Glossary · Collections
Promise to pay
A promise to pay is a customer’s commitment to pay a specific amount by a specific date, recorded so it can be checked and followed up.
When a customer says “we’ll pay next week”, a collections team turns it into a promise to pay: an amount, a date, and who made it. Recorded that way, it stops being a brush-off and becomes something to check.
Promises are useful in two directions. Kept promises pause the chasing, which respects a customer who is sorting it out. Broken ones are the clearest signal there is that an account needs escalating — a customer who misses two promised dates rarely pays without firmer action.
Confirm each promise in writing the same day — “Thanks, we’ve noted €4,000 by Friday 12 June” — and check on the day. The confirmation itself makes the payment more likely.
Example
On a call, a client promises €4,000 by Friday 12 June. The collector emails a confirmation, pauses reminders, and checks the bank on the 12th. The money hasn’t arrived, so a follow-up goes out that afternoon citing the promise.