Your chargeable hours target is one of the most destructive metrics in professional services.

It optimises for ‘busyness’ over value. It punishes people for doing the things that actually build the business. It makes BD feel like a cost rather than an investment. And it almost always crowds out exactly what sits at the base of this tower – developing your people, investing in relationships, improving how you work.

The firms succeeding right now are not just working harder. They’re measuring smarter.

They track whether clients are getting proactive contact – not just whether files are moving. They measure whether people are growing – not just whether they’re billing. They ask whether their processes are creating capacity – not just whether deadlines are being hit.

Lead measures drive lag results. Always have. Always will.

The question isn’t whether you believe this. The question is whether you have the courage to focus on something other than chargeable hours – knowing it will feel uncomfortable before it feels right.

Most don’t.
The ones who do tend to pull away from the pack.

By all means have the targets and keep an eye on them – they are needed to review your fixed fee deals. But obsess about Lead Activity.

Non chargeable time is investment time. Back this with quality measures to drive a healthier business focused as much on the medium to longer term as ‘right-now’

Can your firm make the change?