the types of new clients I avoid:
- some referrals from current clients or family/friends who somehow "have not filed taxes in several years" and actually have significant income/filing requirements. I automatically decline these bc, if they werent worried about the IRS and tax authorities, why would they worry about paying my fee or being cooperative? I have too many, easy going, organized clients to settle for Pain in the butt new clients.
- price shoppers
- refund shoppers
- generally annoying, bad attitude, types. - i regularly receive emails and phones calls from prospective new clients who start off as rude, demanding, and entitled. This 1 guy sent me 3 separate emails and called my office 3 separate times in a single day just to "talk to me for a couple of minutes about taking him on as a new client"
the guy was so annoying and pushy, that I did not bother to even look at his info, I just politely declined and told him we are not currently accepting new clients.
I've had prospective new clients basically harass me after declining their business, asking why I declined their business.
- I HATE to sound prejudiced against people in this situation, but New Clients who are going through a divorce , esp with children involved. No matter what, every time a client couple of ours goes through a divorce, our office feels the effects of their often negative/emotion filled experience. this means catching those clients on bad days, them going off on you from all the stress. Multiple phone calls from both spouses tying us into their arguments. etc.
I dont take the risk of taking on new clients who are going through divorce