Cancelling Democracy: The Rule Of Flaw MAL 67:2025 | Page 97

Thank you for payment: Whether the customer pays on time or late, sending a thank-you email is a courteous gesture that supports the business relationship.

Some organizations are known for sending poorly structured emails that lack necessary detail or contain inaccuracies. As a result, they fail to achieve the desired outcomes. Collection emails are not a onesize-fits-all process. Each message must be crafted carefully, with customization and adaptation to ensure it delivers the intended result.

By adhering to these guidelines, you will get the desired result. You need to be sure that emails are sent to the right person, someone with the authority to handle your payment request, it should be addressed to a specific individual, not a title. When sending the email, it should be copied to the customer’ s senior level of management, and internal department with a need to know, who have a direct relationship with the customer such as sales as this helps in leveraging internal relationships with the customer to help in the debt collection process.

The language used should draw attention, by starting each sentence with the action that the customer should take by using befitting action words that guide the recipient toward a specific action. Instead of " Payment is needed on your past due balance," try " Please make a payment to resolve your outstanding balance of a given amount for receipt by a given date.” Remember clear actionable language leaves less room for misinterpretation.

The idea of personalizing the email with the customer ' s name, specific account details, or any relevant past interactions shows attention to detail and may improve responsiveness. It helps your email stand out and feel more like a personal request rather than a generic reminder.

Keeping a professional tone and format is achieved by keeping a positive tone so as to foster cooperation that conveys partnership and respect, which is an approach that is likely to help the writer to get a more favorable response.

Brevity makes it easy for the customer to grasp what is needed from them by ensuring the format is clear, using an easily readable font size, incorporating paragraph breaks, headings, and subheadings to catch their eye, and guiding them smoothly to the key points being to conveyed.

The writer should consider reviewing the email for accuracy by checking spelling and grammar before hitting the send button, as poorly written emails with misspelled words can reduce the writers’ credibility, cause confusion or delays. Make sure invoice numbers and amounts are correct since typos can be costly.

There is need of being comprehensive in describing what is needed by not making the customer to ask for details so there is need to be proactive by attaching all relevant supporting documentation, which will help speed up the collection process and prevent delays caused by customers requesting invoice copies or other necessary information.

Tell the customer where and how to send payment by clearly specifying the accepted forms of payment, whether by cheque, electronic transfer, or M-Pesa and providing precise instructions on where to send the remittance to avoid any confusion or delay.

Set a timeframe for a response by clearly stating when you need to hear back- especially if future shipments depend on it- and communicate the actions you may have no choice but to take if they do not respond, while ensuring you are prepared to follow through on any stated consequences to maintain credibility.

Consider offering flexible payment options by providing alternative methods or suggesting adjustable payment arrangements, which can reduce excuses for delay and increase the likelihood of prompt resolution.

When necessary, escalate unresolved issues by informing the customer who you previously contacted and when, attaching all prior correspondence and documentation, and, in collaboration with your sales team, consider reaching out to a stakeholder- such as a Buyer who may be unaware of the past due balance- who could become an internal advocate and help ensure you get paid.

Incorporating these strategies can make your collection emails more effective by demonstrating your professionalism, persistence, and attention to detail, ultimately improving your collection results by clearly communicating to your customer what you need and when you need it.

Wasilwa Miriongi is a Certified Credit Professional currently working as the Managing Director, Del Creder Credit Management Limited. You can engage him on this or related matters via email at: WMiriongi @ gmail. com.