Marketing for Rainmakers

I recently forwarded a friend’s resume to a business acquaintance, the president of a large, nationally known ad agency. I describe her as an “acquaintance” because the casualness of our relationship is an integral element in this story. I had been a client of her firm’s several years ago, and hadn’t seen her since then. Indeed, if we passed each other on the street we’d probably do a double-take but not be quite able to place how we knew each other. Nonetheless, when I wrote to her and began my note with “I hope you remember me…,” her rainmaking response was “of course, I do.”

My emailed note went on to explain that a neighbor had relocated from the West Coast, had taken some time off to care for her children, and now wanted to rejoin the workforce. My business acquaintance explained that her firm was not hiring, however, one of her clients might be a good fit for my friend’s background. She called the marketing director of that firm, introduced my friend, and arranged for them to talk.

While it would be easy to dismiss this as “a nice thing that most anyone would do,” the reality is that people like this ad agency president are rare and something to be marveled at. She barely knew me, and the friend I referred was an absolute stranger. Nonetheless, the agency president interrupted her day and went substantially above and beyond to help someone she didn’t even know.

Why would she do that? Because she’s a natural rainmaker. She sees the big picture, she doesn’t worry about getting paid back for her efforts, and she is gracious and engaged in every interaction. And that’s a good definition of rainmaker marketing — grace under pressure, total engagement, and a selfless mindset. It’s something we should all aspire to.

I recently took a family trip to Italy where I was deeply moved by Michelangelo’s “David” — far and away the most spectacular piece of artwork I’ve ever experienced. The beauty and majesty of the sculpture defy description, and only the most stoic of viewers could not be left breathless.

What I later learned, however, is that the marble used by Michelangelo had been virtually discarded and ignored. The massive block of marble was considered too tall, too narrow, and of an inferior quality. It had been worked on by two sculptors prior to Michelangelo, but both had walked away from the project. Countless others had subsequently turned down the opportunity to reveal the treasure hidden inside.

Michelangelo, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity to work on a project of such scale. You could argue that it was his youthful bravado and inexperience that led him to accept a task that others — older and wiser — had summarily rejected. I would argue, instead, that it was due to Michelangelo’s rainmaker-style ability to visualize his goal and bring it to life. Indeed, Michelangelo believed and stated that he did not “sculpt” David. Rather, David existed within the marble and he simply removed everything that wasn’t David.

That ability to visualize and focus on the result rather than the process, combined with a determination to eliminate any and all unnecessary material/baggage/noise/politics/etc., is the mark of rainmaking marketers who get it done and get it right.

While driving to work this morning, I saw a bumper sticker encouraging me to “Wag More, Bark Less.” As the proud owner of a sweet-tempered yellow Lab named Ruby, I couldn’t help but smile. More importantly, however, it reminded me of how much we humans can learn about rainmaker marketing from our canine friends.

Ruby loves everything. Every morsel of food is miraculous; every scent is addictive; every walk in the park is a tropical vacation; every sound is a revelation; every pat on the head or scratch on the butt is near-orgasmic. And no matter what delightful activity she’s engaged in, she’s always ready to try something else because she knows it will be even more fun.

Does that sound like you? I know it doesn’t sound like me. There’s a certain sameness in our lives that deflates our sense of wonder and excitement. Ruby has eaten the exact same meal every day of her life, and yet never tires of it and salivates like a garden hose when I scoop a cup of kibble into her bowl. She never pushes the bowl away or complains about the service.

Ruby loves everything and is loved by everyone. I think it’s cause-and-effect, and it works for us non-canines as well. Be enthusiastic about your products and services, and your clients and prospects will feel your enthusiasm. Love your clients and they’ll love you back.

Phil Fragasso

The acclaimed historian, David McCullough, served as the commencement speaker at Boston College’s graduation ceremonies on May 19. He urged the graduates to “make the love of learning central to your life.” That advice is critically important to rainmaking marketers in any industry and at any point in their careers.

McCullough made a special point of differentiating between the simple accumulation of information and the distillation of factual information into true wisdom and universal truths. “One can have all the facts,” he stated, “and miss the truth.”

