Customer Story
How Synergy used SMS to reduce overdue balances and prompt earlier payment
Overview
Challenge: Synergy needed a more timely and effective way to contact overdue customers, as its previous collections process relied heavily on letters and limited outbound calling, which did not encourage enough early action.
Solution: Sinch Engage SMS and text-to-speech helped Synergy build a more positive, proactive reminder program with multiple contact points for overdue accounts.
Results: Within less than a year, Synergy reduced its total balance of past-due accounts by 45%, with first-phase SMS reminders generating response rates of 24% and 45% across the first two message stages.
“Most overdue customers would rather not speak with a collection or customer service person about their account, preferring to make payment through either the online or IVR (interactive voice response) payment channels.“
Synergy, the government-owned energy retailer in Western Australia, manages more than one million customer accounts and faces the same challenge as many large residential utilities: helping customers pay on time while keeping overdue balances from escalating.
Before introducing SMS, Synergy’s collections process moved slowly. Customers received an initial reminder notice three days after the due date, then a disconnection warning letter 10 days later. Only a small number of customers with larger debts received manual outbound calls, and the final step was referral to a mercantile agency. Synergy found that this approach lacked both timeliness and meaningful consequences early enough in the overdue cycle to change behaviour effectively.
Craig Butler, Synergy’s Manager of Credit Management Strategy, believed a more proactive program built around SMS could outperform the existing model. The thinking was simple: contact people sooner, give them a direct path to pay or get in touch, and reduce the pressure on contact centre staff by encouraging action through self-service channels instead of phone conversations.
A more proactive program for overdue accounts
Synergy designed a communication plan built around multiple positive, proactive SMS messages to overdue customers. Butler’s research suggested that many customers were reluctant or embarrassed to actively contact Synergy to discuss payment options, which often led to higher costs and more unmanageable debt over time. That insight shaped the tone of the program. Instead of escalating immediately into harder collections language, the business focused on earlier contact while balances were still smaller and easier to resolve.
The first phase of the program introduced three contact points: a reminder immediately after the payment due date, a second reminder before disconnection of service, and an outreach after the customer had moved out of the subject property. Many of these contacts were sent via Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia) SMS, while accounts with only landline services received the same message as an automated voice call using text-to-speech. In both cases, the goal was the same — reach customers earlier and make it easier for them to either call or pay through Synergy’s online portal.
Faster response, lower overdue balances
The results appeared faster than Synergy expected. The business had assumed it could take up to 12 months to meaningfully change customer behaviour, but the early response rates were strong: 24% for the first SMS reminder and 45% for the second. Noticeable improvement in overdue accounts appeared within the first two billing cycles, and within less than a year, Synergy had reduced its total balance of past-due accounts by 45%.
A big part of that success was convenience. Synergy found that links to its payment portal within the reminder messages were especially useful, and Butler noted that many overdue customers preferred not to speak with collections or customer service staff directly, instead choosing to make payment through online or IVR channels. In other words, SMS worked because it made action easier and less confrontational.
Synergy’s use of Sinch Engage also helped the business scale this approach efficiently. Standard SMS covered the majority of automated contacts, while text-to-speech extended the same strategy to customers without mobile service. With those channels working together, Synergy created a more effective overdue account management process while staying within collection guidelines established by Australia’s Consumer Protection Commission.
