Dropping Clients

A year ago (when I began this blog) I’d decided to shift my market focus, away from the 2-man legal firms along The Danforth to the large financial and pharmaceutical companies.

My previous clients still phone me, but if they aren’t taking me up on my proposals, it’s time to gently edge away from them.

09/16/2009 6:08:00 AM 0001.08 clients 4811: the descriptions (attached) do not have this extra line stating “Enhanced Warranty Coverage“

09/16/2009 10:09:00 AM 0000.15 clients 4811 examine code

09/16/2009 10:18:00 AM 0000.37 clients 4811 phone sandra

12/17/2009 8:11:00 PM 0001.02 clients v4 spec data file

12/17/2009 9:12:00 PM 0000.23 clients v4 spec draft

12/21/2009 10:02:00 AM 0000.85 clients proposal

05/11/2010 2:41:00 PM 0000.18 clients Phone AP re 5393: (Ref 3837) The attached document was opened

05/11/2010 2:52:00 PM 0002.00 clients 5393: (Ref 3837) The attached document was opened

07/16/2010 12:20:00 PM 0000.33 CLIENT call from AP re Word bug

CLIENT 6.22

Above is pasted a record of the time I have recorded on one particular client over the past 12 months.

Now 6.22 hours recorded is close to a day’s work. There are undoubtedly a few more phone calls in there that I didn’t record.

So how does “client” look to me now?

1: They have provided no revenue for the past 12 months.

2: They have soaked up a day of mine over the past 12 months; I’ve done a bit of research and provided some answers, all for free.

3: The chance of getting them to pay for a serious bit of testing and modification to their system is remote. They haven’t accepted my previous two proposals.

4: My goal for the next 12 months is to whittle them down to zero hours, allowing me either to focus on paying clients, or to take a day’s vacation and stroll along the Danforth.

P.S. If you are not keeping track of your time during the day, start doing it now.

There are many packages out there. My BillT is free, works, and is based on Windows Notepad!

Talk to Me !