Past-due invoices don't mean customers are deadbeats. Most of the time, they simply forgot, lost the invoice, or didn't realize it was overdue. A polite, persistent AI agent recovers the revenue your team doesn't have time to chase.
Talk to Our AI Agent →Collections is the task everyone knows matters but nobody wants to do. Your CSRs are busy with inbound calls. Your office manager has 50 other priorities. And frankly, calling customers about money is uncomfortable.
So invoices age. 30 days becomes 60. 60 becomes 90. By the time someone finally reaches out, the customer barely remembers the service, let alone where they put the invoice.
The data is clear: the probability of collecting drops dramatically after 30 days. At 90 days, you're recovering pennies on the dollar. At 120 days, most companies write it off entirely.
The irony is that most of these customers want to pay. They just need a reminder, a convenient payment method, or to have the invoice resent. A simple, polite follow-up within the first 7-14 days recovers 60%+ of overdue balances. But if nobody makes that follow-up, the money sits there indefinitely.
For a $10M+ home services company, outstanding receivables of $50K–$200K are common. That's cash you've already earned sitting in limbo because nobody has the bandwidth to make the calls.
Polite, persistent, and always on schedule. No awkwardness, no missed follow-ups.
Feed the AI a list of overdue accounts from your CRM or accounting system — or integrate directly so it pulls new overdue invoices automatically. Each account gets a personalized outreach plan.
The AI contacts customers via phone call, SMS, or both on a cadence you define. "Hi, this is [Company]. We have an outstanding invoice of $487 from your AC repair on January 15th. Would you like to take care of that right now?"
The AI can securely process credit card payments over the phone or send a payment link via text. It can also resend the original invoice, set up a payment plan, or route to your billing team for special arrangements.
Every contact attempt is logged. After a set number of unsuccessful attempts, the account escalates to your team or a third-party collections agency. You always know where each account stands.
A typical AI collections cadence looks like this (fully customizable):
| Day | Action | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 (past due) | Friendly reminder + payment link | SMS |
| Day 3 | Follow-up call — offer to process payment now | Phone |
| Day 7 | Second reminder + resend invoice | SMS + Email |
| Day 14 | Direct call — offer payment plan if needed | Phone |
| Day 21 | Final courtesy reminder before escalation | SMS |
| Day 30 | Escalate to human review or collections agency | Internal alert |
Most accounts are resolved by Day 7. The combination of a text reminder and a follow-up call within the first week recovers the majority of overdue balances. The AI just makes sure it actually happens every time, for every account.
| Method | Recovery Rate | Consistency | Can Accept Payment? | Staff Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSR manual calls | 40–60% | Inconsistent | Yes | 3–5 min per account |
| Automated email reminders | 10–20% | High | Link only | Zero |
| Third-party collections | 20–30% | High | Yes | Zero (but 25-50% fee) |
| AI collections agent (Mecha) | 60–75% | 100% of accounts | Yes (phone + link) | Zero |