5 Ways to Professionally Ask for Payment via Email (With Templates)

Asking for payment can be uncomfortable. No one wants to spend the time to individually contact customers and engage them in a potentially awkward conversation. Unfortunately, these awkward conversations are often necessary because late payments are rampant. According to a study by LinkedIn, 54% of small and medium-sized enterprises experience late payments, with 6 days being the average delay.

If you establish a system, create dunning letter templates, and offer convenient payment options to customers, you can reduce late payments and eliminate the need to spend extra time or effort following up on late payments.

Read on for 5 examples of how to write an email asking for a payment request professionally and politely.

Set up a system

First, set up a payment system and clearly communicate it to your customers. If you don’t provide them with an easy-to-understand payment schedule, then how can you expect them to pay on time?

Every company has different needs. Depending on your business, you may ask for a down payment upfront, or maybe you only charge the full amount after services are rendered. In any case, make your expectations abundantly clear to customers, including any late fees or penalties they may incur if they miss the payment deadline.

Once you’ve established a payment schedule and communicated it to customers, stick with it. Many businesses set up a series of emails they use when asking for payment. For example, a common schedule is to send out an email:

• A week before the due date
• On the due date
• One week after the due date
• Two weeks after the due date
• One month after the due date

Create payment request templates

Don’t reinvent the wheel every time you communicate with customers. Create templates to easily ask for money politely.

Templates remove the stress of having to type up a new email or text message every time you reach out. Instead of worrying about getting the wording exactly right, you can simply send your pre-written template in a matter of seconds.

For even more convenience, automate