Been running the same dunning sequence for months and barely hitting 15% open rates.
Starting to think these emails just get buried or ignored completely. Wonder if the timing or subject lines are the issue here.
Your dunning emails look like boring billing notices - that’s why people ignore them. Turn them into retention campaigns instead. Show customers what they’re about to lose, not just that their payment failed. I’ve seen “Your account is on hold” crush “Payment failed - action required” in open rates. Quick check: are you sending from no-reply? People auto-delete those. Use a real person’s name or your support team - someone who can actually respond when they hit reply.
Send them when people actually check email. Most dunning emails go out right after the payment fails - usually middle of the night when nobody’s looking.
I switched to batching mine for 9am local time and open rates went from 12% to 28%. Simple fix, huge difference.
Split your sequence too. First email within 24 hours, then wait 3-4 days. People need time to notice their card got declined or their bank flagged it.
I found 3 emails over 10 days works best. More than that and you’re just bugging people who’ve already mentally checked out.
Try SMS instead. Email is dead for urgent stuff.