Self‑Serve in a Weekend: Config Pack + Reply‑Router (Stripe/Paddle)

Use this text decision flow to select the fastest‑to‑ship pattern. Circle the first YES you hit.

1. Do buyers need to use something immediately without your help? → YES → Go Micro‑SaaS.
   • NO → continue.
2. Can buyers get value from a template, file, or mini‑system they can duplicate? → YES → Go Template + Add‑Ons.
   • NO → continue.
3. Is the value delivered by you doing work but scheduled/packaged? → YES → Go Productized Service.

Then set your monetization switch:

• Trial vs Freemium
  • If your “aha” requires setup or data import → choose [TRIAL_LENGTH_DAYS] day trial.
  • If value is instant and naturally limited → choose Freemium with [INCLUDED_UNITS] monthly units.
• Hybrid toggle (optional for Micro‑SaaS)
  • Base = [BASE_PRICE]/month includes [INCLUDED_UNITS] [USAGE_UNIT]; overage = [OVERAGE_RATE] per [USAGE_UNIT].

Copy this grid into your pricing page or billing settings and fill the brackets.

• Product Name: [PRODUCT_NAME]
• Currency: [CURRENCY]

Plans

• Free (optional): [FREE_PLAN_NAME] — includes [INCLUDED_UNITS_FREE] [USAGE_UNIT] per month; overage [OVERAGE_RATE_FREE] (or block when exhausted: [BLOCK_AT_FREE_LIMIT]=YES/NO)
• Trial Plan: [TRIAL_PLAN_NAME] — [TRIAL_LENGTH_DAYS]-day trial of [PAID_PLAN_NAME]; requires card up‑front? [TRIAL_CARD_UPFRONT]=YES/NO
• Paid Base: [PAID_PLAN_NAME] — [BASE_PRICE]/month includes [INCLUDED_UNITS] [USAGE_UNIT]
• Usage (optional): +[OVERAGE_RATE]/[USAGE_UNIT] after included units; monthly cap [USAGE_CAP]=[VALUE or NONE]

Key Toggles

• Cancel policy: [CANCEL_AT_PERIOD_END]=ON (recommended default) | OFF (immediate)
• Pause option (Micro‑SaaS): [PAUSE_ALLOWED]=YES/NO; pause length [PAUSE_DAYS]
• Customer portal: [PORTAL_URL] (show: update card, view invoices, change plan, cancel at period end)
• Tax/VAT handling: Stripe Tax=[ON/OFF] | Paddle MoR (inherently handled)

Path: Stripe Dashboard → Billing → Subscriptions and emails.

• Smart Retries: [ON]
• Dunning emails: [ON]
  • Email triggers ON: failed payment, trial ending, upcoming invoice, expiring card
  • From name/email: [SENDER_NAME] <[BILLING_FROM_EMAIL]>
  • Hosted update link in all emails: [CARD_UPDATE_URL]
• Subscription settings
  • Default trial length: [TRIAL_LENGTH_DAYS]
  • Cancel policy: cancel at period end = [ON]; immediate cancel allowed for fraud/duplicate = [CRITERIA]
  • Proration on plan change: [PRORATE_ON_UPGRADE]=ON; [PRORATE_ON_DOWNGRADE]=OFF
• Customer Portal: [ON]
  • Allow: manage payment methods, download invoices, change plan, cancel at period end
  • Portal URL: [PORTAL_URL]
• Webhooks (Developers → Webhooks)
  • Endpoint: [STRIPE_WEBHOOK_URL]
  • Events: checkout.session.completed, invoice.payment_failed, invoice.upcoming, customer.subscription.trial_will_end, charge.succeeded, customer.subscription.deleted
  • Signing secret: [STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET]
• Test data
  • Create test products/prices: [STRIPE_TEST_PRICE_IDS]
  • Use Stripe test cards for success/decline cases (see QA section)

Notes

• Smart Retries schedule is ML‑timed; your email cadence runs in parallel.
• Billing fee reminder (US): 2.9% + $0.30 per card charge; Billing add‑on 0.7% per paid invoice.

