How To Become A Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients

It is customer money that pays everyone’s salary, that pays for pension plans, union dues, bonuses, vacations, health insurance, computers, and office furniture. Therefore, the paramount job of every single employee in an organization is to, directly or indirectly, get and keep customers. This is true without exception!

Listen to customers and decipher their needs.
Give your customers a little extra, more than they expect.
Thank each customer sincerely and often.

Never make a sales call on a customer unless you can answer the question “Why should this customer do business with our company, with me?” The answer must be a benefit to the customer.

The answer must fit the customer’s agenda, not yours.

Customers buy for only two reasons: to feel good or to solve a problem, or both.

Going out to dinner, buying scuba equipment, or getting a new puppy fall into the “feel good” category.

There must be a business benefit and a personal benefit—often interlinked—for the customer.

The Rainmaker puts himself or herself in the customer’s shoes and answers the question “If I were the customer, how would this product benefit me?”

Answer the question “What would I want if I were the customer?”

The only thing customers care about are themselves and their problem.

You do not talk about yourself; rather, you ask probing, preplanned questions. You listen to what the customer says. Clarify. Summarize. Determine how you can help the customer and how your product solves the customer’s concern.

Rainmakers say “you”; they don’t say “I.”

Ninety percent of all sales calls are won or lost before the salesperson sees the customer.

It is typical for a Rainmaker to spend three hours planning for a fifteen-minute sales call. Planning and practicing for two days to two weeks for a single sales call is not uncommon.

One Rainmaker spent fifteen straight eight-hour days researching and planning a fifteen-minute sales call. The call was on the CEO of a leading company in a new industry. If this company adopted the Rainmaker’s product, almost certainly the other companies in the industry would follow. The Rainmaker made the sale and successfully used it as a case history to close other customers. This single sale saved the Rainmaker’s company and led to years of success.

NFL coaches spend countless hours reviewing game films in preparation for their next opponent. It is said that if Joe Paterno, the heralded head coach of the Penn State football team, is given two weeks to develop a game plan, his team is nearly invincible.

A precall plan for a Rainmaker is like a pre-flight check for an airplane pilot. The great pilots never miss a single checkpoint before taking off or landing. If a pilot misses something, that pilot may be missing. If a salesperson misses something, the order may be missing.

A precall planning checklist should include: 1. Written sales call objective. 2. Needs analysis questions to ask. 3. Something to show. 4. Anticipated customer concerns and objections. 5. Points of difference vis-à-vis competitors. 6. Meaningful benefits to customers. 7. Dollarization approach; investment return analysis. 8. Strategies to handle objections and eliminate customer concerns. 9. Closing strategies. 10. Expected surprises.

A Rainmaker never calls on a decision maker without a written precall plan.

Rainmakers talk to customers who are familiar with their product, or who already use the product, or who have a high probability of using the product. Don’t waste your time trying to convince dairy farmers to buy horseshoes. And don’t waste your time selling hospital beds to hotels.

Big companies in an industry are generally better prospects than small companies in the same industry.

Successful customers are generally better prospects than struggling customers.

Customers who want your product are better targets than customers who need your product. 
(Customers who need your product may not know it. They must be educated, persuaded. This takes time and money. Customers who want your product are partially sold before they see you.)

The prevailing purchase motivation for organizations is to solve a problem. The solution to the problem can always be expressed in financial terms—in pounds and pence. If a company invests £100,000 in advertising, they expect that advertising to generate £500,000 in sales.

A tree surgeon uses a £900 saw because it cuts five times faster than a cheaper saw, saving him £50 a day in reduced labor costs.

Rainmakers don’t sell fasteners or valves or washing machines or double-paned windows or tax audits or irrigation systems or training programs or golf clubs. 

Rainmakers sell money! They sell reduced downtime, fewer repairs, better gas mileage, higher deposit interest, increased output, decreased energy usage, more wheat per acre, more yardage per swing.

Rainmakers help the customer see the money. Rainmakers turn benefits into dollars.

The lock salesperson doesn’t sell locks, he sells security for valuables. The pool salesman doesn’t just sell recreation, he sells an increase in home value.

The number one salesperson for a company that made cough medicine never sold a single bottle of cough medicine. He was by far the leading salesperson, but he never sold a cough drop. The salesperson realized that his customers were not people with colds. His customers were the drugstore owners. (People with colds were the druggists’ customers.) The number one salesperson talked to the drugstore owners about money. The salesperson explained the five-case purchase incentive, asking the drugstore owners if they would prefer the free product or the money (in a bank check). Almost always, the drugstore owners would opt for the money.

