#287 Unpacking the DNA of "Rainmakers" with Global Business Leaders Neil Plumridge & Robert Nason (EY, Kearney, PwC)

Rainmakers are made through daily habits, trust and a clear point of view

Winning big consulting work now depends on trusted relationships combined with a sharp point of view, rather than waiting for briefs. The authors of Rainmakers drew on interviews with about 50 partners and managing directors to argue that this skill is learned through daily habits and not talent. Trust is built in levels, and few advisers reach the top level where clients share their full agenda.

Takeaways

• Most big consulting deals now start with consultant-led origination. Neil Plumridge and Robert Nason say most work today begins when a consultant pitches a point of view, or when a major event such as a leadership change or cyber incident opens the door. Clients rarely tell firms what they want.
• Relationships come first, point of view second. Robert argues a point of view only lands when a relationship already exists. The old boot camp approach to business development no longer works. Pushing a view so hard it becomes selling is a common mistake.
• Trust has five levels, and few reach the top. Neil says trust is not binary. At the top levels clients open their whole agenda to an adviser. For senior people with access to boards and CEOs, he says 99.9 percent of people lack that level of trust.
• Rainmakers are made through consistent practice. Robert argues rainmaking is developed through routines anyone can follow. Rainmakers avoid the boom-bust cycle of business development by doing it every day and every week. Networking is framed as service rather than selling.
• Connection comes before content. Neil's Mumbai client took him by motorbike to the phone markets, which taught him that personal connection matters before any content. Carelessness, such as small errors, is another way advisers lose client trust.
• A repeatable idea can be sold many times. A telco cost-reduction project from about 25 years ago was branded next generation cost reduction and sold about 14 times around the world. Branding a point of view lets one piece of work become many deals.
• AI will reshape consulting and its buyers. Robert says the CIO is no longer the sole technology decision maker. On one client's AI transformation joint venture, 11 consulting firms were exited from the contract. He also opposes fluffy language and long decks.