Path: Paddle → Retain (or Billing settings) and Developer → Webhooks.

• Retain (payment recovery): [ON]
  • Recovery emails: [ON] (default cadence aligned to retries over ~10–12 days)
  • Recovery window: [RETAIN_WINDOW_DAYS] (default ~30)
  • Channels for high‑ACV: SMS=[ON/OFF], In‑app=[ON/OFF]
  • From name/email: [SENDER_NAME] <[BILLING_FROM_EMAIL]>
• Trials & plans
  • Trial length: [TRIAL_LENGTH_DAYS]
  • Cancel at period end: [ON]
  • Customer portal: [ON] with update card, change plan, cancel at period end
• Webhooks
  • Endpoint: [PADDLE_WEBHOOK_URL]
  • Events: transaction.payment_failed, subscription.canceled, subscription.updated, transaction.completed
  • Secret: [PADDLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET]

Notes

• Paddle is Merchant of Record; confirm your tax/VAT regions are covered.
• Retain sends up to four recovery emails aligned to retries; window adjustable.

Use this 7–14 day save sequence. Keep it short, human, and link only to the hosted card‑update or portal.

Trigger map

• Day 0 (immediately on failure): Send Email #1; schedule Email #2 for Day 3, #3 for Day 7; optional SMS on Day 7 for high‑ACV; final notice Day 10–14.

Email #1 — Subject: “Action needed: update your card for [PRODUCT_NAME]” Body: “Hey [FIRST_NAME] — Your [PRODUCT_NAME] payment didn’t go through. It happens. Update your card here (one click): [CARD_UPDATE_URL] We’ll keep everything running while retries happen over the next few days. Need help? Reply here and I’ll sort it. — [SENDER_NAME]”

Email #2 (Day 3) — Subject: “Quick nudge before access is interrupted” Body: “Still a hiccup on your [PRODUCT_NAME] payment. Update your card here: [CARD_UPDATE_URL] If it’s a new card or bank block, this takes ~30 seconds. Questions? Just reply. — [SENDER_NAME]”

Email #3 (Day 7) — Subject: “Last attempt before we pause your account” Body: “We’ll pause [PRODUCT_NAME] on [PAUSE_DATE] if the card isn’t updated: [CARD_UPDATE_URL] If you need a few days, reply and we’ll extend the grace period. — [SENDER_NAME]”

Final (Day 10–14) — Subject: “We’ve paused your account — reactivate in one click” Body: “We paused access because payment didn’t complete. Reactivate anytime: [PORTAL_URL] We’ll keep your data for [DATA_RETAIN_DAYS] days. Need an invoice name change or help? Reply. — [SENDER_NAME]”

Optional SMS (Day 7, consented users) “[PRODUCT_NAME]: Payment failed. Fix in 1 tap: [SHORT_CARD_UPDATE_URL]. Need help? Reply.”

In‑app banner copy “Payment failed. Keep access by updating your card now: [CARD_UPDATE_URL]”

Wire these to your automation tool ([AUTOMATION_TOOL]=Make/Zapier/n8n/Lambda).

Stripe

• invoice.payment_failed → Action: Start SaveSequence; send Email #1; tag user [TAG=Past‑Due]; schedule Email #2 (Day 3) and #3 (Day 7). If [MRR] ≥ [HIGH_ACV_THRESHOLD], create Slack alert to [SLACK_CHANNEL] and optional SMS.
• customer.subscription.trial_will_end → Email: “Trial ends in [DAYS_LEFT]” with upgrade link [CHECKOUT_URL]; add in‑app banner.
• checkout.session.completed → Onboard: send “Getting started” email; start Activation timer [ACTIVATION_WINDOW_HOURS].
• charge.succeeded → Receipt email; clear [TAG=Past‑Due]; close any open tasks.
• customer.subscription.deleted → Offboard: confirm cancellation; present downgrade/reactivate links; trigger short exit survey [SURVEY_LINK].

