A new book offers practical tools to market your services without compromising your comfort zone or your professionalism.

Let’s face it; if you want to become a real player in your firm, you have to learn to sell. Whether you are an attorney or an accountant, an engineer or an entrepreneur, the name of the game is making rain. If you think that sales is only for gregarious glad-handlers who know how to “work a room,” then a new book by lawyer turned relationship development coach Mark Maraia is for you. In Rainmaking Made Simple: What Every Professional Must Know, Maraia offers a practical guide to rainmaking that will change how you look at marketing your services.

“Many professionals think that they have to act in unseemly ways in order to become a rainmaker, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Maraia explains. “You can remain true to yourself and still be great at selling and marketing. In fact, the truer you remain to yourself the more effective your rainmaking will be.”

The methods for becoming a master marketer set forth in Rainmaking Made Simple can work for everyone, regardless of how conservative, shy or just plain reticent to sell you may be. By making relationship development the impetus behind every marketing activity, Maraia transforms seemingly onerous sales situations to ones that are not only profitable, but usually enjoyable as well. Maraia redefines “selling” by promoting a philosophy of marketing services that emphasize value to the client and leaves the professional feeling comfortable.

“I encourage professionals to live at the edge of, but still inside of, their comfort zones,” Maraia says. “Marketing should be naturally integrated into every professional’s daily practice.”

In Rainmaking Made Simple, Maraia offers readers hundreds of marketing tools that are easy to follow and can be painlessly incorporated into their busy professional lives. Following are just a few of these tools:

Avoid random acts of lunch. Never meet with a prospective new client, even if it is an informal meeting over lunch, without taking some time to prepare. You should, at a minimum, write out three or four questions you can ask the client at your meeting. And be sure you are asking, not telling. You want to demonstrate your interest and curiosity. Telling is not selling.

Say thank you for referrals early and often. When you do get a referral, follow up with the referring party often. In fact, it is appropriate to say thanks three or four times—once after you make initial contact with the prospective new client, once after you meet with the client, and again if the client engages you for services. Even if the referral doesn’t pan out, make sure to follow up with at least a hand-written thank you note or even a small gift of appreciation.

Write down your Advances before the meeting. “Advances” are the commitments to action in a definite time frame that you want from the prospect. You may want to hear something like, “I want you to meet with the President of the company on Thursday.” But you might instead get, “Let me think about it.” If that happens, don’t assume that you have been rejected outright. Always follow up non-committal statements with more questions, such as, “We’ve covered a number of issues during our meeting, is there anything in particular that stands out for you?” If they say no, you might be getting the brush off. But a yes answer could lead to further dialogue about your services and a greater chance of realizing your Advances.

If you hate asking for business, don’t. The most common misconception about asking for business is thinking you must ask for work in an initial meeting or early in the relationship-building stage. It is almost always inappropriate to ask for business during a first or second meeting. If a relationship needs months or years to develop, don’t rush it. It’s the equivalent of walking up to a total stranger and asking her to marry you. Concentrate on developing a relationship and when the time is right to approach a business proposition, you will know it because it will feel entirely comfortable and natural.

Never approach networking with a “WIIFM” mindset. “WIIFM” stands for “what’s in it for me?” Instead of thinking about what people can do for you, think about what you can do for them. Also, don’t expect an immediate “quid pro quo” for every favor you do for someone else. Networking is a long-term process. Be generous with your time and advice and, eventually, others will return the favor.

Don’t work the room; work for the room. The concept of “working the room” suggests something distasteful. Instead, head into the room with the mindset that you are there to put people together for their mutual benefit, instead of immediately hooking up with a new business opportunity yourself. If you think of networking as an opportunity to help others, you will avoid the glad-handing stereotype and will end up reaping relationship benefits yourself without violating your comfort zone.

Don’t speak to the audience, energize them to the point of taking action. There are few marketing activities that deliver a higher payoff than public speaking, if you know what you are doing. Contrary to what many people think, it is not the speaking that will get you work. It is the relationships formed from the speaking that will result in new business. It is the energy you create. When considering a speaking engagement, be sure to choose your audience wisely. It should be teeming with clients and prospective clients, not colleagues and competitors. Be sure to speak on a topic you are passionate about and invite a dialogue with the audience to keep their attention. Set a tangible relationship goal before you speak—perhaps to meet five new prospects—and make follow-up phone calls within 72 hours of your presentation to follow up on any issues that arose during or after your talk.

Use your bills as a marketing tool. Are you clear about how your clients prefer to be billed and are you making sure the bills are responsive to their needs? Are you vigilant about discrepancies in your bills? Clients notice if a partner bills .75 hours for a meeting with an associate who billed .5 hours. Do your bills convey a detailed description of the work done and the value provided to the client? Sending out bills is a huge opportunity to show the client the value of your services. On your next bill, spend 15 extra minutes trying to add words that convey value from the client’s perspective and see if you don’t notice quicker payment and greater satisfaction.

Focus on keeping your current clients satisfied. One of the best ways to gain repeat business and referrals for new business is simply to pay more attention to the business you already have. Be sure to return client phone calls promptly. Immediately address any outstanding issues regarding fees or current projects and be sure to gauge your client’s satisfaction on a regular basis. Merely picking up the phone to inquire if the client is getting everything he needs can go a long way toward developing more business in the future. Everyone needs to feel like he or she is your top priority. You could also invest in some extra non-billable time just making sure you are keeping up with your client’s business and industry so when you make informal contact, you can be prepared to talk about issues your client is concerned about.



________________________________
About the Book:
Rainmaking Made Simple: What Every Professional Must Know (Professional Services Publishing, 2003, ISBN:0-9724532-0-2, $29.95) is available at all major bookstores and online booksellers.

About the Author:
Mark Maraia is a Colorado attorney who has enjoyed success as a commercial litigator and as inhouse corporate counsel for a Denver-based brokerage firm. In 1990, he established Mark Maraia Associates, a practice development coaching firm dedicated to developing the skills of lawyers throughout the world. Maraia has coached thousands of lawyers on how to develop selling and networking skills.

An accomplished and exuberant public speaker, Maraia has addressed scores of lawyer audiences throughout the world. He has published numerous articles on rainmaking for professionals and received an award from the American Bar Association for his contributions to the association’s publication, Law Practice Management. Maraia is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver College of Law, where he teaches lawyers-to-be the “people skills” they will need after they pass the bar exam.