Thinking · money
The one email that recovers 30% of your outstanding invoices
It's not clever. It's not templated. It's just what most tradies never send. Here's the wording — and why it works.
Every quarter or so someone asks: what's the one thing I could do tomorrow that would recover the most money? Nine times out of ten the answer is the same email, sent to every invoice over 30 days old, on the same Tuesday, from the owner's own address.
Here it is.
01The email
Subject: Quick one — [company] invoice [invoice number]
Hi [first name],
Chasing up the invoice for [one-sentence description of the job]. It's now [number] days over — attached again in case it got lost.
Any issues with the work or the amount, I want to know today. Otherwise, could you pay by [day this week] please.
Cheers,
[your first name]
02Why it works
- It's from a person, not the business. Personal accountability outperforms brand-name accountability at collecting money.
- It names the job in one sentence — this triggers the customer's memory instead of forcing them to check.
- It invites objection first. If there's a dispute you want it now, not at day 60.
- It asks for a specific day. 'When you can' means Friday of week 4. 'By Friday please' means Friday of this week.
- It's short. Long emails get put in the 'later' pile.
03The 30% figure
That comes from our own observation across four Brisbane clients who ran this exact email format against their aged receivables over 30 days. Recovery rates within 14 days of sending it averaged 28–34%. The rest either paid over the following 30 days, disputed (which is fine — you found out fast), or needed a phone call to close.
It's not magic. It's what most owners never send because chasing money feels awkward. The email above is designed to feel not-awkward. Send it Tuesday morning between 8:30 and 10:00.
04The follow-up if they don't reply
One week later, a shorter version. Same subject line. 'Hi [first name], quick nudge on this one — [day] OK?' That's it. Not a longer explanation, not a threat. Just a nudge.
If nothing after that: pick up the phone. See the invoice-chase piece for the full three-touch system.
05The bit worth building custom
If you have >50 invoices to chase, writing the personalised version of this for each one is a two-hour job that's easy to skip. That's where the custom invoice-chase drafter earns its keep — reads Xero, generates the personalised version for each overdue invoice, drops the batch in your inbox for approval. Ninety seconds instead of two hours.
Whether that's worth $6-8k for your business depends on your aged receivables. Rough rule: if you're carrying more than $30k over 30 days regularly, the build pays back inside six months.
If this is the leak you recognised, twenty minutes with us finds out what it actually costs.
Before you ask.
Won't customers get annoyed if I chase them by name?
In our clients' experience: no. What annoys customers is corporate boilerplate ('This is an automated reminder…'). A personal one-liner from the person who did the work reads as human, not aggressive.
What if the customer never replies?
See the full three-touch chase. After chase 3 + a phone call, if there's still no reply, escalate — but that's rare. Most non-replies are solved by the phone call.
