Getting It
Rainmakers aren’t born, they are made. All of our research and experience shows that. And usually there is an event when someone suddenly gets it. They get an insight into selling that allows them to embrace it.
Some people have that experience early in their lives. Rainmaker and civil engineer, Steve Rush, got it one night as a ten-year old selling newspaper subscriptions door to door in Ohio. To win a contest, he had to get fifteen new customers to sign up and he was three short. For three hours he went house to house, but no one was interested. He was ready to quit, but his mother said, “Let’s try just one more.” The next three houses in a row signed up. Steve learned perseverance and the numbers game aspects of business development.
Most people get it later in their lives: Rainmaker and architect, Guy Geier, got it one day on the golf course with a client from a Japanese company. He had had little success at selling his firm’s services until that day. And he suddenly knew why. That day he realized that having the creative and technical skills and track record on similar projects weren’t enough to win. Those things might get you in front of a client or even short-listed for a project. But, in the end, prospective clients go with the firm they feel most comfortable with and that usually means they have a relationship with someone there. He realized he needed those relationships, himself, and could not delegate that part of the effort to a business developer.
A management consultant in her late thirties, whom I will call Naomi for no particular reason, was going through the motions of trying to sell without much success. Following a suggestion, she asked for a meeting with one of her clients, an executive with a Fortune 100 company based in a southern city. She began her meeting by saying, “I’m looking for some advice. I’m at the point in my career when I need to start selling business, and I want to do it the right way. You’ve seen a lot of professionals in your day, and, I’m sure, some of them have sold to you in ways you found appropriate and others didn’t. I want to know what I should be doing.”
The client reflected for a moment and said, “You should ask me more often. I know most of the leading business people in this city, and I would be happy to introduce you, now that I know it would help you. But I’m busy, so it would help if you reminded me from time to time.” And that’s when Naomi got it. Most clients aren’t offended by being asked for business, as long as it’s done appropriately. And many are glad to help, if they know you want the help. Networks are made up of people trying to help each other. But you have to ask.
Attorney Eric Bergner got it over a lunch he had arranged between two friends, one with a major cable TV company and the other a screen playwright peddling a script. Says Bergner, “The two hit it off immediately and it was obvious they would do business together and they were so appreciative. A lot has come back to me from that simple act, which I enjoyed doing. It changed my whole orientation about selling, from looking for things for me to looking for things for other people.”
A Canadian actuary made a call on a prospective client. During the meeting, the client mentioned that the agent at an insurance company, who had been assigned to her company, wasn’t returning phone calls. Knowing the company, the actuary offered to call in her behalf. The next day, when he, too, had not received a return call, he called the switchboard and learned that the man in question had quit. His voicemail had accidentally remained connected. The actuary spoke to the replacement, who promised to call the client. The actuary then called the client, himself, to explain what had happened. She said, “Gee, I mentioned the problem to the actuary we use, and he didn’t offer to help.” At that moment, the actuary got it.
Of course, some never get it. But, it’s a memorable moment when you do.
