Inviting a new customer
This article provides a walkthrough of the different methods that can be used to invite a customer to set up a Direct Debit with you/your business.
The options available are as follows:
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Sending a customer a unique invitation
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Using a generic link for multiple customers to use
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Automating authorisation requests
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Adding a Pay Now button to invoices
1. Sending a customer a unique invitation
In order to be able to send a specific customer an invitation to authorise a Direct Debit with your business, you will first need to ensure that they have been added as a contact within your Xero account.
In addition, you will also need to have raised at least one sales invoice for the customer in Xero. (This can be a draft invoice).
If you can confirm that the above has been done and your customer is still not appearing, click the Sync Status button above the customer list to trigger a manual data sync with your Xero account.
To send a customer a unique (individual) invitation:
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Navigate to the Customers page in your GoCardless for Xero account and locate the customer.
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Click their Actions button (three dots) to the right of their entry field.
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You will now see two options available to you in the Available Actions window that opens:
a) Copy the link: Use this option if you would prefer to send the authorisation link from your own email address.
b) Send email reminder: Use this option to send the authorisation request directly from your GoCardless for Xero account. (To find out how to edit the messaging used in the email, please see here). If using this option, you will also be able to see when the email request was last sent to the customer within the Available Actions box.
2. Using a generic link to provide to multiple customers
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Navigate to the Customers page of your GoCardless for Xero account and click Add Customers
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In the window that opens, copy the link and add it into your own communications (for example an email)
Please note: As this is a generic authorisation link for multiple customers to use, once a customer has completed the authorisation form, you will need to manually match the record to the appropriate Xero customer ID.
You can find out more about matching a customer here.
3. Automating authorisation request emails
You can choose to automate sending authorisation request emails for any new customers you add to your Xero account. To enable this feature:
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Open up the Settings section in your left menu bar by clicking the plus sign (+)
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Open Xero Settings
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Select Xero Automation
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Check the box to Automatically email new customers
4. Adding a Pay Now button to invoices
You can add a Pay with Direct Debit button to your customer invoices. All they need to do is click the button and set up their Direct Debit, and their payment will then process according to the due date you've specified.
To find out how to enable this feature, please see our article here.