Business professionals are challenged to keep up with the demands of their jobs in the new normal. They struggle to read and respond to the emails that make it past SPAM filters. As a consequence, they only open and read the emails which grab their attention with effective subject lines and preview text.

It takes compelling content for an email to be persuasive and result in the follow-up action you want – prompt payment of past due invoices. Your customers will be more receptive to persuasion if you take the time to personalize your collection emails. Personalizing emails can help put your customers in a more cooperative frame of mind, and make it more likely they will act on your email message.

Here are some tips on personalizing your collection emails.

Recipient Name

A study by HubSpot shows that emails which included the first name of the recipient in their subject line had higher rates of follow up than those that did not. People like to be addressed by their first name. It is a simple, friendly gesture which can gain cooperation to get past due invoices paid.

Greeting

Start your email with a greeting that includes the customer’s name. Emails with no greeting are cold and impersonal. Greetings with no name are not much better. Opening your email message with a personal greeting builds on the positive mindset you gain from including the first name of the recipient in the email subject line.

Personal Language

Use personal language in your email message. Don’t have your emails sound like they are coming from a robot, such as “Please remit payment to XYZ Company for invoice #1239”. Use friendlier language, such as “Hope all is well with you! This is a friendly reminder that invoice #1239 will be due on Oct. 1. Let me know if you have any questions!” Personal language can add to the goodwill you earn from using the first name of the recipient in the email subject line, and a personal greeting in your email message.

Relevant Message

Be sure the emails you send are relevant to your customers. If you send out a mass email blast to remind customers to pay upcoming invoices, be sure they have an outstanding invoice to pay. Customers are swamped with emails. They won’t appreciate irrelevant emails from vendors who don’t pay attention to who is a recipient in an email blast.

Personalizing collection emails increases the odds that your customers will follow up and pay past due invoices. Automated credit and collection solutions can help you overcome collection barriers, and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your collections.

Lockstep Collect, a leader in cloud-based credit and collection platforms, provides automated solutions for managing credit and collections. Lockstep Collect is an experienced software partner that can help you maximize your collections and cash flow in the new normal.

If you would like to learn more about how you can benefit from automated credit and collection solutions, please contact Lockstep Collect at www.lockstep.io.