As promised the enrollment to Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling has closed down briefly so we can focus our attention on the current group. We'll be opening enrollment again later in 2010.
Join the early notification list to be among the first to be invited to enroll in the next session:
>>>Click here to get on the early notification list.
You'll be the first in line when we open the doors again. Plus, we'll send you a copy of the Selling Consulting Services Report: Forget Everything You Know About Sales and Begin to Sell Without Selling along with other sales tips via email absolutely FREE!
You Can Still Bring in a Flood of New Clients
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We know you didn’t become a consultant so you could spend your days selling. But the world of consulting has changed considerably in recent years. It’s the rare professional who is not required to do business development. Either you’re in a firm that can no longer rely on one or two Rainmakers to hunt and provide for everyone else or you’re a solopreneur and if you don’t bring in new business, no one else will. Every one of us must become involved in growing the firm.
But the thought of having to sell makes you anxious, distressed, and uneasy. You love what you do, but not this part.
We’re here to tell you that you’re not alone. You’ve actually got A LOT of company. In conversation after conversation as we work with clients, conduct seminars, and network with colleagues, we hear the same comments from consultants just like you:
- I didn't become a consultant so I could be a salesperson.
- Selling gets in the way of building strong, trusting relationships.
- I'd rather just provide my clients with great value and let word of mouth do the rest.
- I never used to have to do marketing and selling.
- My clients won't respect me if I try to sell more to them.
- I don’t have time to sell.
- Selling conflicts with my values as a professional.
- I wasn't trained to sell. I don't know what I'm doing, and I am afraid I will look foolish. Everyone will see me fail.
- I just don't have it in my genes. I am not one of those used-car sales guys.
- I don't want to sound too "salesy."
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Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling has given me greater confidence and comfort with selling my services. The program structure and tools are logical and practical, and have helped me learn how selling can be a natural extension of who I am and what I have to offer. Additionally, it allows me to go at my own pace, which given an already busy schedule is a huge plus. This program is really enjoyable and valuable.
Yes, you're uncomfortable with selling, but you can do it. You can surpass your “best case scenario” sales goals, and you can have a successful, growing practice…all without having to be the least bit “salesy.”
The One Secret Every Consultant Needs to Know about Selling
We’re going to let you in on a little secret: As a consultant, you already hold the keys to revenue growth and practice success. The same skills that make you a great consultant are the ones you need to dramatically increase your business – all you need to do is sharpen them and apply them effectively.
That’s right. Get rid of the sleazy sales tactics and mental images of used car salesmen – those don’t belong in consulting sales. (Are those sighs of relief I’m hearing?)
Think about it. When you deliver services to your clients you ask questions. You provide expert opinions. You work hard. You’re accessible. You build creative solutions. You deliver what you say you are going to deliver. You develop relationships. You act with your clients’ best interest in mind. You introduce clients to new ideas, helping them see a better way.
That is exactly what you need to do to become successful in sales. It is not about persuading someone to buy something they don’t need. It is about helping clients and prospects find solutions to their needs and about providing value.
No matter how you look at it, consulting is a sales business.
Are you ready to start bringing in a predictable flow of profitable new clients?
You went to school to be a consultant. Your training and experience make you a subject matter expert. You didn’t come up through the marketing and sales ranks. This makes marketing your practice, generating new leads, and winning new clients among the hardest things for consultants to do. You don’t have the tools, resources, and knowledge to be successful in sales and don’t know where to begin. This often leads to spinning your wheels and wasting your time, frustrated because you know that you could be getting much better results.
In Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling you will quickly and easily learn how to apply the same skills that make you a great consultant to your selling efforts, making sales more comfortable and more successful. The program is composed of tools and strategies that have been field-tested and proven to work for consultants by consultants. We’ll walk you step-by-step through the RAIN Selling process – a methodology designed specifically for selling consulting and professional services – and equip you with the practical how-to information and tools you need to fill the pipeline with qualified opportunities, win more new business, and command higher fees for your consulting services.