Rainmakers don’t sell products; they sell the dollarized value the customer gets from the products.

Do the homework. Dollarize the reason why the customer should do business with you. 
The objective of the letter is to get the customer to take the follow-up phone call. Good customers don’t ignore a compelling dollarization. They will take your call.

When you have the customer on the phone, suggest a meeting, and then ask, “Do you have your appointment calendar handy?” Then ask, “Is Tuesday at three OK?” “No.” “How about Thursday at eight-thirty A.M.?” “No.” “How about next Friday at three?” “Fine.” “OK, great, the meeting will take about twenty minutes. See you at three. Thanks.”

This is a killer sales question because it leads to that precious appointment over 90 percent of the time.

The Rainmaker asks the customer, “Based on analysis, it looks like you can save £110,000 per year with the solution. Can I assume there are probably a number of things that have to be done before you are completely comfortable with this approach?

OK, so before we get into this in any depth, can I get your agreement on the analysis? Will you look at the facts and decide for yourself if they make sense?” This is a killer sales question.

By agreeing to decide for herself, the customer eliminates the option of not deciding. The customer is now engaged and can’t ignore the facts. One way or another, the customer will make a decision. If the solution benefits her—as it must—she will buy.

Rainmakers welcome customer objections because they know objections are simply the way customers express their desires. The Rainmaker knows that when the customer says, “Your price is too high,” the customer’s goal is to get the proper value for the money invested. The objection tells the Rainmaker that the customer does not yet have enough information to make a positive buying decision.

Rainmakers believe that objections are the way customers mask pleas for help and information. Rainmakers encourage objections, especially the hidden or unspoken ones.

The customer says, “Your delivery time is too long.” The Rainmaker responds, “So our objective is to get you the product when you want it, correct?”

First, this technique changes the tone of the language from adversarial to positive. Second, the customer’s yes response is an agreement—an invitation to continue the discussion. Third, the Rainmaker can now ask more questions to perfectly understand the customer’s concern and to move to a mutually acceptable solution.

For example, the Rainmaker might ask, “When exactly do you need the product?” Then say, “If you will commit today to a six-month purchase agreement, we can forecast monthly shipments, thereby ensuring that you will get the product on the first of the month, every month. Why don’t we give this a try for six months?”

Consequently, if the sale is not made, Rainmakers always ask, “Is there anything else that concerns you?” Or, “What else may be prohibiting us from moving ahead?” Rainmakers always probe for objections. Rainmakers love objections.

The Rainmaker knows that the easiest next sale is to a current customer.

Current customers know the seller; they have an emotional investment in him and in his company.

Your customer doesn’t know all you can do for her. Only you know. By the time you are halfway through your current job you should know how else you can help your customer. When you are in the middle of a job, begin selling the next one.

Rainmakers treat nonclients as they do existing customers. They are polite to everyone. Rainmakers view everyone as influential. They know that business can come from unexpected places. They know that something they did ten years ago might result in business today.

A wire and cable salesman had a good relationship with the top management of a client company in Florida. The first person he met on every sales call at this customer was the company’s receptionist, an efficient, organized young woman. Part of her job was keeping the sales appointment schedule. Although she was not the person who bought wire and cable, and was never involved in the decision making, the salesman always treated her courteously. The salesman always waited patiently if there were delays, never making insistent demands—as did other salespeople. The salesman never implied his importance by dropping the name of the executive vice president, the person he was there to see, as did others. The salesman always thanked the receptionist for her help, and always made sure to say good-bye to her. Eighteen years later, the receptionist is now the executive vice president of the company. With her influence, her company became the wire and cable salesman’s biggest account.

The biggest buy signal is when the customer agrees to see you. The biggest buy signal is the sales call appointment.

If the customer agrees to see you, it is because the customer wants something, needs something, has a problem. It is your job— the Rainmaker’s job—to find out what that is.

And always show up. Never blow off a sales call. Never be late.

The customer says to you, “We are also interviewing [or “working with,” or “buying from”] ABC company. They are a good company, and their prices are better than yours.”

The customer is actually saying, “Tell me why I should buy from you.” The customer already knows ABC is a good company. The customer already knows ABC’s prices are better than yours. The customer knew this before he agreed to see you! So, why did the customer agree to see you? The customer agreed to see you because there is something about ABC that makes the customer uneasy. You must underscore that unease.

Because you have preplanned the call, you are forearmed with how you and your company differ from ABC.

