2 builders who never spoke to each other
Warn before the charge and chase after it fails
A renewal that arrives unannounced reads as a trick even when it is not, so a note goes out before the card is billed. On the other side, a single failed-payment notification is not enough: a dunning service that keeps chasing and refreshes expiring cards recovers revenue that would otherwise leave quietly.
The method
- 01
Warn customers by email before an annual renewal charges them, rather than letting the charge be a surprise.
- 02
One notification email off a payment webhook is not enough; use a dedicated dunning service that keeps chasing until the card is fixed and refreshes cards before they expire.
What it returned
- 99%
The author recommends Stunning, noting customers do not update billing details at the first prompt and that tracking every outstanding charge by hand is painful; his own process ended up 99% automated
Fathom sends a message ahead of every yearly renewal and treats it as the right thing to do rather than a growth tactic.
Sources
- Storemapper Update: 50% revenue growth in 3 months - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · Reducing failed charges · 2014-11-06
- 20 years to overnight success - Fathom AnalyticsPaul Jarvis · usefathom.com · 20 years to overnight success · 2020-06-18
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in email
- Move the audience you rent onto a list you own7 unconnected
- Hold the schedule you promised to hold5 unconnected
- Decide whether cold email is worth what it signals5 unconnected · contested
- Settle who the publication is for before growing it5 unconnected
- Open the list before the product is real4 unconnected
- Send each subscriber the thing they told you they want4 unconnected