How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start: A Rainmaking Guide for Consulting and Professional Services

Introduction: Selling a Service Is Different (and Harder) Than Selling a Product Part I: If I'm So Smart, Why Do I Feel So Stupid about Selling? 1. Things Rainmakers Do That Most of Us Don't - The Five Rainmaker Skills Universities Don't Teach Us and Our Firms Don't Train Us 2. How Clients Buy Understanding the Client's Buying Decision Journey 3. Where Clients Come From Understanding the Key Client Pathways 4. Rainmaking for Introverts and People Who Don't Want to Sell Winning Client Business While Being True to Yourself Part II: The Five Skills We Must Learn If We Want to Become a Rainmaker Section One: Skill 1: Create Your Personal Brand Identity 5. Decide What You Want to Be Known For and Who You Wish to Serve You Can Be Known For Anything, But You Can't Be Known For Everything 6. The Power of Focus The Key to Being Remembered 7. Choosing Your Specialty Shrink the Pond Until You're a Big Fish 8. You Can't Sell Beyond Your Credibility Zone The Cautionary Tale of EDS Section Two: Skill 2: Demonstrate Your Professional Expertise 9. How Clients Tell Who the Real Experts Are Clients Need Clues That We Are Really Good At What We Do 10. How to Toot Your Own Horn Without Looking Like a Jerk Proven Techniques for Demonstrating Your Expertise 11. Using LinkedIn to Build Your Credibility Social Media Won't Make the Phone Ring.... So What's It Good For? Section Three: Skill 3: Build Your Professional Ecosystem 12. The Two Hundred People You Need to Know The Closest Thing to Knowing Something Is Knowing Where to Find It 13. Does Cold Calling Work? And What to Do If It Doesn't Remember What Mom said: Don't Talk to Strangers! 14. Making Friends in a Natural Way How to Get an Introduction Without Seeming Pushy 15. I Can't See the Forest For the Trees Segmenting Your Ecosystem into Three Distinct Groups 16. Why Advertising Doesn't Work for Us Leveraging Your Firm's Brand Reputation and What to Do When You Don't Have One Section Four: Skill 4: Develop Trust-Based Relationships 17. What Is Trust and Where Does It Come From? Do Clients Really Hire People They Like? 18. Conversation Skills for Introverts (and the Rest of Us, Too) Using Small Talk to Find Common Ground 19. The Art of Keeping In Touch Finding Opportunities to Be Thoughtful and Helpful 20. Transparency Is Good, Right? How and When to Be Transparent Section Five: Skill 5: Practice Everyday Success Habits 21. The Daily Habits of Successful Rainmakers The One Hour Each Day That Will Build Your Career 22. Making the Rainmaker Skills Stick 66 Days That Will Shape Your Future 23. Finding Your Rainmaker M.O. Building Rainmaker System That Works for You Part III: The Rainmaker's Journey 24. Thoughts on Becoming a Rainmaker Stop Trying to Be Wonder Woman and Super Man 25. Finding the Work That You Love And What to Do When You Don't 26. A High Road with a Long View Parting Words as You Begin Your Rainmaker Journey Appendix A: The Rainmaker Skills Self-Test What Are My Rainmaker Strengths and Weaknesses? Notes and References [[CE please move these to the end of chapter]] Recommended Reading Acknowledgments About the Author Index