Rainmaking Conversations

Conversations make or break everything in sales. Every conversation you have is an opportunity to find new prospects, win new customers, and increase sales. Rainmaking Conversations provides a proven system for leading masterful conversations that fill the pipeline, secure new deals, and maximize the potential of your account. Rainmaking Conversations offers a research-based, field-tested, and practical selling approach that will help you master the art of the sales conversation. This proven system revolves around the acronym RAIN, which stands for Rapport, Aspirations and Afflictions, Impact, and New Reality. You'll learn how to ask your prospects and clients the right questions, and help them set the agenda for success. Armed with the knowledge of the markets you serve, the common needs of prospects, and how your products and services can help, you can become a trusted advisor to your clients during and after the sale. With the RAIN system, you'll be able to: * Build rapport and trust from the first contact * Create conversations with prospects, referral sources, and clients using the telephone, email, and mail * Uncover the real need behind client challenges * Make the case for improved business impact and return on investment (ROI) for your prospects * Understand and communicate your value proposition * Apply the 16 principles of influence in sales * Overcome and prevent all types of objections, including money * Craft profitable solutions and close the deal The world-class RAIN Selling¯SM methodology has helped tens of thousands of people lead powerful sales conversations and achieve breakthrough sales performance. Start bridging the gap between "hello" and profitable relationships today.

MIKE SCHULTZ is Co-President of RAIN Group and a world-renowned consultant and expert in sales training and performance improvement. He is publisher of RAIN Group's RainToday.com, one of the world's largest online magazines (over 100,000 subscribers) and membership sites for sales and marketing. He is also on the faculty in the Marketing Division at Babson College and writes at www.raingroup.com/blog and on Twitter at @Mike_Schultz. JOHN E. DOERR is Co-President of RAIN Group and consults, speaks, writes, and teaches on the subjects of selling and sales performance. His own rainmaking conversations have helped lead RAIN Group to Inc. magazine's list of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Find him on Twitter at @JohnEDoerr.

Acknowledgments ix Part One Getting Ready to Make RAIN 1 1 Introduction 3 2 The Most Important Conversation You'll Ever Have 19 3 Goal and Action Planning: Making the Most Rain 27 4 Understanding and Communicating Your Value Proposition 35 Part Two RAIN Selling Key Concepts 49 5 Rapport 51 6 Aspirations and Afflictions 59 7 Impact 71 8 New Reality 85 9 Balancing Advocacy and Inquiry 95 10 Digging Deep into Needs: The Five Whys 107 11 16 Principles of Influence in Sales 115 12 Tips for Leading Rainmaking Conversations 135 Part Three Maximizing Your RAIN Selling Success 153 13 Prospecting by Phone: Creating Rainmaking Conversations 155 14 Handling Objections 181 15 Closing Opportunities, Opening Relationships 195 16 What You Need to Know to Sell 205 17 Planning Each Rainmaking Conversation 215 18 How to Kill a Sales Conversation 221 19 Putting RAIN in Your Forecast 237 Appendix and Online Resources 239 About RAIN Group 257 About RainToday.com 258 RainToday.com Membership 259 About the Authors 260 Index 262