6 min read

There are countless problems that plague small-medium businesses, but few are more potentially damaging than late payment.

From our 5 years experience as the market leader in cloud credit control (accounts receivable) and helping SMBs tackle late payments, we’ve seen around 80% of invoices can be collected on time via email chasing alone. However, this still leaves 20% that need further input.

This is when you might need to follow up and ask customers for payment over the phone. We’ve shared our 6 most effective scripts for credit control phone calls below!

Looking to improve your email chasing too? You can view our PDF with the 8 most effective templates for getting invoices paid, ready made to be copied and pasted into your emails here.

When does an unpaid invoice need to be chased via phone call?

There are 3 situations which we believe always warrant a follow up over the phone, using of one of our scripts below:

1. No favourable response after 3 email chasers. You’ve been asking for an expected payment date, or for a reason why an overdue invoice remains unpaid, for 3 emails in a row now. If you haven’t had a satisfactory answer, it’s time to follow up with a phone call.
2. No response at all after 3 email chasers. Much like the above situation, but worse. If you’re sending email chasers at a reasonable pace and have been entirely ignored for 3 in a row, it’s time to pick up the telephone and collect your payment!
3. To impose a sense of realism, e.g. if threatening legal action. If you have a particularly difficult customer that won’t pay invoices and it’s come to taking severe action to get paid, a phone call will help ground them and see the reality of the situation. (Of course, this call should not replace delivering them the same info in writing - it enhances that message).

How to prepare for a credit control call

Before you dial a customer’s number and use our scripts to follow up on an unpaid invoice, there are a few preparatory steps to undertake.

Firstly, prepare yourself mentally. Being asked for money, especially when it’s rightfully owed, puts your customer in an awkward position - they may find themselves struggling to justify the unjustifiable. As long as you maintain a sense of polite professionalism, and deal only in facts, the conversation cannot spiral into an aggressive, emotional, or personal place.

Next, have all the necessary information in front of you . This should include:

• Invoice reference number
• Goods / services the invoice is for
• Invoice issue date
• Number of days overdue (if applicable)
• Notes of communication had so far
• Who to talk to (or if you don’t know, ask for Accounts Payable)

Finally, keep the objective in mind. The phone call isn’t just to make the customer feel bad because they haven’t paid on time, or aren’t responding to your emails. In most cases, you want to achieve one of three things:

1. Resolve any disputes
2. Establish an expected payment date
3. Remove any hurdles to payment

6 Scripts for Chasing Payments

When you get on the phone with the customer, looking to achieve one of the above objectives, you will run into excuses. If they thought everything was fine, they would’ve paid (or responded to your emails) by now. Below are the 6 most common excuses you’ll hear and how to best handle them to achieve a favourable outcome.

During these calls remember to understand, empathise, and negotiate with the customer. You’re dealing with a human being and that requires tact, even if they aren’t being a good customer. If you come into the call demanding, interrogating, or dominating, you’ll put them on the defensive, making it more difficult to collect payment and possibly losing them as a customer in future.

Excuse 1: They forgot to pay

Customer: My apologies, I got busy and forgot to pay.

You: Thank you, I understand that can happen. Now I have you on the phone are you in a position to make a payment now?

Customer: I’m a little tied up right now, I’ll do it today or tomorrow at the latest.

You: Not a problem, I’ve made a note in my system to reflect the promised payment and we’ll look forward to receiving it. Have a great day.

Excuse 2: The invoice is incorrect

Customer: I’ve not yet paid as the invoice is incorrect.

You: I’m very sorry to hear that, could you please explain what the problem is?

Customer: (Explains issue)

---- If the customer is correct ----

You: Apologies and thanks for explaining, I’ll have that looked into right away. I’ll issue an updated invoice as soon as this has been resolved. I’ll be back in touch shortly.

---- If the customer has misunderstood ----

You: Thank you for explaining, however there seems to have been a misunderstanding. (Explain the misunderstanding). We’ll endeavour to make this more clear in future, however for now this invoice remains due. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help facilitate payment.

Excuse 3: They didn’t receive your invoice

Customer: This is the first time I’ve received this invoice.

You: Apologies if that is the case. Could you please confirm that your email address is xxxx@xxxx.com?

Customer: Yes, that is correct.

You: Great, thanks for clarifying. We have sent emails regarding the payment of this invoice to that address, and they are all sent with an invoice copy attached. So please do check your spam in case they’ve gone in there by mistake. With regards to this invoice, are you able to settle it now over the phone?

Customer: No, sorry, I don’t have access to my card. I’ll put it on this Friday’s run by BACS.

You: Brilliant, I’ll make a note in our system to expect payment by Tuesday when the BACS payment clears. Thanks for your time.

Excuse 4: The invoice hasn’t been approved

Customer: Unfortunately the invoice has not yet been approved by my director.

You: Sorry to hear that, I know these things are sometimes out of your control. Has there been a query with the invoice for it to be left unapproved?

Customer: Not to my knowledge, no.

You: In that case, is it possible to request that this is approved today? The invoice is now overdue. If your director has any queries at all, feel free to contact me by phone or email.

Customer: She’s not in the office right now but I’ll do my best to reach her.

You: Thanks, I appreciate that. I’ll check in with you soon. All the best.

Excuse 5: They’re out of the office

Customer: I’m not in the office right now so I can’t make payment.

You: Not a problem, I understand you must be busy. We can accept card payment over the phone if that would make things easier?

Customer: No, sorry, I’m driving. I should be in tomorrow. I’ll pay it then.

You: Thanks for that, we really appreciate it. I’ll make a note to expect payment then. Have a nice day.

Excuse 6: They already paid the invoice

Customer: Why are you calling me? I already paid this invoice!

You: My apologies, I’ll check our system and see why this wasn’t marked as paid and make sure it doesn’t happen in future. Do you know when this was paid?

Customer: Some time last week, I believe.

You: Thank you, I’ll look into this right away for you. I’m sorry to disturb you. Have a nice day.

After the call

Once the call ends, always make note of the date, time, who you spoke with, and what was said or agreed. In some cases, further email chasing or phone calls may be necessary and being able to quote back what was previously agreed, and when, can be key in keeping the customer on track to pay. Both now and in future.

Once the customer pays, don’t forget to thank them for paying. And if they’re starting to develop a trend as a late payer, try adjusting your email chasers going forward to better your chances of being paid on time in future.

What next?

When you sign up for Chaser, you get access to our CRM tool, which automatically logs all email correspondence with customers - making it easy to see when it's time to follow up over the phone, and saving you trailing through emails to piece things together!

You can also set yourself, or your colleagues notes and reminders when calls need to be made!

Try it for free, for 14 days (no card details required) at: chaserhq.com/signup