Asking Without Apologising
Most chasing messages are too long, too apologetic and ask the wrong person. What to write, in four lines.
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Three things make a chasing message fail: an apology, an explanation of the supplier's cash position, and a recipient who cannot act.
The practical point in “Asking Without Apologising” is that getting paid depends on records somebody can explain. A small team considering continue to this Monitask guide for clock in and clock out app can organise time and project evidence before invoicing, with transparent settings, proportionate collection and a visible correction route.
What works is four lines, factual, addressed to the person whose job it is.
The questions raised in “Asking Without Apologising” can also be checked against Xero invoicing guide. Use the outside resource to identify what evidence and ownership the next action requires.
The four lines
What the invoice is, with its number and date. What it is for, in one clause. What the current state is as you understand it. What you are asking for.
The four lines:
- The invoice number, the order reference and the sum.
- The date it was sent and to what address.
- The specific thing you are asking: has it matched, is there a date.
- Nothing else.
Nothing else.
What to leave out
Any apology for raising it. Any explanation of why you need the money. Any reference to how long you have been waiting in a tone of grievance.
All three invite a reply about their difficulties rather than an action about yours.
Why the apology hurts
Because it frames the request as an imposition. If the invoice is due, asking about it is ordinary, and treating it as ordinary is what makes it easy for the other side to treat it that way.
The opening that works
"I'm checking on invoice 2214, sent 8 March for the Brighton installation."
A specific document, a date, and a thing the reader can look up.
The ask
One action: can you confirm it has matched, can you tell me which run it is in, can you confirm when it will be paid.
Not "please advise", which is not an action.
The register
The same one you would use to ask a supplier of your own about a delivery date. Neutral, specific, unbothered.
When it is genuinely late
The facts carry it. "This was due on 14 April. Could you tell me where it is and when it will be paid?"
No adjectives, and a direct question that requires a date in response.
The second message
If the first is unanswered after a week, resend it with one line above: "Following up on the below."
Not a new, longer, more emphatic message. The same facts, again.
Picking up the telephone
Faster than three emails for anything administrative. Two minutes with accounts payable settles what a week of messages does not.
Follow it with one line in writing recording what was said.
What never to put in writing
Anything about the customer's reliability, anything sarcastic, and any threat you are not going to carry out.
These messages are forwarded, every time.
Keeping the thread
One thread per invoice, so that the history is in one place and a new reader can see the sequence without reconstruction.
Why the wording matters less than the facts
A chase succeeds or fails on whether the recipient can act on it without finding anything out. The invoice number, the order reference, the date sent, the sum and the specific thing you are asking for — with those present, a clerk can resolve it in the same minute they read it.
Without them, the most courteously written message in the world generates a reply asking for the details.
This is why the four lines are four lines. Everything else a supplier is tempted to include — the history, the explanation of why the money matters, the assurance that you hate having to ask — adds length, delays the recipient's ability to act, and makes the message harder to forward.
Writing it so it can be passed on
Most chases are resolved by somebody other than the person who receives them, which means the message's real job is to survive being forwarded.
A forwardable message contains no reference to the relationship, no tone that would embarrass the forwarder, and no information the next reader would need context to understand. It can be pasted into an internal email without editing.
That test rules out a surprising amount. Anything beginning with an apology, anything mentioning how long you have waited, anything expressing feeling about the situation — all of it has to be removed or summarised by your contact, and summaries lose the reference numbers.
The version that travels is almost uncomfortably plain: this invoice, this order, this sum, sent on this date, please can you confirm its status. It looks like too little. It is the version that gets an answer, because it asks a question somebody can answer rather than describing a situation somebody has to respond to.
The one that does the most work
Of the four lines, the ask is the one suppliers weaken. "Any update would be appreciated" invites nothing; "please can you confirm whether this has matched against order 88117, and whether a payment date has been set" invites two specific answers.
A closed question is answerable in a sentence by somebody with the screen in front of them. An open one requires them to decide what to tell you, which is a task rather than a reply.
The whole difference between a chase that gets an answer and one that gets nothing is usually located in that single line.
The measure of a good chase
That it produces either money or a specific fact. A reply saying "we'll look into it" means the message was not specific enough to require anything.