Confirmation or renewal prior to invoice

[danwednesday]

Hi,

 

I like to give my customers a choice of renewing their hosting/domain registration services prior to sending them an invoice for renewal. Is this possible out of the box with WHMCS? It seems to me that it just fires an invoice over and they either pay (continue) or don't pay (discontinue) but I don't want to have unpaid invoices lingering around if clients discontinue - I'd rather them approve the service and only then send them the invoice for payment.

 

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

[m8internet]

It may be possible but an advisory for renewal and invoice is pretty much the same thing

You could also disable the invoices being sent by email, the customer will then only receive the advisory email that renewal is due (and when)

The template emails can also be customised, as well as the notice periods

 

You can remove the unpaid invoices by amending the unpaid invoice period

Once this period has passed the product/service changes status from suspended to terminated

[danwednesday]

Okay, thanks for the prompt reply. I think disabling the email invoices is an interesting idea but kind of defeats the automation I'm striving for, so it's not really an option for me. My main issue is that by sending a renewal reminder and invoice together, the client feels obliged to renew, it's a bit heavy-handed for my liking, but if that's all I can do then I can make it clear on the email that they should ignore the invoice should they wish to terminate the service.

 

Actually, is there a facility for a customer to 'not renew' their service e.g. by sending a link in the email, so they can choose to not renew and not receive multiple reminders if they choose to discontinue the service? This would probably be workable.

[m8internet]

My main issue is that by sending a renewal reminder and invoice together, the client feels obliged to renew, it's a bit heavy-handed for my liking, but if that's all I can do then I can make it clear on the email that they should ignore the invoice should they wish to terminate the service

I had similar concerns when moving from my own system to WHMCS in December 2010

Last month I sent out a survey and such concerns I had have been dispelled, the vast majority prefer this method

Equally, if the customer does NOT plan to renew they follow the link (and they can perform this at any time, see below) and set the product/service to CANCELLED and they don't receive any further notices and/or invoices

 

Sending invoices in advance is standard practice

I am quite sure you have had this with online purchases, subscriptions, etc

Just make sure the period you use is relevant to the frequency of renewal

 

Actually, is there a facility for a customer to 'not renew' their service e.g. by sending a link in the email, so they can choose to not renew and not receive multiple reminders if they choose to discontinue the service? This would probably be workable

Yes, this follows on from the above

 

Simply add instructions to the Knowledgebase and such customers can follow the instructions with ease to perform this task at any time

 

I've had several customers perform this

Furthermore the reason for cancellation is included which can help determine if you need to implement improvements or changes to the service provided

Edited December 30, 2011 by m8internet