I’ve been considering automating my payment reminders to cut down on the manual follow-ups for overdue invoices.
I’m curious about the experiences of others. Did this change lead to quicker payments, or did it make interactions feel less personal?
Set up automatic reminders three years ago and never looked back. Cut my late payments by about half right away.
The key is timing them right. I do one reminder three days before the due date and another one week after. Skip the reminder on the actual due date because that feels pushy.
Most clients pay faster now because they get that heads up before it’s even late. The ones who were going to be difficult will be difficult either way, but at least you’re not wasting time chasing the good clients who just forgot.
I haven’t used automatic reminders. I usually just reach out personally if payments are late.
Been using automated reminders for about two years now and honestly, it’s been a game changer for me.
The results I’ve seen:
- Payments come in about 5-7 days faster on average
- Way less stress on my end since I’m not tracking due dates manually
- Clients actually seem to appreciate the heads up
I was worried about the personal touch thing too, but most clients told me they prefer getting consistent reminders rather than random calls from me when I remember to check.
I set mine up to send three reminders: one week before due date, on the due date, then one week after. The tone stays friendly but gets a bit more formal with each one.
Only downside is you still need to handle the really stubborn cases manually. But it probably cut my follow up work by 70%.
Automatic reminders work well for me but I keep them simple.
I send one reminder five days after the due date and that’s it. No reminder before the due date because clients know when they need to pay.
If they don’t pay after that first reminder, I call them directly. The automated system handles the easy cases and I deal with the problem clients myself.
They help a bit but not always.