In the twenty or more years I've been involved in professional services BD, the all time easiest way to win work has been for someone else to give it to you....willingly, frequently and happily. And I'm not only talking about repeat clients here. In fact I'm specifically thinking of internal referrers. You know the ones - the rainmakers - the people on the 'other' floor who seem to hold the keys to the best board rooms, know the senior executives of the best clients and never seem to run short of new, exciting projects they're working on. So how do you get in on the action?
Rainmakers can make either Passive or Active referrals. They’re Passive if they’re responding to a client inquiry or problem that has arisen during the normal course of their interactions. Active referrals happen when the rainmaker thinks you have a good idea, concept, special talent or quality solution that might benefit a client.
So if a rainmaker receives a Passive inquiry, i.e., the client raises the request or identifies a problem, why would the rainmakers in your business remember you specifically? Would you be the first person they think of? How would they describe you to a third party? What do they think you have to offer?
Make this clear for them...what is your best talent? Pick something and bang on about it. It might be you love contentious matters. It might be you pride yourself on your grasp of some particularly challenging technical area of the law/engineering/accounting landscape. It might be you have a deep understanding of the retail industry. I coached someone last week who was really proud of their ability to hit budget on a matter. Whatever these traits may be, advertise them.
So let’s now say the client hasn’t raised a specific need with your rainmaker. What then? If you want to have an Active conversation with a client, what would you say to them? What would be the most thoughtful and engaging idea/problem-solution/ prognostication you can come up with that would be relevant to your target audience? Offering this interesting topic or point of view to the internal rainmaker as a worthwhile conversation to have with a particular client makes it easier for them to relay this (sell this) to the client.
My final tip is to know who is your 'perfect' client. If you don't have a clear idea about who it is, then how is a rainmaker supposed to know when they are freely networking? Making it clear to anyone that will listen the type of client that suits you best, that you would service impeccably, that would be thrilled with your specific set of talents, is another step to an internal referral.
The KISS principle applies here. Simplify the reason/s you think a rainmaker should allow you to access their networks, and they might just open the doors to that boardroom for you.