Dunning

Dunning is the escalating sequence of communications, emails, letters, statements, calls, sent to customers as their invoices move past due. A typical B2B dunning cadence starts before delinquency (a courtesy reminder a few days before the due date), proceeds through progressively firmer notices at defined intervals (5, 15, 30, 60 days past due), and terminates in a final demand that names the consequence: credit hold, agency placement, or legal referral. The term descends from an old English word for making persistent demands.

Good dunning is specific, easy to act on, and honest about escalation. Each notice should list the exact invoices and amounts, include copies or links to them, state payment options and remit-to details, and give a direct route to reply, particularly to raise a dispute, since a dunning sequence that keeps hammering a disputed invoice damages the relationship without collecting anything. Escalation language should only promise what the seller will actually do; final notices that are never final train customers to ignore them.

Automation fits dunning naturally because the cadence is rule-driven, but the rules deserve design: segment cadences by customer risk and value rather than one-size-fits-all, suppress notices for invoices in open dispute, consolidate to one communication per customer rather than one per invoice, and pause sequences when a promise to pay is active. Measured well, dunning analytics (response rate by template and stage, payment lift per notice) turn the sequence into an optimizable channel rather than boilerplate.