Payment Recovery Agent

byHelmBilling & Retention

Win back failed payments before they churn.

Works with

Slack

Overview

The Payment Recovery Agent watches for failed subscription payments, then runs a personalized three-touch outreach to win them back. It opens a recovery task for each, drafts the dunning messages, offers retention options, escalates high-value accounts to a human, and reports recovery rate weekly in Slack. It acts only inside the limits you set.

What it does

What it takes off your plate.

Failed payment triage

Watches for failed subscription payments and opens a recovery task for each, with the customer's plan, tenure, and payment history attached.

Three-touch outreach

Runs a personalized day 1, day 3, day 7 cadence that escalates in tone, and stops the moment a payment is recovered.

Retention offers

Leads with a fix, not a threat: offers a plan downgrade, a pause, annual billing, or a courtesy grace period for long-tenure customers.

High-value escalation

Flags accounts over $500 per month and all annual plans for a human to handle, instead of messaging them automatically.

Recovery reporting

Reports weekly in Slack: failed payments, amount recovered, recovery rate, average time to recover, and accounts needing a human.

Example tasks

Things you can hand it.

Send day-3-past-due reminder with payment link and invoice copy.
Draft a day-14 escalation email that references the specific project the invoice is for.
Retry a failed card charge 48 hours after the first failure with the updated payment method request.
Notify the Account Manager when an invoice is 30+ days overdue for a top-20 account.
Track which outreach variants drive the fastest collection per account segment.
Surface any client whose days-to-pay has increased 50% over the last two quarters.
Automatically pause future deliverables for accounts at 60+ days past due per workspace rules.
Log every touch on the invoice record so humans can see the full recovery trail.
Roll up weekly AR recovery: cash collected, outstanding, clients still to chase.
Propose payment plans for clients who respond with cash-flow issues.
Draft a grace-period extension email when the client proactively communicates a delay.

How it works

Connect once, then read Slack.

1
Connect
We load your billing data and your recovery playbook as the agent's reference. There is no external tool to set up.
2
Detect
The agent watches for failed payments and opens a recovery task for each, with the account's full context.
3
Reach out
It runs a personalized three-touch cadence over a week, leading with a fix and stopping as soon as the payment clears.
4
Report
It posts recovery results to Slack and escalates the accounts that need a human.

Tiers

Start where you're comfortable.

Same agent, three levels of control. Moving up is a settings change, not a new setup.

QA

The agent reviews; your team acts.

Read-only access to your billing and subscription data.
Opens a recovery task for each failed payment and recommends next steps.
Findings and a weekly report in Slack.

Managed

The agent drafts, you approve in Slack, the agent executes.

Everything in QA.
Drafts the three-touch outreach for each failed payment.
Sends only after you approve.

Full

The agent runs the work; you set the limits.

Everything in Managed.
Runs the recovery cadence automatically.
Escalates high-value and annual accounts to a human.

FAQ

Common questions.

What do I need to get started?

Your subscriptions and billing tracked in Helm, and a Slack channel to share with the agent. There is no external tool to connect.

Does it message customers on its own?

Only on the Full tier, and only within your limits. On QA it opens tasks and recommends. On Managed it drafts the outreach and waits for your approval in Slack before anything sends.

How does the outreach work?

A personalized three-touch cadence: a friendly heads-up on day 1, a follow-up on day 3, and a clear final notice on day 7. It stops immediately once the payment is recovered.

What about high-value or annual accounts?

Accounts over $500 per month and all annual plans are flagged for a human instead of messaged automatically. Long-tenure customers get a courtesy grace period.

Is it aggressive with customers?

No. It leads with a fix, not a threat. It offers a downgrade, a pause, annual billing, or a grace period, and keeps the tone helpful throughout.

How do the tiers work?

QA reviews and recommends. Managed drafts and sends after your approval. Full runs the cadence automatically. Moving up a tier is a settings change, not a new setup.