Becoming a Rainmaker in Your Sales Career

What Does it Mean to be a Rainmaker?

In sales, a rainmaker is somebody who brings in an abundance of income into the business. Rainmakers are A-Players that perform above any expectations placed on them by the company, and in many cases themselves. Becoming a rainmaker is nothing magical, it simply requires a clear and diligent focus on the task at hand.

The first step to becoming a rainmaker is asking the question, “How do I become a rainmaker?” Top performers in sales are constantly asking the right questions. Asking the right questions leads to getting the right answers, which is absolutely necessary to become successful.

Most rainmakers have a range of skills and abilities used to understand and form alliances, as well as challenge and push for the right outcomes to create success. Those who can make this happen are not only top performers in sales, but they quickly climb the career ladder.

The Winning Mindset

Many people think becoming successful has to do with where you are born and how privileged your childhood was. It’s a way of shrugging off their own opportunity to achieve the heights of economic success.

Anybody with the right mindset can become a rainmaker, never forget that.

Speak to people like the valuable interesting human beings they are. Often in sales people are just looking for the next client. They can only see people as wallets with feet. This is the exact wrong way to become successful. Treat people with respect and love, make connections without having the expectation of getting paid. This is why it’s very important to focus on areas that you are actually interested in.

Working in a sector you enjoy will make all the difference. Work will become a labor of love instead of a service to a soulless taskmaster.

The Skillset

To be successful in sales you need to have an understanding of these 4 fundamental skills:

Listening
Expertise
Asking The Right Question
Control

The emphasis today on personal and professional development has never been higher. There is so much free content out there that you would be foolish to ignore.

During your day while your commuting, working out, or walking your dog, you can be listening to valuable content in audio form. There are thousands of hours of books, lectures, and discussions about sales and how to rise to the top.

If you have time to read, check out these essential sales books for building a rock solid foundation in your career.

Listening

Sometimes we simply forget to listen. We are so busy trying to figure out the best way to respond to an objection that we don’t hear the individual’s actual problems. Most people will be happy to pay you if you can solve their problem, but what exactly is their problem? Locate what’s causing them the pain in their life and do your best to help. If you can’t, simply refer them to somebody who can. Use that as a stepping stone to build a network with other people in your industry who provide services you don’t.

Become An Expert

Again this is why it’s important to love your area of sales. It will be a painful journey to become an expert in something you don’t care about. Also, people in need will be coming to you for help, if you sell them your product or service, and it’s not the right fit, then you just caused even more problems for the individual.

Actually helping someone requires skill, knowledge, and experience. If you feel you lack any one of those 3 factors, do whatever you can to build on them as soon as you possibly can.

Questions

Asking the right question is the only way to truly know what your client, or potential client, really needs. Preparing some thoughts before a call can help, but you never know what somebody will actually say.

Keep an open mind, relax, and remember what you have to offer. That is the best way to allow the right questions to surface while you’re in an important conversation.

Control

Maintaining control during a conversation is incredibly important. This should come easily if you are truly an expert in your field. No client should be able to tell you how to do your job better than you’re already doing it, even though they may try. Once you lost control of the conversation the client will no longer see you as an expert and it will be harder to convince them that your service is right for them.

Conclusion

Maintain a high degree of skill and understanding in your field will instantly attract clients. The good news is that most people won’t bother putting in the hard work that will get you to the top. If you really want to blow away your competition in sales, simply follow the basic advice above, and don’t stop working so you can confidently call yourself a rainmaker!