From Rookie to Rainmaker

There are not many true rainmakers relative to all sales people. Real rainmakers are making rain, enjoying nice incomes and probably not looking for jobs. Practically speaking, we are going to be searching for potential rainmakers, someone with the right frame of mind, the right personality and a willingness to learn.

There are four general categories from rookie to rainmaker: rookie (emerging), salesperson, consultant and rainmaker. We can discover where a person is in this continuum based on four criteria: their intent, their focus, their relationship and their approach to value.

Intent
Understanding a salesperson's intent when approaching a deal is the first criteria. Is there objective:

• just to be considered for the deal?
• to make a sale?
• "own" the relationship with the department?
• "own" the relationship with the company

Focus
Next we want to understand the salesperson's focus in a deal. Are they focused on the product, the customer, the competition or the customer's customer?

Then we want to understand the relationship they want to achieve with the prospect. Do they want:

• a casual relationship?
• a relationship of trust?
• a mutually beneficial relationship?
• a symbiotic relationship?

Value
Finally, we have to answer the value question. Where does our candidate try to build her value:

• Based on the features of the product?
• Based on our "solutions?"
• Based on the prospects business?
• Based on a strategic direction?

Understand the relationships of this criterial like this:

Behavior	Emerging	Salesperson	Consultant	Rainmaker
Intent	Consideration	Make Sale	"Own" Department	"Own" Company
Focus	Product	Customer	Competition	Customer's Customer
Relationship	Casual	Trust	Mutual Benefit	Symbiotic
Value	Features	Solutions	Business	Strategic Direction