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AI for Collections Specialist

Zapier Automation: Broken PTP Follow-Up Workflow

Zapier

For Collections Specialists

Tools: Zapier, Gmail, Twilio (optional) | Time to build: 1–2 hours | Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced Prerequisites: Comfortable with Gmail and Google Sheets — see Level 2 guides

What This Builds

When a debtor misses a promised payment date, the follow-up call happens days later — momentum lost, memory faded. This automation detects missed PTPs from a Google Sheet log and triggers immediate follow-up outreach (email or text) with an AI-drafted message. The outreach goes out within an hour of the missed payment, while the commitment is still fresh.

Prerequisites

  • Zapier account — free tier covers this (zapier.com)
  • Google Sheets for tracking PTPs (or your agency already exports PTP data to a spreadsheet)
  • Gmail for sending follow-up emails (or Twilio for SMS — optional upgrade)
  • Each broken PTP outreach must comply with FDCPA — no contact after C&D, no harassment language
  • Cost: Zapier free tier / {{tool:Zapier.price}} for more Zaps; Gmail free

The Concept

Zapier watches a Google Sheet. When the "Expected Payment Date" column shows today's date and the "Payment Received" column still shows "No," Zapier knows the PTP was broken. It triggers a Gmail to your inbox (or directly to the debtor, FDCPA permitting) with a pre-drafted follow-up message. You review and send — or it sends automatically if your agency has approved automated outreach.

Note: Whether you auto-send or send manually depends on your agency's policy and FDCPA considerations for your account type. Build for manual review first.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Set Up Your PTP Tracker in Google Sheets

Create a Google Sheet with these columns:

  • Column A: Account ID
  • Column B: Consumer First Name (for personalized outreach)
  • Column C: Contact Email or Phone
  • Column D: PTP Amount
  • Column E: PTP Date (YYYY-MM-DD format)
  • Column F: Payment Received (Yes / No)
  • Column G: Contact Method (email / phone / text)
  • Column H: Follow-Up Status (Pending / Sent / Do Not Contact)
  • Column I: FDCPA Notes (C&D? Disputed? Any restrictions)

Fill in your current open PTP accounts.

Critical: In Column H, mark any account with a C&D request or dispute as "Do Not Contact" — your Zapier automation must check this column and NOT trigger for those accounts.

Part 2: Create the Zapier Trigger

  1. Go to zapier.com → + Create → Zap
  2. Trigger app: Google Sheets
  3. Trigger event: New or Updated Row in Spreadsheet
  4. Connect your Google account and select your PTP Tracker sheet
  5. Configure trigger: Set up a filter so it only triggers when:
    • Column F (Payment Received) = "No"
    • Column E (PTP Date) = Today's date (use Zapier's date formatting: today)
    • Column H (Follow-Up Status) = "Pending" (not "Do Not Contact")

What you should see: Zapier can find sample rows matching your filter from the spreadsheet.

Part 3: Add the Follow-Up Action

For manual review (recommended first):

  1. Action app: Gmail
  2. Action event: Send Email
  3. To: Your own email address (for manual review)
  4. Subject: BROKEN PTP ALERT: Account [Account ID] — [Consumer First Name]
  5. Body: Use Zapier's dynamic fields to include account details, then add your pre-drafted message template:
Copy and paste this
BROKEN PTP — FOLLOW-UP NEEDED

Account: [Account ID]
Consumer: [Consumer First Name]
PTP Amount: $[PTP Amount]
PTP Date: [PTP Date]
Contact: [Contact Email or Phone]

---
SUGGESTED FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE:
(Review before using — ensure FDCPA compliance for this account)

Hi [First Name],

We noticed we didn't receive the payment of $[amount] that was scheduled for today.
We understand things can come up — we'd like to work with you to get back on track.

Please call us at [agency phone] or reply to this email to discuss your options.

[Agent Name]
[Agency Name]
[FDCPA Disclosure]
  1. Add a second Gmail action (or update the Sheet) to change Column H to "Sent" so the same account doesn't trigger again

Part 4: Test End-to-End

  1. Add a test row to your Google Sheet with today's date, Payment Received = "No", Status = "Pending"
  2. Trigger the Zap manually (Zapier has a "Test" button)
  3. Confirm the email arrives in your inbox with correct account details
  4. Mark the test row as "Sent" to prevent repeat triggers
  5. Turn the Zap on

Real Example: A Thursday Morning Catch-Up

Setup: Your Zap has been running for a week. It's Thursday morning.

What happened overnight: 3 PTP accounts had their payment dates hit yesterday. None paid.

What the automation did:

  • At 8am, 3 emails arrived in your inbox labeled "BROKEN PTP ALERT" — one for each account
  • Each email contains the suggested follow-up message pre-filled with the account details
  • You review each: Account 1 and 2 look clean → copy and send to the debtors. Account 3 has a note in Column I that it was disputed last week → mark as Do Not Contact, don't send.

Time saved: Instead of manually scanning all open PTPs each morning (30–45 min), you get a precise list of exactly which ones broke and a ready-to-send message.

What to Do When It Breaks

  • Zap not triggering → Check your filter conditions. Google Sheets date format matters: your PTP Date column must store dates in the exact format Zapier expects (YYYY-MM-DD). Test with a hardcoded "today" date first.
  • Wrong accounts triggering → Verify Column H "Do Not Contact" filter is working. Test by creating a test row with "Do Not Contact" in Column H — the Zap should NOT trigger.
  • Same account triggering multiple times → Make sure you're updating Column H to "Sent" after trigger. Add a Zapier filter: only trigger when Column H = "Pending."
  • FDCPA concern: automatic contact → Keep this as a manual-review system until your agency's compliance team approves automated FDCPA-covered contact. The alert-to-inbox version is safest.

Variations

  • Simpler version: Skip Zapier entirely. Set a daily Google Sheets formula that highlights rows where PTP Date = today and Payment Received = No. Each morning, you manually scan the highlighted rows — still 10x faster than scanning your full account list.
  • Extended version: Add a Twilio SMS integration as a second action — so broken PTPs get both an email alert to you AND (with agency approval) an automated SMS to the debtor's phone.

What to Do Next

  • This week: Build the Google Sheets PTP tracker and test the Zap manually
  • This month: Track broken-PTP recovery rate before vs. after — measure the real impact
  • Advanced: Connect directly to your CMS if it has a Zapier integration or webhook support — eliminates the manual Google Sheets step entirely

Advanced guide for collections specialist professionals. These techniques use more sophisticated AI features that may require paid subscriptions.