Paddle

• transaction.payment_failed → Start SaveSequence as above; Retain continues handling emails/retries in parallel.
• subscription.updated → If plan change downwards, check proration rules; if upwards, confirm feature gating.
• subscription.canceled → Offboard flow as above.
• transaction.completed → Receipt + success tracking.

Implementation placeholders

• Webhook receiver URL: [WEBHOOK_RECEIVER_URL]
• Secrets: [STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET], [PADDLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET]
• Slack Webhook/Channel: [SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL] / #[SLACK_CHANNEL]
• SMS Provider + From: [SMS_PROVIDER_NAME], [SMS_FROM_NUMBER]
• CRM/Event sink: [CRM_NAME] / [EVENT_TABLE_NAME]

Goal: a human replies to high‑intent messages within 15 minutes during the sender’s local business hours.

Inputs

• Inbound sources: [GMAIL_ALIAS] and/or [HELPDESK_ADDRESS]; positive billing replies forwarded to [ROUTER_INBOX].
• Classifier: [LLM_CLASSIFIER]=ON routes intents: BUYING, EXPANSION, BILLING_BLOCK, SUPPORT, OTHER.

Routing rules

• If intent ∈ {BUYING, EXPANSION, BILLING_BLOCK} and sender_local_time ∈ [WORKING_HOURS_START]–[WORKING_HOURS_END] → page on‑call via Slack/SMS.
• Else → auto‑acknowledge with SLA: “We reply within 15 minutes during your business hours ([SENDER_TZ]).” Queue to next window.

On‑call

• Roster: [ON_CALL_PRIMARY], [ON_CALL_BACKUP]; rotation: [ROTATION_RULE] (e.g., weekly UTC).
• Escalation: if no reply in 10 minutes, notify backup; at 20 minutes, alert channel #[MANAGER_CHANNEL].

Message macros

• Fast schedule: “Grab a slot here: [BOOKING_LINK] (we’ll hold it for 20 minutes).”
• Upgrade path: “You’ll get [FEATURE_X] on [PLAN_Y]. Upgrade link: [CHECKOUT_URL].”
• Billing unblock: “Card‑update link: [CARD_UPDATE_URL]. I’ll watch for it.”

Plumbing

• Slack alert format: “High‑intent: [INTENT] — [SENDER_EMAIL] — Local time [SENDER_TZ_NOW]. Thread back with status.”
• SMS alert (for BUYING/EXPANSION): “[PRODUCT_NAME]: [SENDER_EMAIL] wants to [INTENT]. Reply ‘ACK’ to claim.”
• Logging: create [CRM_NAME] task with SLA timer; status moves: NEW → ACK’d → REPLIED → CLOSED.

Safety

• Quiet hours by sender’s timezone; override with subject contains [URGENT_TOKEN].
• Never include full card details in tickets; link only to [PORTAL_URL].

Define a single “aha” event per pattern and measure it inside a fixed window.

• Metric formula: Activation Rate = activated_users / signups in [WINDOW_HOURS] hours.

Defaults

• Template + Add‑Ons → Event: “[TEMPLATE_NAME] duplicated AND first checklist item completed.” Window: [24] hours.
• Micro‑SaaS → Event: “First successful job completed” (e.g., file processed, task executed). Window: [24–48] hours.
• Productized Service → Event: “Kickoff self‑scheduled AND deposit paid.” Window: [24] hours.

Instrumentation

• Analytics tool: [ANALYTICS_TOOL] (Amplitude/Mixpanel/GA4)
• Event names: [EVT_SIGNUP], [EVT_ACTIVATION], [EVT_JOB_SUCCEEDED], [EVT_TEMPLATE_COMPLETED]
• Dashboard segment: by plan (free/trial/paid), by geo, by source UTM

Guardrails

• Review weekly. If Activation < [ACTIVATION_ALERT_THRESHOLD]% for 2 weeks, run a first‑session teardown and add one guided step or sample data.

Before turning on live payments, complete each test and check it off.

