George Foreman has a great saying: “If you can sell, then you can always eat.” In this economy, that really makes sense. Rainmaker breaks down 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 spending your time going through this summary, then it has to be worth it for you. Customers buy for only two reasons: to gain 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 must understand that features do not sell, but rather the result of the solution to YOUR CUSTOMERS’ PROBLEM. The B2B or Business to Business sale further describes the pain/pleasure concept. Business customers buy to increase revenue, reduce 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. Amateur sellers do not understand this rule. They will present their product, give away prices and provide a list of their best customers without knowing the three main things: the PAIN of the prospects, the MONEY and the DECISION-making process. The rainmakers know all this before they reveal their knowledge.
2. Listen – 70/30 – You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. The 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 business. The prospect should talk 70% of the time and the salesperson should talk only 30% of the time. In a one hour meeting, you speak 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 your issues, decision-making process, and 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 assign them a point.
2. Get an appointment to meet with a decision maker, assign two points
3. Meet the decision maker, assign 3 points.
4. Get a commitment to close or direct the next step to close and assign four points. The goal is to get 4 points each day.
I hope you have found this brief 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 get out of this book if you are in sales is to get 4 points each day. This is such a simple plan that will do wonders for your career.
