Assess the actual activities and the role as a whole rather than apply a blanket rule to customer contact.
Describe what the applicant does during visits
Different customer-facing tasks can involve different responsibilities. Explain the genuine duties, authority and operational support so the primarily managerial or executive claim can be evaluated on substance.
Map each customer visit to decisions, authority, and supporting staff. The inventory should cover non-visit days too. Negotiating policy or directing an essential function may support L-1A, whereas personally delivering routine sales or installation work may weigh against a role that must be primarily managerial or executive. The petitioner must also prove a qualifying parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship and one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad during the preceding three years; the business-activity showing must follow the separate rules for an established or initial new office. Review the foreign and proposed US roles separately rather than letting an impressive title substitute for duty evidence. Track prior L time as well, because L-1A generally has a seven-year maximum.
Hypothetical example: The operations director of a Saint-David-de-Falardeau forestry-equipment distributor plans monthly customer visits for a related US company. Calendars should distinguish approvals of regional pricing and service policy from occasions when he personally repairs machinery. Organizational charts, delegation records, and examples of subordinate follow-through can show whether operational work is genuinely staffed and his overall assignment remains managerial despite direct customer contact.