Behavioral Traits of a Rainmaker

A common question we field from industry leaders….

“When identifying the “Rainmaker”, what are the behavioral traits you look for?”

This is a great question. But first, let’s review what a “Rainmaker” is. The most interesting Google search result is from Wiktionary:

Rainmaker – Noun – (figurative) An employee of a company who creates a large amount of unexpected business, consistently brings in money at critical times, or brings in markedly more money than his or her co-workers, thereby “floating their salaries”.

The key phrases, “large amount of unexpected business” and “consistently brings in money at critical times,” are both very telling remarks and accurate traits to be expected of true Rainmakers. They have the moxy to deliver great sales results in the face of fear and panic. Our purpose with this article is to share with you the common patterns we see today among the industry’s top Rainmakers. From our position, the consistency of the same behavioral traits in top performers “Rainmakers” are compelling and may provide you the insight needed in choosing your sales team.

10 Behavioral Traits of a Rainmaker

1. Level of measured energy and passion:

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm” – Ralph Aldo Emerson

Every Rainmaker has an infectious level of energy that creates momentum throughout a team. People are drawn to professional leaders that exhume this quality and are intrigued by their focus and determination to reach their goals. Look for these individuals to live their personal lives with same level of passion when they talk about how they support their families, interests and vacations. Living large and in awe is not a happen stance occurrence, for them it’s a way of life.

2. Competitive nature:

“Buy or bury the competition.” – Jack Welch

A history of a competitive lifestyle is rather telling. This spirited nature drives their passion and energy with the need to win, but just as important, learning how to grow from loosing. They not only understand how to compete, but they need a high level of competition to be fulfilled.

3. Adaptable:

Rainmakers will question every behavior, considering the relevance and how it applies to today’s challenges. They are constantly looking to improve, not entrenched or stubborn hanging on to past practices. Continuous improvement is a switch that is never turned off. Like a river that moves with the shifting sands, they cope with the unexpected disturbances to yield the highest results.

4. Creative:

They are highly motivated by the phase “That has never been done before”. If the market and their competition believe that a different tactic is impossible, the Rainmaker will take the measured risk and prove them wrong. This creative approach effectively builds a large moat around their customers to secure their customer base and grow new accounts. They understand the only way to develop a “Unique Value Proposition” is through a creative process.

5. Networked:

Rainmakers understand how to create a market and passionately search to build those relationships that will value their service at a higher level. These professionals are great one-on-one and in front of a crowd. Being active and present within the community and their peer group is key, whether it is networking socially through their community or at industry association events and meetings.

6. Thinking Strategically:

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value” – Albert Einstein

Every great Rainmaker has the ability to understand how to create and monetize their Value Proposition. Understanding the financial impact of their service and effectively communicating that message to their customers is a proven method of raising gross margins.

7. Human touch:

We see this trait come out in a variety of unique ways as personalities vary. A sincere awareness, always looking out for the best interest of those around them earns trust and loyalty. Rainmakers have engaging personalities with the ability to break any awkward moment or initial meeting tensions with light humor. Laughter is contagious and everyone appreciates humorous breaks in our often rather intense lives.

8. Proven history of success:

We look for a proven history of “Current” success. The key question is “What achievements have been accomplished in the last 2 – 3 years?” Any success prior to 2007 is nice but not relevant, much like the Wisconsin Badger Football team beating Northern Iowa, sales success prior to 2007 was expected.

9. Technology:

iPads and Smartphones reflect cutting edge technology for our industry, a key part of the commitment to continuous improvement and adaptability. A Rainmaker uses time most efficiently and effectively to increase dollars sold per hour worked.

10. Do it now:

“Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction” – Harry Truman

Rainmakers have the ability and desire to motivate themselves and others to implement new tactics and act immediately. To know exactly what you want, understanding in detail why you are doing it, and to dedicate every breath in your body to achieve it is the secret to motivation. Rainmakers bring clarity and purpose to make taking the first step an adventure.

misuragroup Value Proposition Rainmaker, Talent Retention

In recent conversations with owners and executives the “Value Proposition” topic has become one that always gains a volatile response.  We are excited to share a few of the ideas and concepts giving the edge to companies that are aggressively expanding distance from their competition.

At the very least, we hope you ask yourself, “Why would I buy from me given the competitive options?”

What is a Value Proposition?

As explained by Investopedia – “Companies use this statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company’s products, and this helps maintain an economic moat. The ideal value proposition is concise and appeals to the customer’s strongest decision-making drivers. Companies pay a high price when customers lose sight of the company’s value proposition.”

In essence, the economic proposition for your company to differentiate from its competition.

