Playbooks Overview

Overview

Playbooks are automated workflows that streamline your accounts receivable (AR) collection process. They allow you to define conditional logic that automatically determines what actions to take on collection conversations, such as sending emails, looping in team members, or escalating cases for manual review.

Prerequisites

• A Monk account with access to the Playbooks feature

• At least one customer with invoices to apply playbooks to

• Collection agents configured (for automated email sending)

Understanding Playbooks

What are Playbooks?

Playbooks automate your collection workflow by evaluating conditions and executing actions. Each playbook consists of:

• Conditions: Rules that evaluate invoice and conversation data (e.g., "invoice is more than 30 days overdue")

• Actions: Operations to perform when conditions are met (e.g., "send collection email", "escalate conversation")

• Customer Targeting: Which customers the playbook applies to

Available Condition Types

Available Actions

Step 1: Access Playbooks

Navigate to Playbooks from the main navigation menu. You'll see the Playbooks page with two tabs:

• My Playbooks: Lists all playbooks you've created

• Templates: Pre-built playbook templates for common scenarios

The list shows:

• Playbook name and description

• Status (Active/Inactive)

• Assigned customers

• Number of workflow steps

Step 2: Browse Templates

Click the Templates tab to view pre-built playbook templates organized by category.

Escalation Templates

Templates that end with escalating conversations for manual review:

• Always Escalate: Immediately escalate every conversation

• High Value Overdue: Escalate: Escalate when invoice exceeds $10,000 and is 14+ days overdue

• Overdue 30+ Days: Loop in CSM & Escalate: Loop in CSM and escalate for invoices 30+ days overdue

• Customer Mentions Payment Plan: Escalate: AI detects payment plan mentions

• Customer Mentions Dispute: Escalate: AI detects dispute mentions

• Customer Claims Already Paid: Escalate: AI detects "already paid" claims

Collection Templates

Templates focused on sending collection emails:

• No Reply After 3 Emails: Loop in CSM: After 3 unanswered emails, CC your CSM

• Friendly for <30 Days, Professional for 30+ Days: Adjust email tone based on overdue period

• Customer Replied: Loop in CSM on Future Emails: CC CSM when customers engage

Step 3: Create a Playbook

Option A: Create from Scratch

1. Click Create Playbook button

2. Fill in the playbook details:

   • Playbook Name: A descriptive name (e.g., "High Value Overdue Follow-up")

   • Description: What this playbook does

   • Customers: Choose "All customers" or select specific customers

3. Click Create Playbook to proceed to the workflow editor

Option B: Create from Template

1. Go to the Templates tab

2. Click on a template card that matches your use case

3. The create form opens with pre-filled name and description

4. Adjust the name and customer targeting as needed

5. Click Create Playbook to create with the template's pre-configured workflow

Step 4: Edit Playbook Settings

To modify an existing playbook's settings:

1. Find the playbook in My Playbooks list

2. Click Edit on the row

3. Update the name, description, or customer assignment

4. Click Save Changes

Note: To modify the workflow steps, click on the playbook row to open the workflow editor.

Step 5: Configure Workflow Steps

After creating a playbook, you'll be taken to the Workflow Editor where you can configure the conditional logic and actions.

The Workflow Editor

The editor provides:

• Nested View: Traditional tree view showing condition branches

• Flow View (Beta): Visual flowchart representation

• Configuration Sidebar: Edit details of selected steps

Adding Conditions

1. Click Add Step > Add Condition

2. Choose condition type:

   • Expression Condition

   • AI Condition

3. Configure TRUE and FALSE branches with actions or nested conditions

Adding Actions

Within each condition branch:

1. Click Add Step in the TRUE or FALSE section

2. Select an action:

   • Escalate Conversation: Flags for manual review

   • Send Collection Email: Configure tone and additional recipients

   • Loop in Email: Add CC recipients

Step 6: Test Your Playbook

Before activating, test your playbook to verify it works as expected:

1. Save your changes

2. Click Test dropdown

3. Select a customer (or let it choose randomly)

4. Review the test results showing which conditions evaluated to true/false and what actions would be taken

Note: Testing runs in dry-run mode - no actual emails are sent or conversations modified.

Step 7: Activate Your Playbook

Once satisfied with your configuration:

1. Ensure all workflow steps are complete (no empty conditions)

2. Click Activate to enable the playbook

3. The playbook will run automatically during scheduled collection cycles

To pause a playbook, click Deactivate. This stops execution without deleting your configuration.

Troubleshooting

Playbook not running on expected customers

Cause: Customer assignment conflicts or inactive status

Fix:

1. Check that the playbook is set to Active

2. Verify customer targeting includes the expected customers

3. Note that customers can only be in one playbook at a time

"Cannot activate playbook without steps" error

Cause: Playbook has no configured workflow steps

Fix: Add at least one condition or action step before activating

Collection emails not being sent

Cause: Conversation already escalated or resolved

Fix:

1. Check if the conversation has been manually escalated

2. Review the action ordering - emails cannot follow escalation

3. Verify your collection agent settings

AI conditions not evaluating correctly

Cause: Prompt may be ambiguous or not matching customer responses

Fix:

1. Make your AI prompt more specific

2. Use the Test feature to see how conditions evaluate

3. Consider using expression conditions for precise numeric thresholds

Best Practices

1. Start with templates: Use pre-built templates as starting points, then customize

2. Test before activating: Always run tests with real customer data

3. Use appropriate escalation thresholds: Don't escalate too early or too late

4. Combine AI and expression conditions: Use AI for nuanced detection, expressions for hard thresholds

5. Document your playbooks: Use clear names and descriptions

6. Review regularly: Adjust playbooks based on collection performance