Originally published on Forbes.com

Many professional service firms have an all-too-common problem. It’s hard to originate new business, which often leads to feast-or-famine cycles. So when a deal percolates up through the channels, senior people are ready to drop everything to win that business. I call this the “Drop Everything — Chase Money” (DECM) problem. This is usually the single biggest interruption to business operations I’ve witnessed over the last 25 years. It’s also an ineffective sales strategy.

You might say to me, “But isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Isn’t this a good problem to have?” I don’t think so. Many organizations, especially those with complex B2B sales cycles, have become so acclimated to this way of doing business that they aren’t even aware that there are other options. Please allow me to explain why DECM is such a problem and how you can take a different and far better approach to originate and win new business.

Why DECM Is Such A Problem

There are four major problems I see with the DECM paradigm. First, it interrupts the schedules of some of your most valuable people. In nearly every pro service firm I’ve served over the last 25 years, the same experts who win business also deliver services to clients to some degree or another. They may not be involved in the details of every project, but they usually own the client relationship and take responsibility to ensure client satisfaction.

These valuable people are also likely working multiple deals, which sometimes get pushed to the back burner. Just as important, these people are often senior leaders with administrative and management responsibilities to existing staff (think conflict resolution and annual reviews). When a hot deal comes across their desk, all this important work gets pushed aside or postponed. These interruptions, if you ever actually calculate the financial impact, can be very expensive.

The second reason DECM is a problem is because of what it does to existing client relationships, schedules and delivery timelines. More than once, I have seen senior leaders request a postponement or reschedule with existing clients to chase a new deal. This runs the risk of delaying work-product delivery and client satisfaction. If a client ever finds out why you actually missed their meeting, they just might feel second-class. This is especially important to managed services relationships, where you hope the client will resign next cycle.

The third reason DECM is a problem is that it puts your people on a forced march, which they usually hate. They might understand why it’s important and why they need to help, but they won’t like it. What’s worse, if you ask them to miss their children’s birthday party, baseball game or latest school performance, you run this risk of them leaving. They’ll do it once or twice, but a habitual forced march will lead to talent flight.

The fourth and most important reason is that it sets the wrong tone for the client relationship. When you are willing to turn on a dime and bend over backward for a new client, they might think that’s how you do things. This sets inappropriate expectations that you will not likely be able to deliver against in the future. That sets you up for failure down the road. It also makes it look like you don’t value your own time or energy.

But more than that, you communicate your desperation, putting you in the weakest possible negotiating position. Make no mistake; deals require negotiation — give and take. Most service buyers with any experience know professional scopes of service require due diligence and time to craft a great approach. If you can do this quickly, you might think you’ve impressed the prospect. I disagree. What you’ve said is that you’ll do almost anything to win this deal. That smells desperate.

A Better Approach

If you want to avoid the problems inherent in DECM, here are four strategies I can, without hesitation, recommend.

First, develop an ideal client profile. This should include both the demographics and psychographics (goals, opportunities, challenges) of the type of clients your firm is uniquely qualified to serve. When a prospect reaches out, you can immediately filter out the bad ones who don’t fit your profile. You can also use this to find great prospects who do fit your profile so you address the feast-or-famine problem — the root cause of DECM.

An ideal client profile is one of the best tools we’ve discovered to originate new business. Most opportunities come to service firms through referrals. The problem with referrals is that you don’t control them. You don’t know when they’ll come in or how qualified they’ll be.

Second, listen for the five sales-ready characteristics. Great prospects exhibit a need for which your services are a fit and have an appropriate budget, a timeline in which they must act, a compelling business reason to act and a willingness to engage in dialogue. A great discovery questionnaire can help you uncover their buying motives and readiness to engage in good faith.

Third, develop a content marketing strategy that addresses your ideal clients’ goals, opportunities and challenges. When a prospect comes to you after having consumed your great ideas, they know how you think and what to expect. Referrals, on the other hand, are relying on secondhand information. This means you’ll have to spend a lot of time and energy educating them on why your approach is the best. A great content strategy filters out bad prospects and energizes great prospects who are ready to go now.

Fourth, deploy marketing automation. The best marketing automation platforms allow you to see and even score the behavior of prospects coming inbound toward your firm. If a prospect’s behavior profile indicates that they’ve spent a lot of time with your ideas and specific content assets, they’ve told you, in so many words, what they want to accomplish — before you meet with them. As long as your privacy policy makes this clear and you’re not creepy in follow-up, most prospects find this perfectly acceptable.

About The Author

Randy Shattuck is a seasoned entrepreneur who works hand-in-hand with senior leaders of mid-size professional service firms to grow revenues, acquire clients, open new markets, increase profits and effectively position their brands.