Recoup More Payments: Optimize Your Stripe

In this video, I share effective strategies to ensure you recoup more payments and reduce failed transactions. I will walk you through the settings in Stripe, including how to set up payment reminders and manage failed payments. It's crucial to have a smart retry policy in place and to send timely emails to clients about their payment statuses. I encourage you to implement these systems to streamline your processes and minimize admin time.

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It's a common problem for businesses with recurring subscriptions, but it doesn't have to be this way. Optimizing your Stripe settings can significantly reduce admin time and boost your revenue. This post outlines key adjustments you can make to your Stripe account to streamline your billing process.

We'll walk through the settings that can help you:

• Reduce admin time: Automate payment reminders and receipt delivery.
• Prevent failed payments: Proactively address potential payment issues.
• Maximize revenue: Implement effective strategies for recovering unpaid funds.

Diving into Stripe Settings

Let's explore the specific areas within Stripe that you need to configure:

1. Free Trials (If Applicable):

• If you offer free trials, ensure your settings are configured to manage the transition to paid subscriptions smoothly. This might include automated emails notifying users of the trial's end and upcoming billing.

2. Preventing Failed Payments:

• Upcoming Invoice Reminders: Set up automated email reminders a few days before an invoice is due. This gives customers time to ensure sufficient funds are available and update payment information if needed. Include a link to update payment details (either a custom page or a Stripe-hosted page).
• Expired Card Notifications: Enable notifications to alert customers about expiring cards, prompting them to update their information.

3. Recouping Failed Payments:

• Smart Retry Policy: Configure Stripe's smart retry policy to automatically attempt failed payments. Consider setting the retry frequency within a shorter timeframe (e.g., maximum attempts within one week) for quicker recovery.
• Automated Email Sequences: Combine Stripe's automated emails with your own email marketing platform (like Kajabi) to create a multi-touch communication sequence for failed payments. This ensures consistent and personalized follow-up.
• Overdue Invoices: Instead of immediately canceling subscriptions for failed payments, mark them as "overdue." This allows for further collection efforts and prevents the issue from being overlooked.

4. Handling Disputes:

• While hopefully rare, disputes are a reality. Set the dispute status to "overdue" to track and manage them effectively.

5. One-Time Invoices:

• Automated Invoices and Reminders: For one-time invoices (not recurring subscriptions), automate invoice delivery and payment reminders. Set the timing of reminders based on your typical payment cycles. Include a Stripe-hosted payment link in the email for easy payment.

6. General Subscription and Invoice Statuses:

• Configure how Stripe handles unpaid subscriptions and invoices after a certain period. Typically, marking them as "unpaid" is a good starting point for further action.

7. Other Important Considerations:

• Customer Emails: Ensure all necessary customer emails (e.g., payment confirmations, receipts) are enabled and configured through Stripe.
• Pause Feature: Avoid using the "pause all upcoming subscriptions" feature unless you intentionally want to suspend all recurring billing.

Key Takeaways for Optimizing Your Stripe Account

• Proactive Communication: Automated reminders and notifications are crucial for preventing payment issues and keeping customers informed.
• Aggressive Recouping: Implement a robust retry policy and automated email sequences to maximize the recovery of failed payments.
• Consistent Tracking: Monitor unpaid subscriptions and invoices to ensure they don't fall through the cracks.
• Reduce Admin Overhead: Automating these processes frees up your time to focus on other aspects of your business.

By implementing these strategies, you can minimize payment issues, reduce administrative burden, and ultimately boost your bottom line. If you have questions about optimizing your business processes, don't hesitate to reach out for a consultation.