The Historical Challenge:

“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.”  – Babe Ruth

Respecting history is important as it frames who we are, where and how we do business today, at times offering a more in-depth perspective of the challenges we face.  Our industry has a long record of cyclical movements.  Most recently, watching housing starts steadily grow from 1.2m to 2.2m from 1992 to 2006, 14 years straight, has created a bit of an expectation in our selling approach.  Further, our industry has become much more complex, consolidations have eliminated much of the fragmentation, advances in technology and management practices, have together increased the purchasing, logistic and overall performance of your competition.  The economic down turn has removed most of the poor operators, leaving behind a greater competitive environment.  The psychological effect of being flattened by the poor economy has taken its toll, creating added fear and anxiety, crushing creativity and innovation when approaching problems.  The risk of failing is often perceived as too great limiting the willingness to take the chance of improving a mediocre situation.  We have been conditioned to expect easy answers, but when the circumstances require a more cognitive challenging solution, we revert back to our old school thinking, because it’s safe and familiar. Here is a list of common marketing strategies we see:

• Cheap and Deep, Dump and Run:  Going to market as the low cost provider.  This often has extremely limited returns offering less service, less product, less respect, and less trust sends the message to the customer that your company has a minimized value.
• Hook’em at a loss and raise the margin when they’re not looking:  (and hope they don’t catch you)  This strategy is often used resulting in the customer shopping your product and service for bid, forcing you to fight for their business every time they have a new project.  The pricing pressure results in a downward spiraling effect, often pushing until a net loss becomes too great for the company and you walk away from the business. Frequently, you are consoled by uttering something about how great your service is and how poor your competitor is still hoping the business comes back with another chance to bid 3-6 months down the road.  If your value proposition is reliant on keeping your customers ignorant, your success will be limited and short lived.
• Let relationships carry the weight:  There was a time when profits and value for the general contractor, owner and distributor were high enough for relationships to bridge any gap in the buying and selling process.  Those days are gone.  Relationships build the foundation for gaining exposure and developing trust to open the door for the value proposition to be articulated.  It is misguided for anyone to believe that relationships can camouflage a poor value proposition.
• Our character and values are much better than the evil empire supplier in town: We are all motivated at a higher level when we think about competing against a demonic adversary. While that concept may make it easier to get out of bed at o’dark 30, it is nothing more than an illusion.  Our industry is full of great people, with great character, ethics, and high family values.  This is at best a “me too” strategy, never creating any significant differentiating value.

Looking at the popular strategies above, ask yourself, “How wide is the moat created by each strategy?”  We will likely agree – not wide enough.

The Solution

What are the steps in creating your Value Proposition?

1-      Indentify your Value Proposition through your customer’s eyes first.  Interview your customer to determine what they value the most and why.  Having the courage to ask the tough questions, not only what the effects were when the project went perfect, but what happened when it went wrong. 

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates

Steer questions away from price; instead focus on long term impact, reducing risk, increasing accessibility or convenience, customization, new technology, industry knowledge, and how your performance is better/bigger/faster.

2-      Create measurements and testing to quantify your impact.  Time and motion studies have long been used in manufacturing to bring a defined ROI to the buying decision.  Every service act has a financial impact.  Define your value in a clear, concise number and you will make their buying decision much easier.  The measuring concept has many scratching their heads.  Yes, it is new, different and more difficult than selling solutions of the past, but not impossible.  Remember, the more difficult the information is to collect and measure the wider the gap becomes with your competition.

3-      Clearly articulate the value proposition.  Every buying decision comes back to the customer’s desire. Be conscious in your explanation to reduce the friction in the process making every attempt to eliminate any anxiety.  When addressing the solution, be prepared to explain how it benefits them.

Many companies find themselves making a shift from a “product and service” to a “solution focused” strategy.  Defining and implementing a value proposition is difficult in the best circumstances.  The task of delivering a message that clearly articulates value across a company’s multiple offerings can quickly become complex. Be patient.  Don’t settle with mediocre, have the courage to step out, innovate and create a new strategy on uncharted ground.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
 – Charles Darwin

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As Peter Druker stated; “there are 3 kinds of companies today:

-those who make it happen
-those who watch it happen
-those who wonder what happened ”

 What steps are you taking to make it happen?

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Written by Daniel H. Pink

Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach.  That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book.  The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

“Pink’s ideas deserve a wide hearing. Corporate boards, in fact, could do well by kicking out their pay consultants for an hour and reading Pink’s conclusions instead.” - Forbes

“Pink makes a convincing case that organizations ignore intrinsic motivation at their peril.” - Scientific American

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Consider this quote by Peter McWilliams, Life 101, “Mistakes, obviously, show us what needs improving. Without mistakes, how would we know what we had to work on?”

misuragroup Uncategorized personal development

Part 2 of the CNN interview with Malcolm Gladwell – “Outliers”.

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An interview with Malcom Gladwell, author of one of our favorite books “Outliers”.

What defines success, talent, intellect, your place in time or work ethic? You may be surprised as to the answer.

Malcolm Gladwell interview on CNN (Part 1)

Interviewed by Fareed Zakaria on April 9, 2009. It is closed captioned

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Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review

One of the most hated, yet frequently asked, interview questions is, “What is your greatest weakness?” We all have faults, but the last place we want to talk about them is in a job interview. Next time you are up for a job, take these three steps to prepare for this dreaded question:
1. Prepare an answer.
2. Get input.
3. Ask a question back.

See More The Worst Interview Question (and How to Answer It) - Priscilla Claman – The Conversation – Harvard.

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A Management Tip recently highlighted by Harvard Business Publishing:

Layoffs and cutbacks are forcing more people to take on new responsibilities.  Whether you are excited about new challenges you face or feel you have no choice but to say “yes,” use these three tips when starting something new:

1. Don’t simply do a “hand off.”
2. Look for overlap.
3. Delegate.

All of our plates are fuller today, how have you successfully handled your added responsibility?  Or, how have you assisted your team to handle it?

This was adapted from “The Right Way to Take On a New Responsibility” by Steven DeMaio.

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A discussion with Tony Misura on his summary of Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell, published in our eNewsletter on August 4, 2009.

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