About the Book

A Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine bestseller and named the Top Sales Book of 2011 by Top Sales Awards.

>> Free Chapter: Download the first chapter of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Rainmaking Conversations now!

“We’re often asked what our inspiration for Rainmaking Conversations was. It really comes down to two things: pain and pleasure.

"Over the years we’ve seen so many sales people, professionals, and leaders struggle to create sales conversations, kick them off well, uncover needs, create enthusiasm with the prospect, and win business. Without realizing it, they make the same mistakes over and over again. This is the painful part!

"But it’s such a pleasure when we see people learn to sell with competence and class. Not only do they make more money for themselves and their companies, which is nice to see, it’s a pleasure to observe people when they have their “ah ha” moments—learning sales techniques that will make all the difference to them.

"We wrote Rainmaking Conversations to help the greatest number of people get through the pain, or avoid it altogether, and get to the pleasure.”

-    Mike Schultz and John Doerr, Co-Authors of Rainmaking Conversations

Rainmaking Conversations, the Wall Street Journal bestseller, offers a research-based, field-tested, and practical selling approach that will help you master the art of the sale conversation.

Table of Contents

Part One: Getting Ready to Make RAIN

1. Introduction: There are 10 common principles that the top rainmakers share. When you embrace these, you too can dramatically increase your sales success.

2. The Most Important Conversation You’ll Ever Have: Before you can sell prospects, you need to be able to sell yourself. Start the conversation about your quest to become a rainmaker, by asking yourself these six questions.

3. Goal and Action Planning: Making the Most Rain: Rainmakers are goal-setting and goal-following fanatics. Craft your goals by following the advice in this chapter and build an action plan to reach them.

4. Understanding and Communicating Your Value Proposition: Learn the 6 building blocks to a winning value proposition positioning statement that generates interest and desire.

Part Two: RAIN Selling Key Concepts

5. Rapport: People buy from people they like. Follow these tips to build real rapport with prospects.

6. Aspirations and Afflictions: Learn the keys to uncover the broadest set of customer needs (so you can sell the largest solution).

7. Impact: Once you know prospects’ needs and desires, it’s up to you to make the business and emotional case for the prospect to do something, and to do it with you.

8. New Reality: Paint a picture of where the prospect wants to be - what it will be like when they solve their pain or reach their aspiration. Show them how you’ll help them get there.

9. Balancing Advocacy and Inquiry: Talk too much and the prospect won’t feel heard. Talk too little and the prospect won’t see you as an expert. Follow these tips to balance advocacy and inquiry in your conversations.

10. Digging Deep into Needs: The Five Whys: The best rainmakers dig deep into needs, going beneath the surface to understand the root cause of buyer’s challenges.  Learn how to get to the heart of your customers’ issues.

11. 16 Principles of Influence in Sales: Those who are influential sell more, at higher prices. Apply these 16 influence principles to make your selling efforts more successful. (Tip: Influence is not coercion.)

12. Tips for Leading Rainmaking Conversations: Learn the 8 rainmaking conversations stages, how they map to your customer’s buying process, and how you can succeed in each.

Part Three: Maximizing Your RAIN Selling Success

13. Prospecting by Phone: Creating Rainmaking Conversations: Learn how to keep a full pipeline and use 6 different approaches for cold calling success.  

14. Handling Objections: Objections are a necessary part of every sale. Follow this 5 step process to overcome even the most difficult objections, including “I can get it from your competitor for less.”

15. Closing Opportunities, Opening Relationships: The best rainmakers close with high integrity and high success. Learn how to set the table and close with the right actions.

16. What You Need to Know to Sell: Rainmakers are sales-knowledge experts; they’re fluent in what they need to know to sell including information on their customer needs, the market, their product and service offerings, the value they bring to the table, and other key areas.

17. Planning Each Rainmaking Conversation: Learn the 6 questions you need to answer before every sales conversation.

18. How to Kill a Sales Conversation:  Most sales die because of one or more of these sales conversations mistakes. Know them and avoid them at all costs.

19. Putting RAIN in Your Forecast: You are the only person who can determine your success. Visualize your own new reality – and go out and make rain!

Buy Now >  Amazon  |  B&N  |  800CEO-Read  |  Borders 

Pick up a copy for everyone on your team. Learn more about Buying In Bulk.

• About Us
  • About Us
  • Challenges We Solve
  • Industries We Serve
  • Who We Help
  • Leadership Team
  • Values
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
• Services
  • Sales Consulting
  • Sales Recruiting & Hiring
  • Sales Knowledge Consulting
  • Sales Training
  • Sales Assessments
  • Sales Coaching
• Sales Training
  • Our Approach to Sales Training
  • RAIN Selling Sales Training System
  • Sales Training Programs
  • RAIN Selling Seminar
  • Sales Training Reinforcement
  • Online Sales Training
• Sales Assessments
  • Rainmaker Assessment for Sales Reps
  • Rainmaker Assessment for Sales Managers
  • Rainmaker Talent Assessment for Sales Hiring
  • Sales Performance Improvement Assessment

Copyright © 2012 RAIN Group