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In Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling you’ll discover:
- How to keep the front end of the pipeline full with qualified prospects while maintaining your practice with active clients
- Step-by-step how to lead masterful sales conversations in any situation
- The real deal with objections and how to overcome them (often it’s not what you think)
- Follow-up techniques that turn prospects into clients
- The 4 things to do when clients pressure you for lower fees
- 3 keys to developing a winning value proposition and describing complex services in a non-technical way to get prospects excited about you and your services
- Questioning strategies and techniques that allow you to uncover the full set of needs and provide maximum value
- How to make the business impact of your services clear so you can sell more with less buyer resistance
- Why buyers want to pay more for your services
- Your step-by-step guide to creating proposals that win
- How to bring in a predictable flow of profitable new clients
Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling is designed specifically for consultants. When it comes to business development and what works to generate new clients in the consulting profession, the factors that make you successful are simply different from your corporate counterparts. You'll learn what will really make a difference to bring in new business and grow your practice.
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Here’s What You'll Learn to Help You Get New Business Now
Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling is an online module-based training program designed to give you every last piece of the puzzle so you can more confidently and successfully sell your consulting services.
Our step-by-step program will put you firmly in charge of your future, giving you a proven, research-based framework you can rely on to grow your practice.
Through our proprietary research, including How Clients Buy Professional Services, Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry and What’s Working in Lead Generation for Professional Services, along with our experience working with thousands of consultants to help them grow their firms, we’ve cracked the code of selling consulting services. We'll share the levers that will allow you to win more deals and command higher fees.
We’ll immerse you in the RAIN Selling process to provide you with the tools you need to succeed. The program is self-paced, meaning that you control the pace with which you complete the training. Some participants follow our pace as we release the lessons (once a week) while others find that they get busy with clients or want to spend more time on a particular topic. We designed the program so you can go at your own pace knowing that the knowledge, tools, and process you need to ramp up your selling are there for you when you’re ready. Here are the 6 core modules that are a part of Selling Consulting Services and what you’ll learn in each.
Module 1: Key Concepts of Selling Consulting Services
So you didn’t start your career in consulting to become a salesman. However, at some point you realized that either to advance in your career or to break off and start your own consulting practice you need to be able to bring in your own book of business. You find your job is no longer just about delivering your expert services. Now you need to sell, market, and manage people. (Oh, and you’re still expected to deliver great client service.) You didn’t learn how to do this in school. You’re not prepared for this. Not yet…
In this module, we’ll cover:
- The unique dynamics of selling consulting services and why what most sales training programs teach you won’t work for consulting businesses
- How the skills that make you a great consultant are the same skills you need to be great at selling
- How sales and marketing work together to grow a consulting business
- The most common sales mistakes consultants make (according to buyers of consulting services) and how to fix them
- How we grew Wellesley Hills Group from zero to a multi-million-dollar consulting firm (we’ll share our secret sauce)
- Why your clients want to pay more for your services
Module 2: Who are You and How Do You Help Your Clients?
Developing a Value Proposition that Sells
All good business development starts with knowledge of your client. How do you help your clients? What value do you deliver? How can you communicate this value to clients and prospects in a memorable and enticing way? In this module you’ll learn:
- 3 keys to developing a winning value proposition
- How to introduce yourself to prospects in a memorable way
- How to identify the true value of your services and how to articulate it
- Strategies to capitalize on the benefits you provide clients
- How to describe and build enthusiasm for hard-to-describe services
- How to uncover the hot buttons that drive clients to hire you, and keep buying
Module 3: The RAIN Selling Process: From First
Conversation to Close – Your Roadmap to Sales Success
For sales success you must have a process to follow. But not just any process will work for selling consulting services. You face a long sales cycle, you’re selling high-ticket, high-end services, and after the sale you have to work with the client. RAIN Selling is a proven, research-based methodology designed specifically for selling consulting services and the unique challenges you face. We’ll teach you how to sell without selling – making conversations with prospects more comfortable and more successful.
