Escalation ladder
An escalation ladder is a fixed sequence of chases for an overdue invoice where each rung increases specificity — a more precise person, a more precise fact — rather than increasing pressure.
What we can add
Built on the observation that most overdue invoices are not a refusal to pay but an invoice that reached one person who is not the person who pays. Escalating in tone treats it as a dispute and spends the relationship; escalating in specificity treats it as a routing failure, which is what it usually is.
Go deeper