“The bottom line for me is that the RAIN Group team 'gets it.' They are all the epitome of professionalism. They live their espoused values as few firms do. They are passionate about what they do. They make and keep commitments. They are completely authentic. They are open to talk about any issues that come up. They are accessible and responsive to our needs. They are not ego-driven know-it-alls. They are real people.”
- President, Customer Service and Training Company
4 Crucial Elements to Rainmaking Success
By Mike Schultz
People often ask me, “Can rainmaking be taught?”
It can surely be taught, but the question that people must ask themselves and their teams is, “Can we learn to make rain?”
Makes me think of this one:
Q. How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. One, but the light bulb has to want to change.
Same goes for rainmaking: if you want to turn on your rainmaking light bulb, you can.
If you’d like to discover if the rainmaking bulb can turn on for you (or for members of your organization), you need to know if the following four elements are in place.
4 Crucial Elements to Rainmaking Success
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Desire
If you are “open to the idea but not all that thrilled about it,” then you’re not quite there. But if you want it, you want it bad, you want it wicked, wicked bad like a third-grader wants summer vacation, then you’ll be likely to fight through the inevitable challenges that derail others.
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Committment
What’s the difference between the pig and the chicken in the bacon and eggs breakfast? The chicken was compliant, but the pig was committed.
With desire you want something. With commitment you demonstrate you’re willing to do what you need to do to get it. It’s commitment that signals the shift from pining over something you want (desire) but not going for it with everything you have (commitment). As Winston Churchill might have put it, those who “never, never, never give up” have 100% commitment. 100% commitment goes a long way in rainmaking success.
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Outlook
Here’s where your attitude affects your success. Professionals as well as professional sales people sometimes get in the way of their own success because of their sense of themselves, their organizations, their view of selling, and so on.
The right desire and commitment without the right outlook will derail your business development success.
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Responsibility
Is it the economy that’s holding you back? Is it that your company doesn’t have strong enough products and services? Is it that you need a better website, marketing materials, or brand? Dog ate your homework?
The people who succeed in sales don’t blame anyone or anything for holding them back. We’ve seen time and again people in the same company with the same conditions and the same market have wildly different sales results all because one person took responsibility where the other didn’t. One blames something else for their lack of success (and then throws their hands up in frustration), while the other runs into the same challenges and issues but figures out a way to succeed instead of blaming an external condition for under-performance.
When these four elements (Desire, Commitment, Outlook, and Responsibility) are in place, not only can you expect the light bulb to change, but it will shine brightly as well.
Mike Schultz is President of RAIN Group, a sales training, assessment, and sales performance improvement company that helps leading organizations improve sales results. Mike is co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade and Sell in Any Situation (Wiley, 2011) and publisher of RainToday.com. He also writes for the RAIN Selling Blog. You can reach Mike at mschultz@raingroup.com, follow him on Twitter @Mike_Schultz, or connect with him on LinkedIn.
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