Module 3 is packed with content because there’s a lot to cover. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll learn:
- 5 essential tips to building real rapport and trust with clients and prospects
- Questioning techniques that uncover the full set of your clients’ needs while at the same time convincing the prospect that you’re the one to help them
- How to use stories and the concept of “social proof” to bring the conversation to life and get prospects excited
- What you need to know (and what you need to prepare) before every sales call
- How to balance advocacy and inquiry in your sales conversations to not only uncover needs, but to build trust, share your expertise, and make the deepest connections
- 4 ways to respond when your prospect says, “Your fees are too high” that will get you closer to the sale
- Strategies for unseating an incumbent service provider
- What to say at your next sales meeting
- How to identify, and get in front of, the economic buyer
- What to do when the prospect goes dark and stops returning your calls
- The real deal on objections – why objections are a good thing and how to handle them
Module 4: Crafting Winning Solutions and Closing the Deal
You’ve uncovered needs, you’ve developed great rapport with the prospect, you’re sure you can help them accomplish their goals. Now it’s time to develop the solution, present, and close the deal. Much selling success is determined here. In this module we’ll cover:
- How to avoid the most common proposal mistake (it may surprise you)
- How to move away from selling time for money and garner higher fees by selling value
- How to show you understand your prospects’ challenges and demonstrate that you have the best solution
- How to present the value of your services in a way that allows you to charge and get premium fees
- What it takes to win the deal
- Strategies for winning competitive deals down the stretch
- Tips for mastering the close
- How to write winning proposals that beat the competition regardless of price
Module 5: Filling the Pipeline with Qualified Leads
Buyer attention spans are short, decision makers are hard to reach, there’s 100 times more noise and clutter than just a few years ago, and it takes more than networking, referrals, and repeat business to maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified leads.
Module 5 gives you smart strategies to start filling the pipeline, including:
- 3 keys to identifying profitable prospects
- How to get in front of hard-to-reach C-level decision makers
- How to choose the strategies and tactics that are right for you and how to successfully implement them
- How to connect with prospects who are avoiding you
- How to identify big fish, catch their attention, and determine the timing of their need for your services
- Cold calling dos and don’ts
- Secrets to lead nurturing and staying top of mind without being a pest
- All of the tips and techniques we’ve learned over the years to generate a steady flow of new leads
Module 6: Planning for Success
All’s for naught if you don’t have a plan and hold yourself accountable to it. In this module, we’ll give you the tools you need to set goals and develop your personal business development plan leading to success. We’ll cover:
- What every consultant needs to know to stop making excuses and start selling
- How to build and sustain your hustle, passion, and intensity for selling
- A tactical plan for what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it
- How to balance client delivery and selling
- A Sales Call Planner you can use to prepare for every sales conversation
- 3 keys to ongoing sales success
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Going Beyond Theoretical: Your Roadmap to Consultative Sales Success
Every one of these strategies has been tested, refined, and proven to work by consultants just like you. You’ll get practical, implementable strategies that will have a profound impact on your ability to sell. This program stays away from the theoretical “looks good on paper” plans and provides you with a proven process that has worked for thousands of consultants, allowing them to bring in a steady flow of new business.
Couldn’t I figure this all out on my own?
Sure, you’ve read about various strategies before and maybe even know what you need to be doing, but you just haven’t done it or have had limited success. You could spend years trying one thing after another, spinning your wheels, and making mistakes until you figure out what works. Unfortunately you’ll end up missing out on hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars than you would have had you invested in Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling, greatly delaying your success.
Or, you could sign up for the program and benefit from learning from the mistakes we’ve seen hundreds of consultants make, our decades of experience, and all of our hard work. We’ll provide you with proven tips and the tools and worksheets you need to translate these ideas into action. And if you’re still stuck, just venture into the forums and our instructors are here to help get you moving.
Why spend years trying to figure it all out on your own when we’re going to hand you the process and tools in this course?
I don’t have time to sell, how will I find the time for this program?
You may be thinking, "I don’t have time to market and sell. How am I going to find the time for this program?" You need to work on client projects and can’t spend all day building a book of business. The truth of the matter is we all have only 24 hours in a day. In that time, some people are building tremendously successful seven-figure practices while others are fretting about not having one themselves…and not doing what they can to make it happen. This program will make you more efficient with the time you have and help you reach your practice growth and career goals.
We built Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling knowing that as a consultant, you wear many hats and don’t have the luxury of having sales as your only job. We’ll teach you how to spend your precious selling time more effectively and efficiently, utilizing the same skills that make you a great consultant. It's only by investing now that you'll reap the rewards of more and better clients tomorrow.
