Subscription businesses inevitably face failed payments, which can lead to involuntary churn if not addressed. Here’s how to optimize your failed payment recovery process when using GoHighLevel as your CRM and Stripe as your payment gateway.

AVOID SUBSCRIPTION CHURN

Stripe’s Default Failed Payment Handling

Stripe offers a built-in feature called “Smart Retries” that automatically retries failed subscription payments for you. Out of the box, Stripe will intelligently retry a failed payment 3 times over a 2 week period before canceling the subscription. This default behavior provides a solid foundation for recovering failed payments without any additional setup.

But the reality behind Smart Retries is that Stripe uses machine learning trained on billions of data points to determine the optimal time to retry each failed charge. This is sold as a way to maximize your chances of successfully recovering payments. However, it’s more about Stripe reducing the level of risk.

If you need even more robust retry behavior, Stripe allows you to extend Smart Retries to a maximum of 8 retry attempts over a 2 week period. This can be easily configured right in your Stripe account settings. With up to 8 well-timed retries powered by Stripe’s intelligent retry logic, you’re giving failed payments the best chance to ultimately succeed out of the box.

CONNECT WITH A MORE POWERFUL PAYMENT GATEWAY

Strike the Right Balance with Payment Retries

While it may be tempting to retry failed payments as frequently as possible, such as every day, to maximize revenue recovery, it’s important to consider the potential downsides of excessive retries.

Retrying failed payments too aggressively can actually harm your overall payment approval rates over time. Payment processors and credit card issuers monitor decline rates closely. If they see an unusually high number of declines from your business, it may trigger risk alerts and lead to more scrutiny on your transactions. This can result in even valid payments being declined more often.

Additionally, customers whose payments are finally approved after 5 or more retries may be more likely to dispute the charges or request refunds. These customers may not have intended for the payment to ultimately go through, and excessive retries can lead to a poor customer experience.

The key is to find the right balance between maximizing revenue recovery and maintaining a healthy payment profile. By using Stripe’s intelligent Smart Retries and configuring your settings thoughtfully, you can optimize your retry strategy to recover revenue effectively while keeping your overall approval rates strong.

Remember, a slightly lower recovery rate on failed payments is preferable to jeopardizing the success rates of all your transactions, no matter the payment method. By striking the right balance, you can maintain strong approval rates while still recovering a significant portion of failed payments.

BOOST YOUR APPROVAL RATIO

Supercharge Your Decline Recovery with 3rd-Party Salvage Services

If you find that failed payments are a significant challenge for your business, you can take your decline recovery to the next level by leveraging specialized third-party decline salvage services.

These powerful services go beyond Stripe’s built-in capabilities, allowing you to fully customize your retry schedules and strategies. With granular control over retry frequency, timing, and logic, you can fine-tune your approach to maximize recovery rates while minimizing any negative impact on your overall payment health.

Imagine being able to automatically adjust your retry schedule based on each customer’s unique payment history and behavior. Or dynamically adapting your retry logic based on real-time decline codes and trends. That’s the level of optimization that third-party salvage services can provide.

By intelligently leveraging these advanced capabilities, you can supercharge your decline recovery efforts and recapture a significant portion of revenue that would otherwise be lost. You’ll be able to recover more failed payments while still maintaining strong approval rates and a positive customer experience.

If failed payments are a notable drag on your business, integrating a third-party decline salvage service could be a game-changer. You’ll be able to take your revenue recovery efforts to new heights, all while keeping your payment processing running smoothly. It’s a worthwhile option to explore if you want to maximize your success in tackling failed payments.

SECURE BETTER PAYMENT PROCESSING

Effortlessly Keep Customer Cards Up-to-Date with Visa and Mastercard Automatic Updates

It is easy to integrate with Visa Account Updater (VAU) and Mastercard Automatic Billing Updater (ABU) services. These powerful tools automatically update your customers’ expired or replaced card details, ensuring you always have the most current payment information on file for recurring invoices.

While there is a small fee per card update, the benefits far outweigh the cost. By meaningfully reducing payment failures, you’ll recover revenue that would otherwise be lost. You’ll also save time and resources that would be spent reaching out to customers to update their card details manually. It’s a smart investment in smoother payments and a better customer experience.

Best of all, enabling VAU and ABU in your Stripe account couldn’t be simpler. You just need to toggle them on in your account settings and Stripe handles the rest. There’s no complex payment integration or development work required. Within minutes, you can start enjoying the benefits of always having your customers’ most up-to-date card information.

In a nutshell, Visa Account Updater and Mastercard Automatic Billing Updater are your secret weapons for slashing payment declines due to outdated cards. Stripe makes it effortless to harness the power of these tools, so you can focus on growing your business while they handle the tedious task of updating card details. Enable them today and watch your successful payments soar.

CONNECT WITH A PROCESSOR SPECIFICALLY FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS

Proactively Notify Customers and Streamline Card Updates with GoHighLevel

Take control of your customer communication and seamlessly guide them through updating their payment information with GoHighLevel’s powerful automation capabilities.

First, configure GHL to send automated emails immediately when a payment fails. Don’t let a declined payment go unaddressed. Proactively reach out to the customer, alerting them to the issue and providing clear instructions on how to resolve it.

Craft your email to direct the customer straight to their client portal, where they can easily update their card details. Make the process as frictionless as possible by providing a direct payment link and simple, step-by-step guidance. The easier you make it for customers to update their payment information, the more likely they are to do so promptly.

Take this as an opportunity to offer more payment options like bank transfers, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, debit, and more. Credit cards do rule the ecommerce world, but your customers might have other preferences.

But don’t stop there. Take full advantage of GoHighLevel’s automation power to close the loop and collect payments effortlessly. Set up your system to automatically retry any outstanding charges as soon as a new card is added to the customer’s account. No need for manual intervention or follow-up.

By implementing this seamless card update flow, you’ll not only recover failed payments more effectively but also provide a smooth, hassle-free experience for your SaaS customers. They’ll appreciate the proactive communication and the ease of updating their payment information, fostering greater trust and loyalty.

With GoHighLevel’s robust automation features, you can turn a potentially frustrating situation into an opportunity to showcase your commitment to customer service and efficiency. Streamline your payment recovery process, reduce churn, and boost customer satisfaction, all while saving your team valuable time and effort.

SAFEGUARD YOUR GOHIGHLEVEL PRODUCTS TODAY