Summary: Rainmaking Conversations by BusinessNews Publishing

Author:BusinessNews Publishing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BusinessNews Publishing
Published: 2016-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

Based on what you know about the prospect, you can choose to emphasize some parts of the solution more strongly than others. Keep in mind buying is hard and sometimes it’s difficult to visualize the impact and then choose between competing offers. By drawing a map in this way, you paint a picture for the buyer based on the RAIN approach. When the new reality is compelling and alluring, your prospect will want the solution, will know you’re the best provider they can find and have confidence you can get the job done. It doesn’t get any better than that for a salesperson.

Note rainmaking conversations require that you hit a good balance between advocacy and inquiry. In practice, this means if you talk too much, you’ll make less sales than if you ask questions and listen. This can, however, be taken too far. If you ask question after question in the hopes that eventually some key demand will arise, your sales conversations will end up being long winded and aimless. The key is to be balancing advocacy (giving advice) and inquiry (finding out their true situation.)

Get into the habit of asking open-ended questions when you’re with clients and listen to what they’re saying judiciously. Tell them stories of other clients who were in similar situations to demonstrate your credibility without making a direct pitch. Develop active listening skills.

One other methodology which will help enhance your RAIN conversations is termed “The Five Whys.” It’s a simple yet powerful technique – when someone states a problem, ask them “why” that came about. Keep doing that five times for all the points they bring out and you’ll get to the root cause of what’s going on. The Five Whys ensure you’re focusing on fixing the underlying cause rather than just a symptom. To illustrate:

Problem: The production line has stopped again!

#1: Why did the production line stop?

Answer: A piece of equipment blew a fuse.

#2: Why did that equipment blow a fuse?

Answer: Because the bearings were overheating.

#3: Why did the bearings overheat?

Answer: Because they had insufficient lubrication.

#4: Why were the bearings not lubricated?

Answer: Nobody remembered to oil them.

#5: Why did nobody oil them?

Answer: We don’t have a maintenance schedule.

#6: Why isn’t there a maintenance schedule?

Answer: Silence

To make RAIN conversations work, you’ve got to drill down by asking why questions at least five times to get to the root causes.

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