The Awesome Power of Rainmaking

Contrary to popular perception, rainmakers do not fit neatly into a single mold. Introverts and extroverts can both become successful rainmakers. What rainmakers do have in common is their approach to life and business development. "Rainmakers are optimists," said Jeff Boudreau, a principal with Kurt Salmon Associates in Princeton, N.J. "They know the odds when trying to develop sales opportunities, so they work to increase the odds in their favor." Boudreau's business development success has earned him rainmaker "status" within the last few years.

"This is not rocket science. Consultants deal with harder problems all the time," according to Ford Harding, president of Harding & Company, a Maplewood, N.J.-based consulting firm and author of Creating Rainmakers: The Manager's Guide to Training Professionals to Attract New Clients. "A lot of rainmaking is a mental game. Consultants avoid rainmaking because they are uncomfortable doing it. They don't want to be seen as vacuum cleaner salesmen."

To reap, you must sow

Rainmaking truly is a game of odds. "Consulting services are not sold, they are bought," said Chuck Callan, a managing director with Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) in New York. "If a prospect is not ready to buy, there is not a lot you can do." As a rainmaker, Callan is responsible for business development for CSC's financial services industry practice. Therefore, the trick is to create as many potential buyers and buying situations as possible. The more people a consultant knows, the more likely some of those relationships will result in business development opportunities. The more business development opportunities a consultant gets, the more business that they are likely to close. The more engagements successfully completed, the more the rainmaker's reputation and referrals grow. And the cycle continues.

Considering this, it is not surprising that many successful rainmakers began developing and maintaining a great many relationships early in their careers. Most of these relationships start well before the other people have achieved any sort of decision-making authority in their careers. "Getting business is not the only motivating factor in these relationships," said Harding. "There is a real relationship there. Rainmakers are predisposed to be helpful and make it a deliberate way to live their lives."

There are a few ways to begin building this network of relationships. It is important to develop relationships with individuals in your client companies. These individuals do not have to be senior-level executives, but rather people you consider to be rising stars. "When you work with clients in the trenches and help them to succeed, people don't forget that," said Eric Berliner, president of LoBue Associates in Northbrook, Ill. Providing help and advice in a personal way, such as providing career advice or help with family problems, is also important. And don't forget fellow consultants. Those who move into industry are often great sources of new work.

To broaden this initial circle of contacts, consultants should start writing articles, making speeches, and getting involved in professional associations. Not only does this help build a network of relationships, it can also help consultants gain name recognition in a particular area of expertise. Taking these steps as early in your careers as possible is a "little like investing in a 401(k) plan early so that the assets keep growing through compounding," said Boudreau.

Maintaining this network is a critical part of rainmaking. Some rainmakers have very organized systems for maintaining contacts, such as setting aside certain hours or days for making calls or keeping a rolling list of contacts to call whenever they have a few minutes. No matter how they actually do it, it is important to have some form of contact with the network on a regular basis. "Some consultants let contacts fall through the cracks if follow-up doesn't result in work because the psychic gratification is not there," said Berliner. "Success lies in disciplined follow-up and doing the best job you can. Over time, your contacts will recognize that."

Boudreau takes every opportunity to talk to clients, vendors and others in the industry even when he is busy with client work. "I like to discuss new ideas and check in with people as they change jobs," he said. "I keep calling them to let them know I am thinking about them even if they don't have time to return my call." During these conversations, Boudreau is always on the lookout for new business opportunities, even those that are outside of his specialty, logistics and supply chain management. "I keep abreast of issues in each specialty area in my firm," he said. "These areas are outside of my comfort range but it is important to do."

Of course, maintaining these relationships is not always gratifying. "There are some jerks who will take advantage of your willingness to help and never give back," said Berliner. "You have to learn to recognize that."

Going up to bat

Finding a firm that will support future rainmakers' development is critical. Even at the most supportive firms, consultants will encounter that age-old conflict between the short-term need to maximize billable hours and the long-term need to nurture future rainmakers. "You need to find a firm that fits your own style," said Steve Vernon, vice president of Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Los Angeles.

A firm's culture will also have an effect on compensation and other expectations. For example, most firms elevate emergent rainmakers to partner where rewards are based heavily on business development success—the more business rainmakers bring in, the more money they make. Some firms, attempting to build more team-oriented cultures, base rainmaker compensation, at least in part, on firmwide performance and rainmakers' ability to cross-sell by introducing the firm's other practices into client companies. In a very heterogeneous consulting world, there is no one way to reward rainmakers. One truth does emerge, however. Rainmakers often have a great deal of leverage when it comes to negotiating compensation, especially if they are willing to move to another firm.

