Failed payment recovery for retail and ecommerce
A failed card kicks off a recovery cadence measured in hours: a text with the update link, an email, then a call before the next billing cycle. Frontdesk runs it for shoppers.
Trigger
Your billing system flags the failure on the contact record.
Built from
Why teams set this up
Involuntary churn is the quietest revenue leak you have. The customer never decided to leave. Their card expired, and nobody told them in a way they noticed.
Involuntary churn recovered systematically
Most failures fixed by the first text
Escalations reach humans before cancellation dates
How the automation runs
Twelve cards fail on the first of the month. Eight get fixed from the first text, two more after the call, and the remaining two land on a human list with their history. What used to be twelve quiet cancellations is now two conversations.
- 1CRM update
The failed payment flags the contact
- 2Outbound SMS
Within the hour: a text with a secure link to update the card
- 3Wait step
Two days for the easy fixes to happen
- 4Outbound call
The AI calls anyone still unresolved
- 5Conditional branch
Updated cards close the loop, the rest escalate to your team
How retail and ecommerce teams run it
Failed subscription charges get a fix-it text within the hour, recovering quiet churn.
Synced with your systems
Built from standard Frontdesk blocks
No custom development. Each step is a building block you can rearrange, retime, or extend, so this workflow can grow into the next one.
Retention journeys that include this workflow
This workflow is one step inside larger retention journeys that run the full customer lifecycle.
Customer retention
Combine behavior, sentiment, service history, and conversation data into proactive retention workflows.
See the journey →Churn risk intervention
Route each at-risk customer into a playbook based on value, issue, urgency, and preferred channel.
See the journey →Renewal journey automation
Coordinate education, value review, objections, approvals, offers, and signatures before the deadline.
See the journey →Common questions
How does the failed payment recovery workflow start?
Your billing system flags the failure on the contact record.
Which channels does this use?
This workflow runs over sms, outbound voice. Each step can use the channel that fits the customer and the urgency.
Can my team stay in control of when it fires?
Yes. The trigger can be a field a person flips on a ticket or contact, so a human makes the decision and Frontdesk does the follow-through. Any step can also route to a teammate with the transcript and collected data.
Does it keep our records up to date?
Every call, text, and email in the workflow is logged against the contact and ticket, with transcripts attached. Frontdesk can also sync contacts and fields to your CRM.
What happens when a customer needs a human?
The workflow hands off with context: the right teammate gets the full history, the transcript, and the collected answers, so the customer never repeats themselves.
Which systems does this work with for retail and ecommerce businesses?
Frontdesk can work with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Google Calendar, Outlook, Webhooks, plus API and webhook connections for custom systems, so every conversation lands on the right record.
Thinking bigger than one workflow?
The customer journey library maps full lifecycle automations across activation, onboarding, retention, and growth.
Explore customer journeys →This workflow also runs for any industry.
See the all-industry version →More from billing and collections
Polite, persistent money conversations that run themselves until a human needs to decide.
Payment reminder outreach
Invoices coming due get a friendly text. Invoices past due get a call. Your team gets involved only when a conversation needs judgment.
Invoice question hotline
Callers asking about a balance, a charge, or a due date get the real answer from your billing data, on the first call, with no hold music.
Refund status updates
Where-is-my-refund stops being a phone queue. Callers get live status, and status changes text the customer before they think to call.