Failed Payments Happen: Here’s How to Address Them

This article is part of The Huddle, Upper Hand’s quick tips and best practices for customers. Want to join the community? Schedule a walk-through of the platform today. 

Failed Payments Happen: Here’s How to Address Them Using Upper Hand

A friend of mine recently ventured out to a local reservoir for some afternoon canoeing. As she entered the water, she quickly realized her canoe had a small crack allowing water to enter. She brushed it off until eventually the small drop of water turned into a puddle and panic started to set in.

Luckily, she hadn’t gone far off the coastline and was able to make it back to shore safely before the canoe fully sank. Phew!

So, why in the world would I be telling you this story? Because the same thing can happen with failed customer payments. Being behind on one or two is similar to the small crack in the canoe – you’re staying afloat, but have reason to be concerned. A few more slowly trickle in and that small crack turns into a puddle of water. When the failed payments continue to pile up, your canoe (or business) begins to sink.

Why is this important?

Getting behind on failed payments may seem like a small crack in your canoe, but can lead to much larger repercussions if not monitored and resolved. Why? First and foremost, it means you’re missing out on a large amount of revenue. Potential profits from your offerings add up quickly, which means being behind on failed payments can cost you in a massive way.

Related: How to Maximize Profits at Your Facility

The second reason an influx of failed payments is so dangerous to a business is because in alternative softwares, it is time-consuming to find the failed payments, track down the clients you need to collect outstanding payments from, and update the payments in order to get back on the right track.

That’s why we’ve made it easy to find failed payments and collect outstanding balances within Upper Hand’s sports and fitness management software. Here’s how:

Every time a payment fails, staff admins are notified immediately via email. Included in this email is a description of exactly why the payment failed (this could stem from an expired card, fraud, or insufficient funds on the card). Clients are also notified of their failed payment via email and asked to either update their payment methods or contact the facility. If no action is taken from the client, admins can choose to either re-attempt that payment method again, or contact the client directly to update their stored payment information.

How to collect a list of failed customer payments:

1. Login to your Upper Hand account
2. Navigate to the “Reports” tab in your left side navigation
3. Select “Ledger”
4. Choose the time frame you’d like to search, then click on “Filters”
5. Using the “Types” drop down, select “Failed Orders.” Click Apply.
6. From there, you’ll be shown a list of all failed orders during your specified time period. You can download this list using the Export button in the top right.

Watch: How to Stop the Slow Leak of Failed Orders

Once you’ve exported this list, you can choose to re-attempt the payment on the clients’ stored card. If it fails again, be sure to contact the client right away. If you operate on a membership, you could choose to suspend the client’s membership until they update their payment method.

Even if the number of outstanding failed payments feels like it’s causing your canoe (or in this case, your business) to sink, this 45 second export will help you get right back on track, saving you time and money in the long run.

Upper Hand is what studios, gyms, and academies use to grow their business. Get a demo today.