every three days), and each email can have a distinct tone and message.  
• Alter the message: Sending the same message in each dunning email can rapidly become redundant and may discourage your customers from taking action. Instead, to appeal to your customers, alter the message and employ different perspectives. For example, in the first email, emphasize the dangers of nonpayment, while in the second email, emphasize the benefits of timely payment.  
• Add a clear call to action: Include a clear call to action in each dunning email, such as "Please settle your amount now" or "Click here to make a payment." Make it as simple as possible for your customers to take action, and be sure to give clear payment instructions.  
• Personalize the emails: Making your dunning emails more personal can help them be more successful. In the email, include your customer's name, alluding to their outstanding debt, and personalize the message depending on their payment history with your organization.  
• Be persistent but not aggressive: It's critical to be persistent but not forceful with your dunning emails. Avoid using unpleasant language or issuing threats, since this may turn off your customers and harm your connection with them. Instead, be tough but courteous, emphasizing the significance of settling their outstanding debt.

By following these guidelines, you may send out repeated dunning emails that will improve your recovery rate and encourage your customers to settle their outstanding debt. You can also acquire these by implementing automated accounts receivable software in your collection process.  

 

5. Enabling Replies  

It's best to enable replies to your emails if you can because when the customers have any doubts or queries, they can always easily reply to your email asking the same. Otherwise, they'd leave it at that and forget it, or might have trouble reaching you through any other means, hence delaying the payments as well.  

Dunning emails are a necessary element of a company's accounts receivable process. These emails are sent to customers who have outstanding payments and require that customers make the payment. Allowing answers to your dunning emails can assist enhance recovery rates by giving customers a direct avenue to interact with you and fix any difficulties they may be experiencing. Here are some suggestions for improving the dunning email recovery rate by enabling replies:  

• Customize the email: Address the customer by name, and personalize the email's content as much as possible. This helps to establish a connection with the customer and increases the likelihood of their responding.  
• Make it simple to respond: Add a call-to-action button in the email that customers may use to respond directly to the email. This might be as basic as a "Respond" button or as elaborate as "I have a query regarding my invoice."  
• Use a recognizable sender name: Employ a known sender name, such as your company name or the name of a certain department, to assist customers in identifying the email and feeling comfortable replying.  
• Reply as soon as possible: Respond rapidly to customer responses to show that you are dedicated to addressing their issues.  
• Provide specific instructions: Provide detailed information on how to make a payment or handle any concerns with a missed payment. This can assist customers in understanding what they need to do to address the problem.  

You can enable answers to your dunning emails and boost the recovery rate of overdue payments by applying these guidelines to your accounts receivable process to boost your collection and enhance your cash flow.  

 

6. Using A Different Sender Address  

People often ignore promotional emails and most of the emails can end up in spam. Therefore, it helps to switch up the sender addresses once in a while to yield better results. Personalizing them by sending emails from an important person like a CEO or CFO or Manager can create a sense of reliability and credence.  

Although using a new sender address can be a useful method for increasing the rate of dunning email recovery. Here are some measures to follow to put this plan into action:  

• Change your email address: Make a new email account that is distinct from the one you use for work. This email address should be relevant to your company or brand and easy for your customers to remember. For instance, if your company's name is XYZ Corporation, you can use an email address like payments@xyzcorp.com.  
• Specify why you've changed your email address: Make careful to clarify why you're using a different email address in your dunning emails. This can help you create trust with your customers while also decreasing the likelihood of your emails being labeled as spam.  
• Customize your emails: In your dunning emails, use your customers' names and tailor your content to their scenarios. This can assist to customize your emails and boost the probability that your customers will react.  
• Test and monitor outcomes: Once you've put this plan in place, make sure to test and track the results. To see if this method worked, compare the recovery rate of your dunning emails before and after using a new sender address.  
• Follow up: After sending your dunning emails, don't forget to follow up with your customers. This can help increase the odds of them making a payment and decrease the likelihood of them being late in the future.  

Overall, using a new sender address might be a good way to increase the recovery rate of your dunning emails. You can improve the effectiveness of your dunning process and your total cash flow by customizing your emails, creating trust with your customers, and measuring your outcomes.  

 

7. Automation  

Automating your emails can help speed up the process and let you focus on other important details. With pre-defined templates that you can customize to your needs, you can dispatch effective follow-up emails and build efficiency in payment recovery.  

Implementing automated accounts receivable (AR) software may significantly enhance your dunning email recovery rate, which is the percentage of customers that react and pay after receiving payment reminder emails. Here are some methods you may do to boost the recovery rate of dunning emails utilizing AR software:  

• Customize your emails: Tailor the payment reminder emails with the customer's name, invoice number, and unpaid balance using the AR software. This helps to catch their attention and increases the likelihood that they will read the email.  
• Schedule reminders: Arrange for automated payment reminders to be sent out at regular intervals using the AR software. This guarantees that customers receive timely reminders, improving the likelihood that they will pay on time.  
• Provide payment plans: Implement the Automated Accounts Receivable software to provide payment plans to customers who are having difficulty paying their outstanding invoices. Based on the customer's payment history and credit score, this can be done automatically.  
• Monitor email open and reaction rates: Using Accounts Receivable Software, monitor the open and response rates of payment reminder emails. This will let you evaluate the efficiency of the emails and make any required changes.  
• Adopt multiple channels: Utilize the Accounts Receivable Software to send payment reminders via email, text message, and phone calls. This makes sure customers receive payment reminders and enhances the likelihood of their responding.  
• Evaluate data: Use the Automated Accounts Receivable Software to examine the information gathered from the payment reminders, such as response rates and payment timings. This can assist you in identifying trends and making data-driven decisions to increase the rate of recovery.  

You can enhance the dunning email recovery rate and lower the number of outstanding payments by implementing automated Accounts Receivable Software and following these procedures.  

 

Final Thoughts about Improving your Dunning Email Recovery Rate via Automation  

Maxyfi has a wide array of pre-defined templates that you can choose and customize from. To automate now with Maxyfi, get started here.  

For more tips and updates to manage your accounts receivables automation better, follow our Maxyfi blog.