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Settlement Offers — negotiating with difficult customers

What is a settlement offer?​

A settlement offer is a reduced payment proposal made to a customer whose standard reminders have failed (status Stopped). Instead of demanding the full amount, you propose a lower acceptable amount as final payment.

Example: The customer owes $2,000. You propose to settle for $1,500 (75%) if paid before the 15th.

When to create a settlement offer?​

A settlement offer is typically created when:

  • The customer has moved to Stopped (no follow-up) status (schedule exhausted)
  • Full collection seems unlikely
  • You prefer recovering part rather than nothing

Prerequisite: The customer must be at Stopped (no follow-up) status to activate this feature. Buttons are disabled for other statuses.

Note: When a settlement offer is created, the customer's status automatically changes to In Settlement.

Create a Settlement Offer​

  1. Open the customer profile
  2. In the Settlement Offers section, click Create offer
  3. Fill in the form:

Offer Parameters​

FieldDescription
TypeFixed (dollar amount) or Percentage (% of balance due)
ValueAmount or percentage (e.g., 1500 or 75)
Expiry dateDeadline to accept the offer
  1. Click Create
  2. The offer is created with Active status

Offer Types​

Fixed Amount Offer​

You set a specific acceptable amount. Ideal when you have a specific target.

Example: "We accept $800 as final settlement."

Percentage Offer​

You set a percentage of the outstanding balance. More flexible if amounts vary between customers.

Example: "We accept 70% of the outstanding balance."

Settlement Sequences​

A settlement sequence is a special schedule designed for Stopped customers. It's a delivery vehicle — it fires automated reminders about the offer you created on the client's profile.

The schedule does NOT define the discount. The discount is set per client on their settlement offer. The schedule only controls:

  • Which template to use (settlement offer templates)
  • Which channel (email or SMS)
  • How often to repeat (e.g., every 5 days)
  • How many times to send (e.g., stop after 6 sends)

Setup:

  1. Create a schedule with "Settlement Subsequence" type
  2. Add a reminder: pick a channel and template
  3. Set the repeat interval (e.g., every 5 days) and max sends (e.g., 6 times)
  4. Create settlement offers on individual client profiles
  5. Assign those clients to this schedule

The automation starts firing as soon as the client has an active offer and is assigned to the schedule. It stops when either:

  • All sends are exhausted, OR
  • The offer's expiry date passes (set on the client card)

Whichever comes first. If neither results in payment → the client transitions to Lost.

Settlement sequences bypass COMP-01/02 compliance rules — they can send even if the customer has received messages recently.

Offer Statuses​

StatusMeaning
ActiveOffer sent / awaiting response
AcceptedCustomer paid — balance updated
ExpiredExpiry date passed without response → may trigger Lost
LostManually abandoned

Mark an Offer as Accepted​

When the customer pays following the offer:

  1. Record the payment normally in the Payments section
  2. The system updates the customer's status → Paid if the amount settles the balance
  3. The offer automatically moves to Accepted status

Bulk Application​

To create offers for multiple Stopped customers at once:

  1. In the customer list, filter by Stopped status
  2. Select the desired customers
  3. Click Apply bulk settlement offer
  4. Define the parameters (type, value, expiry date)
  5. Confirm

This action creates an offer for each selected customer and can trigger automatic assignment of a settlement sequence.