Markets/en/Portal:Small Loans/Follow-Up-Messages:Small Loans
Section 6 of the Small Loans portal, instantiated from the follow-up messages model.
Follow-up messages: small loans
The conversations this market exists for
Asking a relative for money, saying no to a friend, reminding your brother about CHF 200: these are the conversations people avoid until the silence does more damage than any words could. The templates below give each of them a shape. Personalize everything; keep the structure: the fact, the frame, the next step.
Before the loan
M1. Asking well
"I need to ask you something and I want to do it properly. I am short [amount] for [purpose]. I am asking you because I trust you, and precisely because of that I would want us to write it down: amounts, dates, what happens if I hit a bump. You can say no, and it changes nothing between us. If you say yes, I want it to be a good experience for both of us."
M2. Saying no without losing each other
"I thought about it and my answer is no. Not because of you: [I have my own commitments / I promised myself not to mix money and us / this amount is too big for me]. I would rather give you a clear no today than a resentful yes that poisons things later. If it helps, I can [smaller amount / help you find another way / be part of a support group if someone else lends]."
M3. Saying yes, with a frame
"Yes, I can lend you [amount]. One condition, and it is for both of us: we write it down on the portal. Schedule, dates, and what we do if a payment gets hard. Not because I doubt you, but because I have seen small sums fracture families, and I refuse to let that happen to us. Ten minutes of writing, years of peace."
During the loan
M4. Announcing a difficulty early (for the borrower)
"I need to tell you before the date, not after: the installment of [date] is going to be hard. Here is what I can do: [pay part now / new date / offer a service instead]. Which works for you? I want to keep this clean between us, that is exactly why we wrote things down."
M5. Gentle reminder (for the lender)
"Small reminder: the installment of [date] has not arrived. No drama, life gets busy. Tell me where it stands, or send a rescheduling proposal; I would rather adjust the schedule than sit in silence wondering."
M6. Formal reminder
"Second reminder for the installment of [date], now [X] days late. I need an answer by [date]. As we agreed: new schedule, partial payment, or a service conversion all work for me. If nothing comes, the next step we both signed applies (clause S8). I am telling you this plainly because we promised each other no silence and no surprises."
M7. Asking the support group to help
"Hello [names], as agreed when [Borrower] and I set up the loan: an installment is [X] days late and we have not managed to find a new arrangement between us. As the support group, could you talk with [Borrower], privately, and help us find a solution? This is not about blame, it is exactly what the group was created for."
After the loan
M8. Closing and thanks
"That was the last installment: fully repaid. Thank you for how you handled this, especially [the early heads-up / the rescheduling honesty]. Pledge released, everyone informed. I would lend to you again, and I will say so in the evaluation."
M9. Repairing after friction
"That loan got tense and I want us to leave it behind. Looking back, [what I would do differently]. The money is settled; the relationship matters more to me. Are we good?"
See also