The implication to marketers is that facts serve as the skeletal infrastructure of the stories we tell about our companies, our products, and ourselves. Left alone, however, facts are not engaging or relationship-building. Facts are sterile, quantitative, and analytic. Clients and prospects, on the other hand, respond to emotional catalysts. They want to see and understand the big picture. They want facts to be interpreted and put into understandable context. They want the underpinnings of their relationship with you to be based on solid, factual information — but they’re much more concerned about what you build atop that foundation. Anyone can accumulate data, but it’s what you do with the data that makes the difference to your clients.

Postscript: McCullough made an additional point that also has meaning for marketing rainmakers when he pleaded with the graduates to kill the spread of the “verbal virus” that afflicts Americans — in particular the usage of words and phrases such as “you know,” “like,” and “awesome.” He asked people to consider how John Kennedy would have sounded if his famous inaugural exhortation had been phrased like this: “Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country.”

As storytellers, marketing rainmakers must choose their words wisely. The wrong word at the wrong place and time can sabotage the most otherwise impressive effort.

Phil Fragasso — May 20, 2008

Have you ever noticed that people who have worked hard for their money are much more generous than those who inherited money or stumbled into it by being in the right place at the right time? There’s a sorry sense of entitlement among the latter; whereas the former are true rainmakers who understand that it’s not what you have that determines who you are, it’s what you do with what you have.

The more someone says “trust me,” the less you should.

Platitudinous posturing is the preferred platform of pea-brained poseurs.

The more “golly-gee-whiz, I’m a regular guy just like you” style an individual affects in public, the more elitist he is in private.

Accepting responsibility for one’s actions makes rain; assigning blame to others brings nothing but shame.

The more self-help business books-dujour an individual reads, the less he knows what he or his company stands for and the more his “strategic vision” wavers.

The more powerful you truly are, the less need you have to bully.

The more you run for cover at the first sign of a storm, the less rain you make.

Phil Fragasso — May 1, 2008

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I was recently present for a legal deposition involving the senior-most executive of a large Midwestern company. The executive is someone that I’d met a handful of times before, and someone whose style and competence I respected. He’s one of those natural leaders who engenders respect and loyalty — not because of his position but because of his record of achievement and his character of honesty and integrity.

What I found particularly interesting about the deposition was that the executive in question had been “thrown under the bus” by certain other parties involved in the litigation. Through the course of the deposition, that fact became increasingly clear to the executive. Nonetheless, he maintained his calm demeanor and continued to respond to questions succinctly and articulately. As a rainmaker at the top of his craft, he understood that the issues being discussed were “business” and not “personal.” Even more tellingly, he immediately realized that the other parties had crossed the line between business and personal considerations — and he would not make the same mistake.

Why is this distinction between business and personal so important? Because it is the determining factor with regard to how we view the world. A business perspective is outward-oriented with a focus on what’s most important to customers, employees and the organization as a whole. A personal perspective, on the other hand, is all about me. It’s self-centered with little regard for how one’s selfishness and shortsightedness can drain resources and permanently damage an organization.

Rainmakers are highly personal individuals — but they’re all business.

Phil Fragasso — April 30, 2008

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McDonald’s is rightly viewed as one of the best marketing machines in the world. But just as Babe Ruth struck out more times than he hit a home run, McDonald’s occasionally flubs it — and this is one of those times.

My good friend, Wendy, recently purchased a Diet Coke at McDonald’s and noticed these words printed on the cup: “We’re as picky about what we buy as you are.” As Wendy phrased it, “how could they not see the irony” in that statement?

As a lifelong junk food addict, I have ingested many hundreds of pounds of McDonald’s food offerings — but I have never deluded myself into believing I was particularly picky about my eating habits. I went to McDonald’s for the speed and convenience of their operation. And while the quality of the food was consistent, it was certainly not at a level that anyone would view as aspirational.

The essence of market leadership hinges on aspirational excellence. A “just as good” approach leads to mediocrity and, ultimately, failure. It would be far more effective for McDonald’s to tell me that, while they understand my tastes aren’t particularly discerning, they would never use that as an excuse to lessen their own focus on quality ingredients or to take shortcuts of any kind. I’m totally fine with McDonald’s taking such an elitist-type attitude. I want them to believe they have higher culinary standards than I do — just as I want my lawyer, doctor and accountant to be smarter than me about their specialties.

