Dunning & Account Recovery

Intelligently retry failed charges, downgrade accounts, and handle disputes automatically, minimizing churn

Stripe integration that manages the lifecycle of failed charges—retry, downgrade to free/lower tier, or cancel—based on customer value and failure pattern.

When a subscription payment fails, Nora follows a smart dunning process: (1) Retry payment 3 times over 10 days with backoff. (2) If still failing and customer is high-value (LTV > $500), offer downgrade to lower tier instead of cancellation (e.g., 'Your card declined. We've downgraded you to $29/mo plan to keep you active—upgrade anytime'). (3) If medium-value, pause subscription (don't cancel, giving them time to fix). (4) If low-value, cancel after 3 failed retries. (5) Send customer notifications at each step. This nuanced approach minimizes churn. A customer with $5,000 LTV who has a temporary payment issue shouldn't be canceled—downgrading to a lower tier keeps them engaged and revenue flowing. Once their payment method is fixed, they can upgrade again. For $100 LTV customers, cancellation is acceptable. Nora's approach recovers 20–30% of failed payments that would otherwise result in churn, and for customers who do churn, tracks their win-back path (did they come back? how long?). The automation respects customer preferences—if they've explicitly canceled, Nora won't attempt recovery.

How it works

  1. Detect failed payment; extract customer LTV and failure reason
  2. Retry payment 3 times over 10 days (3 day, 5 day, 7 day intervals)
  3. If customer is high-value and still failing, offer downgrade option
  4. Send downgrade proposal email with explanation and link
  5. If accepted, apply downgrade in Stripe
  6. Log all actions and track outcome (recovered, downgraded, churned)

Frequently asked questions

What does "Dunning & Account Recovery" do?

Stripe integration that manages the lifecycle of failed charges—retry, downgrade to free/lower tier, or cancel—based on customer value and failure pattern.

How long does setup take?

Under 5 minutes. Connect your tools and Nora handles the rest.

Which tools does this use?

Uses Stripe, run by your Finance Manager.

How much time does this save?

Saves approximately 5 hours/week, running real-time as payments fail, on retry schedule.

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