Chasing unpaid invoices with an AI agent: the step-by-step method

An unpaid invoice is not just a cash flow shortage: it is also a task you put off, because writing to a customer to ask them for money is not pleasant. That is precisely what makes it a good job for an agent: it writes on time, in the right tone, without forgetting anyone. You keep the difficult decisions.

IWhat a follow-up agent really does

The agent works at the pace of your plan, for example once a week. It reads your list of open invoices, identifies those whose due date has passed, checks where each customer is in the follow-up sequence, then drafts the message that corresponds to their stage. It then prepares these messages for your validation. It guesses nothing: it applies your rules to your data.

IIWhat you need to provide it

The quality of follow-ups depends almost entirely on what you give the agent. One point is decisive: the agent only knows what your documents sayIf a client paid on Tuesday and your spreadsheet is not up to date, the agent will follow up on Monday. Get in the habit of recording payments before the agent's visit, or choose a schedule that matches your own recording.

IIIA typical follow-up sequence

Amicable collection follows known levels. Each level is a bit firmer than the previous one, without ever becoming aggressive. Here is an example sequence, to be adapted to your trade and your clients. The timeframes indicated are benchmarks, not a rule.

The tone also depends on the client. With a local government office or major account, a delay often comes from an internal approval process: a useful follow-up asks who should receive the invoice, rather than taking a harder line. A homeowner who has had their bathroom renovated deserves a simple and warm reminder. A company that already paid late last year can receive the second follow-up sooner. Give these nuances to the agent: it will apply them at each step, without forgetting them on a busy Monday.

IVWhen the agent must stop

A useful collection agent knows above all when to stay silent. Write these cases into their mission, in black and white. The first one is straightforward: as soon as a customer responds, the agent steps backA response can be a promise to pay, a request for a payment plan, a dispute, a delivery problem. Each one requires human judgment, and an automated follow-up sent over a complaint damages the relationship.

VWhat you validate, and why

At first, each follow-up passes before your eyes before it goes outYou check the amount, the tone, the level and the absence of recent communication that the agent could not see, such as a phone call. After three validations, you can switch the agent to automatic validation; the risks of this choice are then spelled out in black and white. For follow-ups, I advise you to keep manual validation at least at the firm levels: one extra word can cost you a loyal customer.

On ABYS, the agent first does a dry run: you see all the follow-ups it would have prepared, without any of them being sent. This is the right time to spot a paid client who was not recorded or a formula that is too dry.

VIAfter friendly collection: formal demand and professionals

When the sequence is exhausted without result, we exit the agent's work. The next step is a formal demand (article 1344 of the Civil Code): a letter, preferably by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, which orders the debtor to pay within a specific timeframe. If it remains unanswered, a payment order before the court or recourse to a bailiff, lawyer or collection agency takes over.