Raintoday's Sales Tips & Techniques Podcast

Every consultant wants to form solid business partnerships with their clients, but many things can get in the way. Andrew Sobel, author of All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships, explains how to address some common challenges consultants face when trying to partner with their clients. Questions he addresses include:  How do you relate to clients as trusted advisors when you're an expert in your own business and not theirs?How do you move past the function executive to the executive who makes the buying decisions?How do you increase your skills at forming partnerships as well as the chance that you will?(Time: 11:26)

Many professional services firms see their competition winning new business by blogging, connecting on social networks, and launching podcasts and online videos. And they want to know, "How can I do the same?" Dana VanDen Heuvel, founder of the Marketing Savant Group, explains how firms can create a social media marketing strategy. Topics he addresses include what questions firms need to ask themselves and how firms should integrate a CRM system into their plans. (Time: 10:54) Interested in hearing more? Watch the full presentation with Dana.

Millions of business professionals have a LinkedIn profile. So how does a marketer tactfully and effectively use this resource? Jason Alba, author of I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What, explains the finer points of netiquette (Internet etiquette), the best way to build a list from your connections, and what your personal profile should look like (Time 08:32) Interested in hearing more? Watch Jason Alba's on-demand webinar.

The strategies for marketing and selling for professional services firms aren't that complicated. But getting the leaders together and choosing a strategy often is. In this podcast we look at what leaders can do to make change happen at their firms with Dr. John Kotter, professor of leadership at Harvard Business School and author of New York Times bestsellers A Sense of Urgency and My Iceberg Is Melting, as well as the world's most influential book on organization change, Leading Change. He says people fail to successfully make change not because they lack capability and intelligence, but because they simply haven't been through a lot of big changes. The good news is you can learn it. You can do it. You can make some remarkable things happen. You just have to think in a different way. (Time: 11:58)

In this episode, Andrew Sobel, author of the book All For One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships, reveals approaches to building long-term trusted partnerships with flagship clients—those key clients that provide a disproportionate share of revenue and profits. Andrew provides research-based strategies for individuals and institutions to develop these trusted partnerships and shares examples from his book. (Time: 14:29) Interest in Hearing More?: Reserve a seat a Andrew's upcoming RainToday.com webinar, From Vendor to Trusted Partner: Breakthrough Strategies for Developing Clients for Life.

In this episode, we talk about how your firm can transition from basing its fees on hourly rates to basing its fees on the value your firm delivers. Alan Weiss, author of the seminar book, "Value-Based Fees: How to Charge and Get What You're Worth," explains why firms should use value-based fees, how firms can start adopting them, and how to respond to client objections. (Time: 09:30) Interested in hearing more? Sign up for Alan's upcoming teleseminar, Getting Paid What You're Worth: How to Use Value-Based Fees at Your Firm, on Thursday, May 21.

Most people automatically say, "So, what do you do?" at networking events, but don't care what the answer is. Scott Ginsberg, "the authority on approachability," explains how to create a "soundbite" that will have people actually take interest in what you do. Listen as he offers tips to opening a whole new world of business opportunities, in this excerpt from Scott's recent webinar with Raintoday.com. (Time: 8:07 ) Hear the rest of Scott's advice by visiting the RainToday store and watching Scotts webinar Networking for New Business: 7 Ways for Becoming More Referable.

Everyone needs two or three people who will tell them the truth, who will push and encourage them, and who will hold them accountable. Everyone needs two or three people who are committed to their success. Yet, most people, when ask, "Who's got your back," aren't sure that anyone does, particularly in a professional context. Listen to this podcast with Keith Ferrazzi, bestselling author of Never Eat Alone and the forthcoming book Who's Got Your Back?, as he explains the keys to forming these vital relationships.   (Time: 14:21) Interested in hearing more? Reserve your online seat for Keith Ferrazzi's May 7 webinar, Through Thick and Thin: How to Build Relationships with People Committed to Your Success.

In this podcast interview with Scott Ginsberg, the authority on approachability, Scott discusses how to become more approachable, how to connect with people about their passion, and how to break through the barriers which stop us from initiating conversations. Becoming a more personable professional is vital. Clients choose service providers they like, and rarely those who only serve their needs. (Time: 13:31) Interested in hearing more? Register for Scott's upcoming webinar, Networking for New Business: 7 Ways to Become More Referable.

Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and Facebook have marketers abuzz. The tools can generate exposure for their firms, increase website traffic, and result in new business partnerships, but marketers still don't know how to best use them. Michael Stelzner, who just published the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, discusses how marketers can tell if social media is paying off, what they should think about before diving in, how much time they should invest in it, and much more. (Time: 11:09)

In an economic downturn many service firm leaders turn to marketing, and specifically brand building efforts, as the first place to cut. When in fact, your brand building activities (when done right) are the ones that can help generate leads, relationships, and trust—all key ingredients to winning new clients both in boom and in gloom. Listen as we talk about building up your brand in a downturn with Mike Schultz, the publisher of RainToday.com, president of Wellesley Hills Group, and co-author of the forthcoming book Professional Services Marketing. Specifically, we're going to revisit a Q&A session I had with Mike in a recent RainToday.com webinar. (11:40) Want to hear more? Become a RainToday.com member to watch our archive of on-demand webinar and one year of live events.

Where does a professional services practitioner, marketer, or salesperson start with all the social media out there? The choices can be overwhelming and many people choose to ignore the social media landscape altogether. We talk with Paul Dunay, author of the forthcoming book FaceBook Marketing for Dummies, and discuss what social networking is worthwhile and how to have a blog and content that is relevant. (Time: 08:53)

In professional services firms, the experiences we create for our clients plays a huge role in our ability to satisfy them, generate the return on investment they are looking for, and ensure they stay loyal clients. Listen to this episode as Peter Merholz, author of "Subject to Change" and president of Adaptive Path, explains what service firms can do to deliver valuable experiences to clients. (Time 13:49)

Most services firms want short-term leads, leads that are ready to buy now. In contrast, the best service firms focus on the 75% of leads that are long-term opportunities that take six months to two years to develop. It's not easy to do, but successful marketers do just that. In this podcast we talk with Dan McDade. Dan helps B-to-B companies fill their forecasts with qualified revenue opportunities as President of PointClear. Specifically, we revisit a questions-and-answer session we had with Dan in a recent webinar with Raintoday.com. (Time: 9:09)

If you're trying to sell a 1960s automobile in the next century, you have a very limited market. The same goes for firms trying to sell services which haven't adjusted to the realities of the current recession. Listen as Paul Collins, managing partner of Equiteq LLP, explains how to build a value proposition that sells in a recession, drawing from his vast experience helping consultancy owners improve their profit performance and realize equity value in their businesses.

A lot of people think "trust in business" is a little soft, a little oxymoronic, and a little odd. But it's not. It is an essential component of successful client relationships and a key element in winning over prospects. In this podcast, Charles H. Green, founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, breaks down how trust works in professional services, what the components of trust are, and how trusted advisors can reconcile that role with their responsibility to develop new business.

Lead nurturing is a highly-relevent topic nowadays with most firms struggling to win business in the current recession. Why? Roughly 75-percent of all leads are long-term opportunities that need nurturing. Listen as Dan McDade, founder and president of Point Clear, explains how the best firms focus on these opportunities by using meaningful, thoughtful, and enjoyable communications. Interested in hearing more? Attend Dan's upcoming RainToday.com webinar, Best Practices: 10 Actions to Immediately Improve Your Lead Nurturing Program.

If you're looking to create a culture of business development at your firm, you'll want to follow all six factors in the window into business development performance. Miss one of the factors for any reason and you'll severely limit your success. In part two of this two-part podcast, Mike Schultz, publisher of RainToday.com and president of Wellesley Hills Group, outlines factors #4-6 for creating a culture of successful business development performance. Be one of the rare service firms that focuses on all six factors and you'll need more people to get all of the new client billable work done. (Time: 7:30)

Lately, business development has been on the minds of service firm leaders, and for good reason: The recession has made firm leaders work extra hard to keep their firms' revenue flowing. So, how do you get the best business development results? Mike Schultz, president of Wellesley Hills Group and publisher of RainToday.com, believes there are six key factors. In the first part of this two-part podcast, Mike explains the first three of those factors: Expectations & Feedback, Tool & Resources, and Consequences & Incentives. (Length: 10:01)

This recession has spawned innumerable how-to-survive-a-down-economy pieces of advice: Focus only on the things that get you ROI and leads; focus on Internet marketing and cold calling; focus on relationships and networking; focus on your client base; build your brand. The list goes on. But, as Mike Schultz, publisher of RainToday.com and president of Wellesley Hills Group, explains, the one key insight you need to remember is that what has fundamentally changed isn't what you should do, it's what is happening inside the heads of firm leaders. (Time: 08:09)