You answer exactly as follows: “Yes, that is a good company. Would you like to know our points of difference?” Your response does not knock the competitor. To do so would be to impugn the intelligence of the customer. In fact, you do not even repeat the competitor’s name. Your answer, your point of difference, will be forever what the customer thinks about you vis-à-vis the competitor. You will own that position.

Your point of difference (P.O.D.) should be an offset to the competitor. It need not be better or worse than what the competitor does—just different. Your P.O.D. should be information— or a new slant—that the customer doesn’t know.

With new and different information, the customer can change his mind without loss of face or criticism.

The headmaster of an all-boys private prep school in Connecticut knew he competed with coed prep schools and high schools for good students. In meetings with prospective students and their parents, the headmaster would ask, “Where else are you looking?” Predictably, the name of an excellent co-ed school would be mentioned. The headmaster would look thoughtful (but would not nod his head, which would suggest approval) and then ask, “Yes, I know that school. Would you be interested in our points of difference?”

“Me too” marketers are lazy, or noncreative, or have an inferiority complex. Rainmakers always find a difference.

Rainmakers always invite customers to evaluate a point of difference. And the point of difference is just that—a difference. It need not be “better.” The customer needs to see a difference, new information, so he can change his mind or change the minds of his colleagues.

Some people like blueberry pie and some like rhubarb. Each is different from the other, not necessarily better. So when the pie customer says to the blueberry pie salesperson, “I like rhubarb pie,” the salesperson responds, “Fine, would you like to know our point of difference? Unlike any other kind of pie, this pie is made with fresh, wild blueberries. Would you like to try a piece?”

Rainmakers sell that which is different.

Rainmakers are not too big, too important, too busy for anyone.

Fast return of phone calls is a point of difference.

When you return a person’s phone call, that person feels respected, important, listened to.

Rainmakers love leaving voice-mail messages on weekends and before and after business hours. This shows that the Rainmaker is thinking about the customer and working for him or her all the time.

If the seller has 300 available sales calls in a year (number of selling days times average number of calls per day), and has a call-to-close ratio of 20:1* (i.e., 20 calls for every sale), the salesperson can make 15 sales. If the seller, in this example, cannot increase the total available sales calls, or improve his call-to-close ratio, then the sales potential is fifteen closes…not sixteen. The Rainmaker understands this mathematical reality. Consequently, this Rainmaker plans up to twenty calls on a target customer, and does not call on more than fifteen targets.

Less than 5 percent of all salespeople (and of all selling organizations) understand this concept intellectually, know how to calculate the math, know how to prioritize the probabilities, or have the discipline of the Rainmaker.

Ninety-five percent of all salespeople will dilute themselves, by calling on too many customers and not allocating enough sales calls to close each sale. They will, in effect, run out of gas and not hit their goal.

If a home builder needs a mortgage of £100,000 to complete the house, and his banker only lends £80,000, what should the builder do, leave off the roof? It is better to lend £101,000 than £99,000. It is the same with selling. If it takes ten sales calls to close, don’t plan eight. If it takes ten calls to make the sale, then it is better to make no calls than to make nine.

In the art and painting business, it once took 14 sales calls to get a collector to invest in a museum piece. Therefore, the call-to-close ratio was 14:1. If the art salesperson made 130 calls on 10 collectors, a 13:1 ratio, he would make zero sales. But if the salesperson called 14 times on 9 accounts, a 14:1 ratio, he makes 9 sales.

Work the math and the numbers will work for you. Rainmakers don’t plan a thirty-mile trip with twenty miles’ worth of gas.

Imagine the scene: The winemaker opens a bottle and pours an ounce or two into the glasses of ten wine magazine writers. To everyone’s dismay, the wine is bitter. As the winemaker scrambles to open another bottle, the writers scribble. The second bottle of wine is fine, as are the next one thousand, but the damage is done.

Never assume something you can check. Pay attention to the details. Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. If the project is important, every single detail is important. Broadway plays are exhaustively rehearsed. Experienced pilots always complete a comprehensive preflight checklist.

Always check the projector bulb before making a presentation. Always check the microphone before giving a speech. Before you show your e-commerce website to a potential investor, be sure it works. Always precall plan a sales call.

If you don’t do a proper diagnosis, you won’t have the correct prescription. Asking too few questions is asking to fail. Hearken to the hotshot criminal detective who related her biggest fear while conducting an investigation: “I am always afraid I will not ask the one important question that unlocks the case.”

Customers love questions. Customers love to talk. Customers feel more secure with the salesperson who asks questions and listens and takes notes.

To the concerned customer with a need there is no such thing as a dumb question. So dare to be dumb. Assume nothing. Even if you have the perfect feel for a problem, ask questions so that the customer will know you understand.

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