Part 19 (2/2)

-Henry Ford Up until noe have discussed the h many professional services providers stil use the tereably, we hope by now you have a good grasp of what o about ieneration efforts

Let's assu efforts realy start to pay off You have RAMPed up your brand You have seen a pickup in revenue per client Just as ienerate new conversations that have taken you far beyond referrals Now it is ti and make rain

”THE DOG ATE MY ROLODEX”

At professional services fir, and delivery can be deeply intertwined It would be soif we didn't have to deal with those pesky client leaders (or if eren't one of those pesky client leaders)

Alas, we do (or are) So we need to et some of the most common excuses out of the way: 1 I'm booked for at least six weeks I couldn't handle another deal if it landed on et into a good one, take an hour I only have 45 minutes to make cal s now, so I should wait until I have ood use of my time Somebody else should source leads, and I should deliver work

4 I'ood at it, so what's the use? (And I sure can't tel anyone this, so I'l make up another reason) 5 In h referrals Proactive outbound business develop, doesn't work Why bother?

6 I'

7 If I reach out to prospects, I wil sound like a used-car salesperson Since I'm a professional, I can't set up that dynamic

8 I kno to talk about what I do (I think) Yet, for soht

9 I don't even knoho to contact I have the ti

Pick your poison: You're too young or too old You're better in the et into a conversation, you wil need to get your boss on the phone, and she's not around The dog ate your Rolodex

Regardless of your reason, the end result is the saoes by, and you don't work on business develop for professional services firms and providers It's easy to understand why First of al , ful -tio from rookie to retiree, and al they need to do is sel to be successful

In contrast, professional service providers study the technical aspects of their craft for years Then they ith clients al day, al the tioes on until they find themselves up for partner, promoted to director, or off on their own Then suddenly, they also need to develop business, or they ht not have any clients to ith

Whether they want to or theythe transition from trusted advisor to rainmaker So they look to the sales profession for tips on how to do it Unfortunately, some of the tactics that salespeoplerainmakers Why? Because wheneither a product or a service delivered by so soues

Many professionals have yet to reconcile their ”sales” role and their ”trusted advisor” role Thus professionals find the question: Buyers inherently don't trust salespeople, but now I' to have to find and land clients for my firm and my services-in other words, sel If I start off as the salesperson, how can I make the transition to trusted advior, responsible for handling the most confidential and sensitive situations that arise?

Selling with Integrity Oily S, these words are often associated with salespeople None of us wants to be associated with these ter tactics that wil aging in tactics that wil ood It is not, however, because they use the right tactics More often than not it is because they avoid sel ing altogether

Here's the good news: You can sel with high integrity and without snake oil tactics You should never have to engage in any sales activity that makes you feel ethical y uncomfortable

Sell as You Serve So , by its nature, is a distasteful and less than ethical process, the sole purpose of which is to part people fros they don't need They believe that to be successful at sel ing, service providers must leave their values and everyday personalities at the door and adopt a sleazy persona and voice that would natural y say soet you into this shi+ny red pre-owned sports car today,is further fro clients and cash into their firms because they are no different when they sel their services than when they deliver their services

They prepare

They listen

They solve proble and success

They create new futures for their clients that the clients didn't knoere possible They are interpersonaly sensitive They can either push the limit or slohen it is in the client's best interest The best rainain, building trust, relationshi+ps, and tay confidence The best rainmakers are ethical at al times

”In business development, the service is the sale In the end, it's very much up to the lawyer and the lawyer's ability to ith the client and recognize that the sales process is ulti excel ent service”

-Kevin McMurdo, Chief Marketing Officer, Perkins Coie In other words, the best rainreat professional service providers In effect, they are starting the process of being great service providers during the sales process before clients official y engage their services

Sell to Need Great service providers are es of their clients and prospects Great rainmakers are no different

However, service providers often lack the tools to engage in the types of conversations that al ow them to ful y explore al of the client's needs

Communicate the Value Great service providers understand the value they provide to clients They craft co solutions based on specific client needs and can communicate that value to the client clearly and articulately When you can uncover, quantify, and co your services, you are better able to articulate your true value to each client

To facilitate the transition from trusted advisor to seler, we developed the concept of RAIN Seling SM to help you plan your sales conversations in sel ing as you serve, sel ing to need, and co Basics Since trial and error are the nor how to be a rain and steep and often fil ed with anxiety and pain This leads us to ask the questions, ”Is it possible to shorten the learning curve when it co professional services? Is it possible toitself feel less 'salesy'? Can we increase the level of success of the sel er?” The answers (as you uessed) are yes, yes, and yes We at Wel esley Hil s Group have worked not only to provide a process for sel ing professional services, but, to i to become a rainmaker

RAIN is an acronym for rapport, aspirations and afflictions, impact, and new reality The word RAIN, of course, is also a nod to the fact that this process is focused on rain new clients and big fees into service firure 211

Figure 211 RAIN SellingSM: From Rapport to Commitment R-Rapport The ability to build rapport in sales conversations is an old concept that is more relevant and more important than ever65 At the sa circles and dismissed as a ploy to make a surface-level connection to a potential client Why is true rapport so important? Rapport sets the foundation of comfort for the rest of the conversation and for any future relationshi+p The word rapport also implies a real connection between people, not just a surface-level co a true connection to a potential client is so i equal, buyers tend to buy from service providers that they like as much as they buy from those who canfocus on creating and presenting a co value proposition, but rapport is an often overlooked factor that can tip the scale in favor of one service provider over another

A-Aspirations and Afflictions The ”A” in RAIN Sel ing stands for aspirations as wel as afflictions Many sales discussion est that to sel products and services as solutions to needs, you must first uncover the probleest that uncovering problems and pain (afflictions) is only half the story

When clients buy professional services, they are typicaly thinking as o) as they are about afflictions (probleative context, you wil find yourself always positing, ”What's not happening for you?”

or the trite ”What keeps you up at night?”

”The best rainmakers are just those who are most passionate about what they do They believe more than everyone else that what they dothat”