The English poet, Robert Browning, would have chided MacDonald’s for not ascribing to his belief that “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” From the perspective of marketing rainmakers, if you only reach as far as your customers, you’ll never reach all your potential customers.

Phil Fragasso — April 19, 2008

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For the most part, effective rainmaker-style marketing is based on commonsense. But there is one aspect of rainmaker marketing that strikes many as counter-intuitive: the concept that you can benefit your own firm by helping competitive firms.

Before examining this idea further, let’s consider a real-life example. Unbeknownst to me - and probably to most of you as well - there is a serious worldwide shortage of hops, a key ingredient in the brewing of beer. While this has been a non-issue for the behemoth brewers of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, who have long-term guaranteed contracts in place with hops suppliers, it raised the specter of bankruptcy for many small craft brewers around the country.

That’s where Boston Beer Company, the maker of the Samuel Adams family of beers, came to the aid of its countrymen. While not quite a brewing behemoth, Boston Beer is large enough to have contracts with hops suppliers - but it is also small enough, and young enough, to remember what it was like to struggle and confront all the obstacles that threaten a start-up business. So last week, Boston Beer shared 20,000 pounds of its own hops with smaller brewers - making the hops available at cost with no mark-up. Jim Koch, the founder of Boston Beer and already a legend in the craft brewing industry, explained his actions as such: “We view each other as colleagues not as competitors.”

Koch is espousing a very rainmaker-like attitude. Competition is not to be avoided; it is to be embraced. Competition makes us stronger. It makes us work harder for our customers and clients. It makes our customers and clients better able to recognize superior performance. And perhaps most importantly, it keeps us humble.

Without competition, we would sit back on our heels, rest on our laurels, and lose the edge that defines true rainmaking genius.

Phil Fragasso — April 4, 2008

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There’s an old story about Sherlock Holmes going on a camping trip with Dr. Watson. They pitched their tent, crawled inside, and went to sleep. In the middle of the night Holmes awakened and shouted for Watson to get up. Holmes pointed to the sky and asked Watson what he could deduce. Watson opened his sleepy eyes and nodded in understanding. “I see billions and billions of stars,” he said. “I believe it’s likely that some of these stars have planetary systems. Furthermore, I deduce that there is probably oxygen on some of these planets, and quite possible that life has developed on several of them. Is that what you see as well?”

Holmes shook his head. “No, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent!”

Unfortunately, most of us are more like Watson than Holmes. As a result the obvious is often obfuscated. We try so hard to impress, stick so steadfastly to our private agendas, and allow our biases and filters to color everything we see and hear that we ignore the simple truths that surround us. We over-complicate, over-analyze, and over-prescribe.

Rainmakers take a different approach. They delight in the simple and, even more important to their success, they delight in making the complex simple. That’s their secret — and the only wonder of it is that, as Holmes himself might say, it’s so elementary.

Phil Fragasso — March 3, 2008

I’ve never been a big fan of self-help books. They always strike me as preachy and self-indulgent. So I was decidedly skeptical when a good friend recommended Eckhart Tolle’s, “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.” Not only was it a spiritually oriented self-help book, it was — OMG — a selection of Oprah’s book club. It was two strikes and counting. But then I began reading, and a torrent of insights swept away my skepticism and captured my attention.

As a student of rainmaker marketing, I found much in Tolle’s book that related to creating and strengthening relationships with clients. In particular, I was struck by this passage:

“The ego may be clever, but it is not intelligent. Cleverness pursues its own little aims. Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected. Cleverness is motivated by self-interest, and it is extremely short-sighted. Most politicians and businesspeople are clever. Very few are intelligent. Whatever is attained through cleverness is short-lived and always turns out to be eventually self-defeating. Cleverness divides; intelligence includes.” (page 112)

Tolle’s words get to the key difference between traditional salespeople and true rainmakers. Salespeople use clever techniques — e.g., “smoke and mirrors” — to attract prospects and close sales. Rainmakers use their innate intelligence and market intelligence to create solutions that engage and benefit the audience.

Rainmaking is not about demonstrating how clever you are, but rather helping clients to live and work more intelligently. Cleverness is a shortcut and a monologue, while intelligence takes the higher road and nurtures a dialogue.

Clients may date cleverness, but they’ll marry intelligence.

Phil Fragasso — February 18, 2008