Corporate America is at a major turning point, and businesses are in the midst of a huge paradigm shift as companies assess what needs to go, what needs to stay, and what needs to be introduced.
“Business as usual” modes of operation no longer cut it in this rapidly changing landscape and companies are forced to adopt cutting-edge ways of operating, all while holding on to tried and true old-school ideologies.
Consider the idea of a rainmaker. Under the traditional definition, a rainmaker was someone in a revenue-producing role whose primary responsibility was bringing in new business.
But that definition is limited in scope and leaves so much room for expansion.
The idea of rainmaking needs to be disseminated throughout the entire organization – from the c-suite to the summer interns, so that everybody at every level is conditioned to spot opportunities and look for ways to add value, regardless of whether they’re interfacing with external clients or not.
Companies need to not only make rainmaking a task; it needs to be woven into company culture.
The company I worked for in my corporate days, Towers Perrin, was exceptional at grooming rainmakers.
Every Wednesday morning before office hours started, I had the opportunity to learn directly from the king of rainmaking and client relationship management at our company, Gary Pines.
He blended his decades of experiences with the ideologies from the book Rainmakers by Ford Harding, and packaged it up into a program to groom the next generation of rainmakers.
Gary had a way with clients, and most of what I learned from Gary came through watching him in action. He was the master of client relationships – always fully present, engaging eye contact, leaned in, relaxed. Always very relaxed. The ceiling could have been caving in and there would be Gary, still sitting there calm, cool, and collected, listening intently and nodding to show he understood.
It was obvious that clients liked how they felt around Gary. He always made them feel heard, and took their concerns seriously. Through listening and really empathizing with the client, Gary was able to put himself in their shoes and offer solutions that served them well.
I believe that if everyone at all levels of the company shows up with this rainmaker energy, this rainmaker presence, this “how can I serve you?” mentality, it would be a major contributing factor to explosive growth.
So as you reflect on your business and the idea of rainmaking, are there additional strides your company can make to adopt the rainmaker culture?
What obstacles are getting in the way?
What else comes to mind as you entertain this idea?
I’d love to chat with you about this. Grab a time here.
Let the rainmaking begin!