Payments (Stripe Test Mode)

• Success: complete checkout with a valid test card; confirm charge.succeeded, receipt, and onboarding email.
• Failures: run at least 3 decline reasons (insufficient_funds, expired_card, do_not_honor); confirm invoice.payment_failed fires; Email #1 sent; Slack alert for ≥[HIGH_ACV_THRESHOLD].
• Trial: create a trial signup; verify customer.subscription.trial_will_end email fires with [DAYS_BEFORE_TRIAL_END] lead.

Payments (Paddle Sandbox)

• Trigger a failed payment; confirm transaction.payment_failed webhook and Retain email.
• Trigger a successful payment; confirm transaction.completed and receipt.

Reply‑router

• Send a BUYING‑intent email from a timezone 6–12 hours ahead; verify quiet hours and next‑window page.
• Live sender hours: send again; confirm page within 15 minutes and claim workflow.

Data & Security

• Webhook signatures validated; unknown events ignored.
• PII redaction turned on in logs; invoices accessible only via [PORTAL_URL].

Copy these rows into a sheet/Notion database.

• Daily

  • New signups [COUNT]
  • Activation rate [%]
  • Trials starting/ending [COUNT]
  • Payment failures [COUNT] (by decline_reason)
  • Recovery rate [%] = recovered_failures / total_failures

• Weekly

  • Trial→Paid conversion [%]
  • Involuntary churn [% of MRR]
  • Expansion MRR [$]
  • Time‑to‑first‑response (median, P90) [MINUTES]

• Alerts (conditional formatting)

  • Activation < [ACTIVATION_ALERT_THRESHOLD]% for 14 days → RED
  • Recovery rate by decline_reason ‘insufficient_funds’ < [RECOVERY_ALERT_THRESHOLD]% → Investigate copy/cadence
  • Median reply time > 15 minutes during sender hours → Fix on‑call

• Sources

  • Events feed: [EVENT_TABLE_NAME]
  • Billing: Stripe/Paddle exports (weekly pull)
  • Router: [HELPDESK]/[CRM_NAME]

Defaults that reduce friction while preserving relationships.

• Cancel at period end (default): [ON]
• Grace period after failure before pause: [GRACE_DAYS]=7 (match Email #3)
• Data retention after pause/cancel: [DATA_RETAIN_DAYS]=30
• Refunds: [REFUND_POLICY_SUMMARY] (e.g., prorated on annual within 14 days; none on monthly renewals)
• Pausing (Micro‑SaaS): allow [1] pause per [12] months for up to [PAUSE_DAYS]=14
• Productized Service deposit: [DEPOSIT_PERCENT]% non‑refundable once work window confirmed
• Portal copy (cancel): “Cancel at period end keeps access until [NEXT_RENEWAL_DATE]. You can reactivate anytime in one click.”

Use this single section to collect your working values for quick reference.

• Product & pricing: [PRODUCT_NAME] • [BASE_PRICE]/mo • [USAGE_UNIT]=[INCLUDED_UNITS] incl. + [OVERAGE_RATE]/unit
• Key URLs: Checkout [CHECKOUT_URL] • Portal [PORTAL_URL] • Card‑update [CARD_UPDATE_URL]
• Support: [SUPPORT_EMAIL] • [STATUSPAGE_URL]
• Webhooks: Stripe [STRIPE_WEBHOOK_URL] • Paddle [PADDLE_WEBHOOK_URL] • Receiver [WEBHOOK_RECEIVER_URL]
• Secrets: [STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET] • [PADDLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET]
• Slack/SMS: #[SLACK_CHANNEL] • [SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL] • [SMS_FROM_NUMBER]
• On‑call: Primary [ON_CALL_PRIMARY] • Backup [ON_CALL_BACKUP] • Hours [WORKING_HOURS_START]–[WORKING_HOURS_END] in sender’s TZ
• Activation: Pattern [PATTERN] • Event [ACTIVATION_EVENT_NAME] • Window [WINDOW_HOURS]h • Threshold alert [ACTIVATION_ALERT_THRESHOLD]%