How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start - Doug Fletcher

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      Mindset Shift One: Seeing ourselves as problem‐solvers instead of salespeople

      Some may see the distinction between calling us problem‐solvers versus salespeople as purely semantics. It is far more than this. It is a total mindset shift in the way we view the work we do as rainmakers. It's important to see our role as partners in a journey of helping solve important problems rather than selling services. Products may be sold by salespeople, but clients hire trusted advisors.

      Tim Nath is the operations practice director of Aspirant. Aspirant is a Pittsburgh‐based management consulting firm with approximately 100 employees. Like many of the senior professionals at Aspirant, Tim comes from an operating background. Tim shared with me that when he first entered consulting he was uncomfortable with selling:

      If I could go back in time, I would like to know that rather than going into a client with “Here's what I can sell,” it is really about “What problems do you have that I can help solve?” I'm an introvert by nature. It always rubbed me the wrong way to think about being in a “sales position.” But when I think about it as “I'm helping someone solve an important problem” – that's something that I can get on board with.

      There's an old adage in sales that goes: no one likes to be sold, but everyone loves to buy. This is to say that clients don't like pushy salespeople, but they welcome genuine help from trusted advisors who can help them solve problems and advance their goals.

      Wherever you land on the introversion/extroversion spectrum, I encourage you to follow the wisdom offered by the most successful rainmakers: whatever you do, don't call it selling.

      Dominic shares with us his thoughts on winning client business:

      Relationships with clients are critical. These relationships are based on trust… the way you've worked together…how you interacted together with people – that becomes the most critical thing.

      What are the implications of this if we're more inward‐looking than outgoing? Clearly, we need to know people and build our network of professional relationships – and this is where extroverts excel, right?

      There is hope for us introverts, because as we'll learn from Dominic, there is no one right way to build our personal networks. With over 25,000 employees, I'm guessing McKinsey has more than a few introverts in its mix. Dominic shared this:

      It's very important to build a professional network. I didn't realize this until I was five or six years in the firm. What is the approach you're gonna use to develop relationships with different people? There are many different ways of doing it.

      Dominic continued:

      That can be through knowledge. One of my mentors established a banking practice. All his client relationships came from what he wrote. He was not a guy who did cold‐calling. It was through his writing. He had perspectives on the industry, where it was going, what he thought needed to be done and how. And so his model was he wrote a lot. And through writing, he established a reputation and then a network. And he was always busy.

      This story is full of hope for many of us. Many writers lean toward the introverted side. We spend a lot of time reading, thinking, and writing about our perspectives on matters pertaining to our areas of interest.

      Writing, as Dominic's story suggests, is a form of networking – networking for introverts, a way of becoming friends with strangers. The author Pico Iyer once quipped, “Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.”

      Pico's sentiment is shared by Judy Selby, a partner in the New York law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Judy has over 25 years’ experience in complex insurance coverage litigation and international arbitration. Judy writes a lot for her target audience on the topics of cyber insurance and privacy, and she has found writing to be an effective way for her to build relationships with those she wishes to serve.

      Another example from Dominic Barton offers hope to those of us who don't shine at business happy hours:

      And there was another mentor of mine. He also wrote, but his approach was more personal. He used cold‐letter writing. He would think about transitions for new CEOs coming in – and these were people that he didn't know. And he would write the CEO and say, “I'd like to talk to you because I've got some news on what you might be thinking about, and I'd like to have a discussion.”

      Susan Cain, the author of Quiet, makes a point of differentiating between introversion and shyness. According to Cain, “Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shyness is the fear of social disapproval or humiliation, while introversion is the preference for environments that are not overstimulating.” I think this is an important observation. Some introverts are shy, but many are not. An example Cain offers is Bill Gates: “Bill Gates, who by all accounts keeps to himself, is unfazed by the opinions of others.”

      One last example from Dominic offers an approach that I think many of us will feel more comfortable with in building our personal network:

      It was probably when I was four or five years in Toronto and the office manager asked me to help with a hospital board. And I said, “Why are you doing this to me? I'm not even interested in healthcare.” And the office manager said, ‘Look, it's gonna be good for you. You've gotta learn. If you wanna be here for the long‐term, you've gotta understand how boards work and what CEOs have to deal with.

      I actually learned a lot about how boards work. And I got to know the board chairman really well, who turned out to be a leading business guy. And the chairman says to me one day, “Well, you know, you should come and talk to me about my business.” So, the office manager was exactly right. It was good for me. I learned how boards work. And I built a relationship with the chairman from the nonprofit board who eventually became a client of mine.

      Dominic's stories highlight the fact that there are many successful ways we can meet people whom we wish to serve. I have met many successful rainmakers who were introverts. I have also known many who were extroverted as well.

      The key to becoming a successful rainmaker is being true to our unique personality and choosing approaches that play to our strengths and preferences. Whether introverted or extroverted, our success as rainmakers begins with a desire to help others.

      1 Introversion/extroversion: Susan Cain. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Crown Publishers, 2012

      2 “Prof. Warren Susman, Rutgers Historian, Dies.” New York Times, April 22, 1984.

      3 Tim Nath story: Interview by How to Win Client Business research team, 2020.

      4 Dominic Barton story: Interview by How Clients Buy research team, 2017.

      5 Judy Selby quote: Interview by How to Win Client Business

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