Payment reminder emails SDRs can send to keep the pipeline clean

Whether you are an account manager, BDR, or an SDR, you know the struggle – overdue payments from customers.

Like the struggle wasn’t real enough when you needed to close the deal, now you as an SDR also need to chase clients and follow up with them for payment.

By sending payment reminder emails, you’ll be a step closer to ensuring that you have a steady cash flow. But how do you make sure your reminder messages are going to work?

Our experience has taught our Sales Team that it’s not just the timely distribution of the reminders, but also how these reminders will stand out to get the needed attention from the client. What you need is a little bit of creativity, besides your relationship developed with the client. 

To start, we recommend checking out our collection of payment reminder email templates at the end and enriching them with the tips we’ll go over in this article for the best performance.

Why should you consider sending out payment reminders?

The bare truth is that when it comes to giving money, people usually withdraw. 

In the business world, it’s similar, but oftentimes, especially in larger companies, it is hard to keep up with what has been paid and what’s not.

So, you might initially think badly of your client, or just blame your performance as an SDR as a reason for the due payment, when it’s really the timing or just forgetfulness in most cases. However, we often forget that you missed an invoice due date or payment in your company calendar as well. This means that less money is coming in and could lead to lower revenue for the next month. 

You can use payment reminders to stay on top of all the bills that are coming due and help your clients stay with theirs at the same time.

It will ensure the client or business has contingency arrangements in place if something prevents them from paying on time, limiting their opportunities for a hit to progress if it does happen too often.

What we have acknowledged is that sending out reminders for payment to your clients has several benefits:

• Having a well-developed reminder timeline gives un insights into the days you have left to collect payment and organize your actions
• Customers who use auto-pay are less likely to forget their due dates
• It helps tighten your retention strategy by getting in touch with customers at key points, instead of bothering them 
• By not having as many pending invoices, you’ll both eventually save money on penalties
• If you time it right, they can give the potential customer ample warning while also ensuring they will have enough time to pay their bill before the due date. The initial reminder should be sent two weeks before, with the follow-up reminder happening one week in advance.

What should an effective payment reminder email look like?

Successful email campaigns often include a personal touch that can differentiate them from other promotional content. And payment reminders are no exception!

The perfect email body will catch the recipient’s attention, having them open it and read it from beginning to end. In doing so, we could excite them with a tempting subject line and various design elements like images, gifs, or video for the reminder message all of which would hopefully lead to us getting the invoice paid.

What to pay attention to when crafting a perfect payment reminder email?

To craft a proper payment reminder email, it is important to understand the different steps at each stage. For example, email content often includes useful information like payment due dates, where the bill can be viewed online, and any special rates or offers.

Independent of the stage you are sending the reminder emails you should keep an eye on some common things:

• Check the information on the original invoice carefully before sending the payment reminder email. This includes the name, address, any outstanding payments made, credit card details, legal entity, registry number, and VAT depending on the client’s location. 
• Use customized subject lines and introductions to get your message across. Email personalizations will have a unique look that gives our message greater emphasis than we would otherwise have and surpass that “I’m just here for the money” moment
• The first thing you should do is explain the aim of the email while keeping it polite, official, and useful. Remind your client of their payment due in the most respectful way possible.
• You should most definitely add important information such as repayment terms and upcoming payments 
• Don’t forget to add a call to action that will provoke them to take action, but make sure this is not something too aggressive
• Add a clear closing statement at the end to ensure your conversion and make a place for further communication.

Follow-up payment reminder email templates

When dealing with a payment plan, sending reminder messages to customers before their due date is helpful.

Here is a general payment reminder email template you can send:

Hello [[first_name]],

I wanted to send a quick reminder for your invoice with the amount of [[invoice_total]] which is due on or before the date of [[due_date]].

I would highly appreciate it if you can confirm with me that [[invoice_payment]] is ready for payment.

Let’s get this settled out together before our next bookkeeping date.

Thank you for doing business with us!

Best Regards, 

[[sender_first_name]]

It’s good to have a good payment reminder email schedule to set your emails in a sequence. For example, you can start reminding your clients one week prior to the due date of the invoice.

A payment reminder that can be sent a week before your expected due date:

‍Hey [[first_name]]

I hope everything is well.
Just wanted to pop up here and remind you of the payment for our invoice with the amount of [[invoice_total]].

We would appreciate it if you can check and confirm that all of the invoice details were successfully delivered at your end and the date is booked on your calendar.

If I have missed any prior communication regarding the full payment of the invoice [[invoice_number]], please ignore this email, and just confirm with me that this has been settled.

Thankful, as always,

[[sender_first_name]]

Here is also a polite way to remind your client of an outstanding balance:

Hi [[first_name]],

Hope everything is well on your end.
We haven’t heard back about the payment of the recent invoice [[invoice_number]].

Unfortunately, this already surpassed the payment due date, which was on the [[due_date]].

Could you share with me an estimated date when could we expect the funds on our end?

I’m sure if there was any problem, you feel confident enough to reach out to me.

Kind Regards,

[[sender_first_name]]

Often times it might happen that your previous reminders get ignored, and the client hasn’t reacted yet. So you could drop another email reminding them that they have multiple overdue: 

Hey [[first_name]]

You must have missed my previous emails.
I wanted to check with you again regarding invoice [[invoice_number]], which is continuously overdue, and we want to avoid [[payment_overdue_fee]] for payment overdue.

Just giving you a head up here that you can do the necessary payments without hassle with a direct bank transfer, by credit card, or [[other_payment_method]].

You can always reach us at [[contact_details]] for any questions or concerns.

Thanks in advance for your rapid action!

[[sender_first_name]]

When your customers pay you, make sure to send them a thank-you email right away.
This will show them that their payment is appreciated and improve future payments.

It can go something like this:

Hey [[first_name]],

We’re pleased to let you know that we have successfully received your recent payment for [[invoice_number]].

Thank you for your trust and we hope for a long-lasting collaboration with you.

If you have any future inquiries, I hope I’ll be the first to know. 

Kind regards,

[[sender_first_name]]

Some final words

Payment reminder emails can be very helpful when doing business, especially for revenue. Sending out payment reminders ensure that we always get our receivables on the designated date, which gives us a lot more time to focus on other important things. They also help us show customers we value them doing business with us.

A good payment reminder email can have an impact on your conversion rates and help you make more sales. And finally, it represents a solid base for a healthy, fair, and long-lasting relationship with your clients.