George Foreman has a great saying: “If you can sell, then you can always eat.” In this economy, that really makes sense. Rainmaker delves into the basics of upping his sales game. He remembers one thing: Rainmakers don’t get fired because they drive company revenue through superior customer acquisition.
Why is this important to me?
I do not want to waste your time. If you are investing your time in reviewing this summary, then it has to be worth it to you. Customers buy for only two reasons: to get pleasure or to avoid pain. That is all! They don’t buy features and benefits; they buy aspirin to get rid of the headache. As a sales professional, you need to understand that features don’t sell, but rather the result of solving YOUR CUSTOMERS’ PROBLEM. B2B or Business to Business selling further describes the pain/pleasure concept. Business customers buy to increase revenue, reduce their costs, or mitigate risk. According to Jeffrey, the Rainmakers sell money.
There are several key concepts in the book to help you become a rainmaker. For reasons of time, I will outline three of them.
1. Never do anything without knowing what is going to happen next. Hobbyists don’t understand this rule. They will present your product, give away prices, and provide a list of their best customers without knowing the three main things: PAIN of prospects, MONEY, and the DECISION-making process. The rainmakers know all this before they reveal their knowledge.
2. Listening – 70/30 – You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Rainmakers know how to listen to their clients and help them discover their pain. Listening is the greatest skill you need to learn to be successful in sales and in business. The prospect should speak 70% of the time and the salesperson should speak only 30% of the time. In a one-hour meeting, you speak for only 18 minutes.
Questions: Learning to ask effective questions will take you from being a hobby salesperson to a Rainmaker. This ability is the secret to boosting the second listening point. If you envision a funnel, your questions should run parallel, so ask general questions at first, then dig into more specific areas based on your prospects’ responses. You need to understand the what, when, where, why, and how of each area, including its issues, the decision-making process, and the budget.
How to Become a Rainmaker also talks about the 4 point daily plan. This is an excellent plan that every salesperson should include in their career. It works like this:
1. Get a lead or referral and give them a point.
2. Get an appointment to meet with a decision maker, assign a colon
3. Know the decision maker, assign 3 points.
4. Get a commitment to close or lead the next step to close and assign four points. The goal is to get 4 points every day.
I hope you found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book if you are in sales is to get 4 points every day. This is such a simple plan that it will do wonders for your career.
