Collecting Debts

What is the name of your state? WI

We have a small family owned C-corp, and I took over the invoicing in May. We have several customers that will not pay their bill (school districts, small catalogs, a few individuals), despite late fees and a series of letters requesting payment. We have a collection agency that we work with, but they contact the customer 3 times, then they give it back to us. At this point, what is our next step? Most of the customers live in other states, so is small claims court an option?

First of all do away with the collection agency. They can be rude, crude and inflexable and can really loose you customers and cost you down-the-road business.

Next call the customer yourself and find out why they are not paying. Did you get a PO, did you send the invoice to the correct place, etc. ALL of this need to be documented with Dates, Times, Names and details of discussions.

After you have done all this, then it's time to talk about your legal avenues.