Clifton Warren - Rain Maker Pro: A Manager’s Guide for Training Salespeople

Rain Maker Pro

Rain Maker Pro

A Managers Guide for Training Salespeople

Clifton Warren

Rain Maker Pro: A Managers Guide for Training Salespeople

Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2022.

Cover design by Charlene Kronstedt

Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First published in 2021 by

Business Expert Press, LLC

222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017

www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-046-1 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-047-8 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Selling and Sales Force Management Collection

Collection ISSN: 2161-8909 (print)

Collection ISSN: 2161-8917 (electronic)

First edition: 2021

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In memory of
Jordan Thomas Warren
(19962019)
You are always in my heart

Description

Generating leads and landing new business are critical to the growth and long-term success of any type of service business. Rain makers who are able to consistently gain new business by using their selling skills to convert prospects into new customers are difficult to find. Recruiting rainmaking professionals from other organizations is expensive and for many businesses has been largely ineffective.

Every executive and manager of a service business understands the importance of the ability to generate leads and landing new customers are the critical components to a successful business. This book is written for managers and leaders who want to transform their professionals from doing work to effectively marketing and selling and bringing in new business.

Divided into three comprehensive parts: Charting a new course; The fundamental success models; and Building your business, this book will show you how to:

Help professionals overcome fear of selling

Acquire the right sales capabilities

Market and sell within your comfort zone

Setting and achieving big goals

Leverage existing customers to acquire new ones

Build accountability across the business

Keywords

rain making; account development; lead generation; marketing; attracting new customers; selling; sales pipeline; sales tactics; referral marketing; sales training; accountability

Contents

Completing this book has been a challenge and has taken much longer than I ever expected. During the writing of this book, I had to deal with family tragedies, adjust business to global pandemic conditions, whilst rain making and adding value to my clients. I would like to thank all of my clients, friends, subscribers, and supporters of my work for providing a constant learning lab that has helped me to continually improve my knowledge and expertise enabling me to add value and help so many others.

Thank you to my publisher Business Expert Press for the opportunity and support to publish my third book. To Nicole, Kallen, Somraudee, and Sze Ting, you keep me smiling and laughing. Finally, thank you to Cheryl for her patience, support, and providing the freedom from distraction to allow me to write this book.

Selling is the oldest profession in the world and a critical fundamental for a successful business. Every service business needs people who are able to generate leads, convert those leads into new customers who will remaining loyal advocates for many years.

Once upon a time, to generate new business could hire a salesperson, provide a telephone and the yellow pages to generate appointments. When we needed to purchase a product or service, the salesperson was the source of all the knowledge. For example, when you contacted an insurance company to purchase coverage for your house and car, you were directed to your local neighborhood broker who was the source of all the knowledge. When you wanted to travel, you contacted a local travel agency to discuss your plans. Today, insurance companies and airlines compete directly with insurance brokers and travel agents, respectively.

Competition across many service industry sectors is rapidly changing the increasing commoditization of many products and services is a challenge for business to business (B2B) services. Buyers today are smarter and able to access information from their computers, tablets, and phones without having to speak with a traditional salesperson.

In the last 15 years, there have been wars, as global financial crisis, and a worldwide pandemic that has contributed to this change. So how do accounting, finance, insurance, engineer, law, and other professionals attract, develop, and retain profitable business?

Enter the rain maker, a term professional services have been using since the 1970s. The term avoids the word selling, which some professionals often find distasteful. Rain makers generate revenue and profits and create opportunities for service business to growth organically, whilst producing opportunities for others to do important work. Rain makers are in big demand and most organizations are unclear how to get them. They constantly search for the elusive person who will generate new business for everyone. Some hire technical people hoping that a few will turn into rain makers. Some try to lure hired guns away from competitorsthis is seldom effective, as they know little about the organizations past success, until they learn. A person who was a successful rain maker at one place is seldom able to repeat their success somewhere else.

Rain makers are different from traditional salespeople. Rain makers develop strong networks and powerful relationships, they match a prospects needs, opportunities, frustrations, and challenges with their organizations capabilities to attract prospects. They are customer centric and results focused. Many people believe that salespeople are born and not made. I believe that almost any professional can learn to become an effective rain maker, however, many organizations simply dont know how to do it.

This book is written for people who manage and lead professionals, and who want to develop their professionals into effective business developers and rain makers. It will help the managers to create the necessary environment what needs to be done to develop those skills.

This book will also provide guidance to those professionals who want and need to learn how to become to be rain makers, such as independent professionals. It compliments my first book, Financial Services Sales Handbook, which was written for the individual professional who wanted to make the transition from doing work to selling it.

This book has three parts. covers developing and executing action plans, achieving big goals, and success. The appendices cover additional techniques, guidelines, and checklist to implement this program for your organization.