When this network of long-term relationships yields a business development opportunity, successful rainmakers bring another set of skills to bear—listening, empathy and problem solving. "People want to know how much you care before they care how much you know," said Callan. A lot of client relationships are based on chemistry and the sales call is a good place to establish that chemistry.

"On a client sales call, I make it a point to listen twice as much as I talk," says Vernon. This helps him focus on identifying the client's real problems, which are not always the problems the client has articulated. Vernon also suggested that consultants respond to the client's style. "Some clients want to very methodically go through the information. Some want to be friends. Some want the details of your recommendations and how you came to them. Whatever their needs, try to accommodate them," he said.

If the prospect does not know you or your firm, it is important to spend the early part of the meeting telling them who you are and what you can do for them. "This gives them the context and the confidence to disclose their problems to you," said Bergstein. Then, once the client opens up, consultants should work to understand what the client is saying by being astute and experienced enough to listen to what they do not say.

Good rainmakers also recognize that there will be times when they do not have the solution or they and their firms lack the resources to do the job. This is when the predisposition to help people kicks in. In those cases, rainmakers look for the best person or firm to help the prospect, even if it is not themselves or their firms. Having the courage to admit that earns rainmakers not only a prospect's loyalty and gratitude, but a good deal of credibility.

Learning from rainmakers

In many case, would-be rainmakers must rely on their own ability and initiative to acquire business development skills. For one thing, many rainmakers are not good mentors. And even if a consultant can find a rainmaker willing to provide advice, that advice may not fit their unique needs and market position. "If a rainmaker has been successful for a number of years, take their words of advice for someone just starting out with a grain of salt," advised Harding. "Your firm and business in general are probably operating in a different era than existed when that rainmaker was starting out."

A better approach is to learn by observing and asking a lot of good questions of a variety of rainmakers. Fortunately, this approach is uniquely appropriate for consulting because most consultants work with a revolving group of people within their own firms. "Pick and choose among rainmakers' best attributes and identify the one thing you can best glean from that person," suggested Boudreau.

It is also important to look for opportunities to get involved in sales calls. "The rainmaker should be willing to let you take charge of the situation and allow you to make your own mistakes, rather than coddle you," said Vernon. "This way you will learn something so you can do better the next time."

Bergstein recommends that consultants try to gain experience in talking to senior executives. "Learn the art of listening because great rainmakers are great listeners and great question creators," he said. "Deepen your understanding of the (business development) process through repetition, gaining confidence and just doing it."

Sidebar: Power Points

• Many top rainmakers began developing and maintaining strategic relationships early in their careers.

• Some rainmakers have very organized systems for maintaining contacts, such as setting aside certain hours or days for making calls or keeping a rolling list of contacts to call whenever they have a few minutes.

• Some firms, attempting to build more team-oriented cultures, base rainmaker compensation, at least in part, on firmwide performance and rainmakers' ability to cross-sell.

Sidebar: Five Things You Can Do Now That Will Make You A Rainmaker in the Future

• Know Who You Know: In the future much of your net worth will depend upon who you know. Start building this asset now by setting up a contact database of the people you know. Include former and current clients, college friends, colleagues at your firm and alliance partners. Pull the names from old files, your Rolodex, stacks of business cards and wherever you keep names. Keep in touch with each of these people at least once a year and keep the database up to date.

• Collect Five Business Cards a Week: Grow your contact base by collecting at least five business cards a week. Collect cards at client meetings, association meetings, and from seat mates on airplanes. Add the names to your database.

• Catch A Star: Good people tend to do well. When you meet someone at a client company who is really good, develop a relationship and keep in touch. Five, ten, fifteen years from now, when he or she has landed at the top of an organization, you will have a relationship that other consultants would kill for, because it will bring you business.

• Prepare for the Break Shot: Your client's management team is clustered together like billiard balls set up for a break shot. Sometime over the next five years a cue ball will scatter them. It may take the form of a merger, a new executive or some other event, but if you've developed friendships with many of the management team, they will take you with them when they move to other companies.

• Work for a Jerk: When your firm has a client who is a jerk, the firm's partners will have a hard time staffing the project ; no one wants to work for a jerk. Volunteer. Do a good job and develop friendships with the people who report to the jerk. Before long they will leave and will be able to introduce you at their new companies. Then you can start the process all over again with the jerk's new management team.

–Ford Harding

Ford Harding is the author of Creating Rainmakers: The Manager's Guide To Training Professionals to Attract New Clients (Adams Media Corporation, 1998).