Nice list. For me this is easy, so will share example for others to help them do their own.
My Key customers are those in my industry. In fact those are the only clients that I work with
- Government contractors, because I have worked in this industry since 1985 so I am expert
- I further narrow down to Federal vs. State and further down to Services vs. Manufacturing
- The two criteria above further narrow down to LLC, C Corp or S Corp, so no Sole Proprietors
My Important customers are always those I have worked with the longest, so always come first
- So every day I look first at those clients in order to assess priority tasks for the day, however,
- Ongoing clients are in stages of independence so their need for assistance lessens each day
- Easy to slide down the list daily to the newer clients who need more help at first but less later
My 3rd category is Potential clients, which are those who contact me to discuss work together
- These must usually match criteria defined in first list but depend on additional scenario criteria,
- Contractors who plan to stay very small with just one contract or all FFP, probably not best match
- Contractors who plan to grow to two contracts and expand to T&M & CPFF contracts are best fit
My 4th category is contractors who contact me but are not best match but that I can refer others
- Companies who are not Government contractors but who need help with their QB accounting
- Companies who first/most need income tax preparation assistance or with manufacturing tasks
- I know many other accounting consultants who have different specialties and do many referrals
My 5th category is rare, but maybe one out of 20 or so who contact me, is trouble from the start
- They want help for free or want lower rates than I charge, when I know my rates are lower end
- They want miracles, like tons of clean-up work done yesterday after they wait until last minute
- They argue with what they think needs to be done even when they can't do better themselves
I think I got off track a bit from what the moderator suggested, but breaking these down helped
me see more clearly what I do daily, automatically without even thinking, but have never listed.
Cheers!
Teri
