[consulting] Proper Collections Procedure

[Gary Feldman]

Harry Slaughter wrote:
> ...
> - Increase rate by N% and offer it as a discount for on time payments.
As long as you're planning on a lawyer for the contract, you may as well 
ask whether it's legal in your state to start charging interest, and if 
so, how much.  I wouldn't do this without checking with a lawyer, or at 
least the local SBA, as state law can be nasty around usurious or 
otherwise illegal interest. 
>> Any potential client that approached us that hadn't settled up with
>> someone in our community would get a cold shoulder from us.
> Personally, I like this idea, but it's not very professional :)
To make it professional you could offer to hear their side of the story, 
but don't reveal the person with the complaint.  Or you could just tell 
them that you can't accept more business at the moment (which is more 
professional than simply ignoring them).

It's hard to know the best thing to do.  You have no obligation to take 
business from people that you think are high risk.  Judging clients (or, 
for that matter consultants) based on word of mouth is iffy.  The 
reliability of word of mouth isn't great, but is often the only 
available information.

Gary