Late payments are not always about unwillingness, they’re often about friction. Customers forget, get distracted, or hit roadblocks in the moments that matter. That’s why your reminder strategy, and how you respond to overdue accounts, can make or break your recovery outcomes.
This article is part of the Modern Billing, Better Outcomes series, but it stands alone as your playbook for tackling two critical capabilities in your billing experience:
Reminder Strategy – proactive messages that reduce friction and drive action
Overdue Response Design – structured, flexible ways to manage late payments in-house
Together, these tools help billing and operations teams reduce overdue bills, lower support costs, and recover more revenue, without eroding customer trust or resorting to blunt-force tactics.
If you’ve already worked through Glider’s Payment Experience Maturity Model, Payment Experience Audit, or Customer Journey Mapping Template, this guide helps you take the next step. If not, and your business is still seeing friction or drop-off in the payment journey—those resources are a great starting point to assess where and why late payments are happening.
Otherwise read on as this article builds on those insights, focusing on how to design smarter reminders and manage overdue accounts with structure, flexibility, and empathy.
Why Messaging Matters More Than You Think
Billing teams might ask “How many reminders should we send?” but the better question is: “Are our messages helping the customer take action or just adding noise?”
When reminders are inconsistent, poorly timed, or difficult to act on, even well-intentioned customers will delay. The longer the delay, the harder and more expensive it becomes to recover payment. The good news? Most of the friction is fixable.
Strategy 1: Proactive Reminders That Actually Work
Before a bill becomes overdue, you have an opportunity to reduce late payments with the right nudge. But it’s not just about tone—it’s about sequencing, timing, and actionability.
What Good Looks Like:
Customer example: One utility provider used Glider to introduce SMS reminders when bills hadn't been paid on time. The result? A 3× increase in monthly collections, without increasing staff.
Strategy 2: Early Overdue Support (eg: 1–30 Days)
Even with proactive reminders, some bills still slip past the due date. At this stage, gentle but easily actionable reminders are the most effective path.
What Works:
When you help customers resolve issues themselves, you create a better customer experience and avoid unnecessary costs from inbound or outbound support and escalation.
Strategy 3: Late Stage Overdue Bills (eg: 30+ Days)
Not every overdue bill needs to escalate, yet. At this stage, many businesses move quickly to collections. But in many cases late stage overdue bills can still be resolved in-house, before it reaches the point of handoff. By using structured, data-led messaging and giving customers clear resolution paths, you can improve recovery while preserving relationships and controlling costs.
How to Make It Work:
Triage based on risk and engagement signals. Use customer data to segment accounts. For example:
Low risk, high intent: Customers who’ve opened messages or partially completed payments, send a final friendly nudge or offer a self-serve payment plan option.
Medium risk, low engagement: Add urgency and consider offering limited-time flexibility, like plan expiry or discount incentives.
High risk, no response: Route to outbound or phone follow-up if needed but keep the message consistent with your brand’s tone.
Use respectful, final-stage messaging
Stay brand-consistent. Keep the tone firm but clear, offering specific actions: pay now, start a plan, or request support. Avoid threats, instead offer structure and options.
Embed resolution directly into the message
Don’t ask the customer to log in, wait for a callback, or switch channels. Whether it’s setting up a plan or making a one-time payment, make it one tap away.
Why It Matters
Billing teams often fixate on the mechanical aspects of collections: “How many reminders should we send?” or “Which day of the week is best?” But that’s only half the story. The better question to ask is: “Are our messages helping the customer take action, or just adding noise?”
Modern billing isn't about chasing payments; it's about making the payment process effortless. A clumsy, inconsistent, or poorly timed message can be a bigger source of friction than a broken website link. When reminders are confusing or difficult to act on, even the most well-intentioned customers will delay. This isn’t a customer problem, it's a messaging problem.
The longer the delay, the harder and more expensive it becomes to recover payment. Every time a customer has to call support, reset a password, or search for a lost reference number, it adds cost and erodes trust. In fact, our research shows that a significant percentage of late payments are due to confusion or complexity, not financial hardship. The good news? The majority of this friction is fixable, starting with the messages you send.
What to Watch (and Optimise)
You don’t need to guess whether your messages are working. Use engagement signals to continually improve your payment strategy. Areas to look at include:
If customers are clicking but not paying, it’s a content or flow issue. If they’re not opening at all, it’s a timing or channel issue.
Bring It All Together with Our Messaging Guide
To help you put this into practice, we’ve created the Payment Reminder Messaging Guide. It includes:
The Payment Reminder Messaging Guide is designed to be used in a guided workshop environment, please contact us to arrange access.
The Bottom Line
If you’re still chasing overdue payments manually, or relying on outdated escalation tactics, it’s time for a smarter way. Smarter reminder messages reduce overdue bill volumes, increase payments collected, protect customer relationships, and cut recovery costs. Mastering your messaging is the final piece of the puzzle. It's how modern billing turns potential problems into effortless payments
➡️ Read Part 1: Fix Your Billing Experience: A Practical Guide to Better Outcomes
➡️ Read Part 2: Identifying and fixing friction in your billing journey
Talk to us about how Glider can help your organisation create better billing outcomes, without complexity or overhaul. >Speak with our team today.