Don’t do this if you want to get paid

Demand emails- we see A LOT of them. Whenever we are sent a new debt to collect our client’s will include the emails they have already sent their debtor requesting payment. Obviously it hasn’t worked and it is almost always because of this reason- the sign-off is too nice. It is completely different to the body of the email- you have to be consistent. If you’ve given them a stern deadline of 5pm today otherwise they’re going to debt collection, then you can’t also say “Kind regards” or “Many thanks” or “Hope you’re well”. They just won’t take you seriously. Replace “Kind regards” with just “Regards” and it removes the fluff- same with “Thanks” and “Many thanks”. Or just finish with “I await your most urgent response” which we find works extremely well. This isn’t rude- it’s just firm. Exactly how you want to be if you are owed money and they’re not paying. If you’re sign-off is consistent with your message then it is so much more likely to be effective. Save the niceties for when they are doing the right thing.