Payment reminders to retailers that get paid and keep the customer

Your outstanding list from Tally or Marg is long. Some retailers are a few days late. Some have not paid for three months.

If every reminder sounds the same, two things go wrong. The retailer who is a week late feels insulted. The one who is three months late doesn't take it seriously.

AI can write a different message for each retailer. But you should decide the tone yourself, from how old the bill is. Here is how.

Before you ask the AI

Take your outstanding list. For each retailer, work out two things yourself:

• the total they owe
• how many days old their oldest bill is

Then choose the tone from the age of the oldest bill:

• up to 30 days: friendly
• 31 to 60 days: polite
• 61 to 90 days: firm
• over 90 days: final

For example, as on 22 Sep 2026:

Retailer	Bills	Owes	Oldest bill	Tone
Parijat Kirana	1 bill, 8 Sep	₹6,240	14 days	friendly
Kesarbaug Kirana	2 bills, 5 Aug and 29 Aug	₹13,950	48 days	polite
Chandanwadi Stores	1 bill, 10 Jul	₹15,600	74 days	firm
Tilakwadi Provisions	1 bill, 15 Jun	₹7,420	99 days	final

Kesarbaug Kirana has two bills: ₹9,800 and ₹4,150. The total is ₹13,950. The tone comes from the older bill, not the newer one.

What to ask

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Put your own details in the brackets.

Write one WhatsApp payment reminder for each retailer below.

Sign as: [your firm's name]

Retailers:
- [Parijat Kirana]: owes [₹6,240], oldest bill [14 days], tone [friendly]
- [Kesarbaug Kirana]: owes [₹13,950], oldest bill [48 days], tone [polite]
- [Chandanwadi Stores]: owes [₹15,600], oldest bill [74 days], tone [firm]
- [Tilakwadi Provisions]: owes [₹7,420], oldest bill [99 days], tone [final]

Rules:
- Start each message with the retailer's name in *bold*.
- Copy the amount and the number of days exactly. Don't do any sums.
- Friendly: a light note to pay with the next order.
- Polite: ask for payment this week.
- Firm: ask for payment by [Saturday].
- Final: ask them to call us today with a date for payment.
- Never threaten. Never mention stopping supply, interest or legal action.
- Each message under 50 words. No tables.

What you get

The final message might read:

*Tilakwadi Provisions*
Namaste, ₹7,420 is pending with us, and the oldest bill is 99 days old. Please call us today with a date for payment. Thank you.

It is serious, but it keeps the door open.

What to check

Read each message before you send it. Check these four things:

1. Amount. It should match your list exactly. A wrong amount starts an argument.
2. Days. The number of days should be yours, not the AI's.
3. Tone. A 14-day bill should not get a firm message. A 99-day bill should not sound casual.
4. No threats. Remove any line about stopping supply, interest or "further action". These can lose you a customer you want to keep.

Why this works

You work out the totals and ages, so the numbers are right. You choose the tone from the oldest bill, so each retailer gets the message that fits.

The AI does only the part it is good at: writing a short, polite message in the right tone. And the rule "never threaten" keeps the relationship.