Or, you could do nothing and continue to get the same results you’ve always gotten:
- You grow to a certain point, and once referrals run dry growth stagnates
- Clients keep pushing back on your fees
- Sales cycles drag on for months…years
- Your pipeline never fills to the level you’d like
- You lose clients and prospects to competitors
- You remain in the same position in your career indefinitely
- You struggle to establish and maintain differentiation from the thousands of other consultants
- You suffer from the revenue rollercoaster, always wondering where the next client will come from and when
- You stand by and watch while your competitors land the clients you want, charge premium fees, attract the best talent, and grow faster than you
If you don’t do it now, you’ll never find the time – there’s always a good excuse not to sell.
Why Listen to Us?
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The instructors of Selling Consulting Services with RAIN Selling have helped thousands of consultants sell more and command higher fees for their services. We are the authors of Professional Services Marketing, a book that outlines how to grow a consulting business; leaders of RainToday.com, the largest publication that exists dedicated to helping consultants market and sell their services; and senior leaders of Wellesley Hills Group, a strategy, marketing, and business development consulting firm that works exclusively with consulting and professional services firms helping them bring in more new business. We'll share the insights gained through proprietary research we’ve conducted, including How Clients Buy, Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry and What’s Working in Professional Services Lead Generation. We’ve also grown our own consulting business from zero to a multi-million-dollar firm in just a few years and have been named to Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest growing companies in America. |
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Mike Schultz, Co-president of Wellesley Hills Group, is a world-renowned expert in selling consulting services. He sold his first mid-six-figure deal at age 22, grew a practice of a major consulting firm 800%, and has grown his own consulting firm into a multi-million-dollar company. Mike is also the Publisher of RainToday.com, the largest online content resources for marketing and selling consulting services in the world with 75,000 subscribers; is on the faculty in the Marketing Division at Babson College; and is the author of over 100 articles, white papers, and other publications focused on selling and marketing services, including the groundbreaking book Professional Services Marketing (Wiley, 2009) with co-author John Doerr. John Doerr, Co-president of Wellesley Hills Group and co-author of Professional Services Marketing, has spent 30 years leading the revenue growth of consulting and professional service organizations. As Senior Vice President of Sales at the American Management Association, John was responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. John has taught thousands of consultants and professionals how to sell consulting services with RAIN Selling both through open-enrollment programs and in-house. John’s clients include Monitor Group, DHL Consulting, 3COM, PRTM, Point B, BDO, Harvard Business School, London Business School, Navigant Consulting, The Saint Consulting Group, Stroud Consulting, and many others. |
What Do I Get?
As a part of this program, you’ll receive:
- Over 25 Training Lessons: This is an online self-paced learning program. A new lesson will be released every single week over the course of 4 months until you complete the 6 core modules. Lessons are designed to not only give you the core concepts of the topic, but to also provide you with the specific how-to information you need to go from understanding to action. Lessons are delivered in text, video, and MP3 audio for your convenience and learning preference.
- Worksheets, Tools, Checklists, and Homework Assignments: Yes, we know professionals like homework about as much as 10-year-olds do, but building your practice requires some hard work on your end. You can’t learn to ride a bike by reading a manual. You also can’t learn to sell by reading about selling. You must do it. Following each lesson, assignments will be available for you to download and complete – these include worksheets, checklists, templates, and exercises that will help you immediately apply the learnings to your sales practices.
- Your Personal Business Development Planner: New lessons and assignments are released each week. The sequence allows you to absorb the key takeaways from each lesson and complete the assignments before moving on. It is important to complete each assignment before moving to the next. You will begin to apply the concepts and learning to your sales process immediately. And if you follow our pace, you’ll be through the entire course in just 4 months, equipped with the tools you need to create your own personal business development plan.
- Monthly Teleseminars with Instructors: One of the cornerstones of this program includes regular teleseminars to work through issues and problems as they arise. We’ll dig into issues you face in selling your consulting services and provide specific feedback and suggestions for your situation.
- Stories, Examples, and Role-Plays: Each module includes stories, examples, and role-plays such as, True Confessions of a Sales Expert, where you’ll hear real-world successes and failures in selling consulting services. This allows you to see how these techniques work in real prospect situations.
- Online Community of Like-Minded Consultants: You’re not going through this alone. Most consultants face the same challenges you do when selling their consulting services. Within Selling Consulting Services forums, we’re building a community of learning where you can network with other members, share challenges and successes, and learn from your peers.
- Expert Feedback from Those Who Have Been There: The course instructors are active participants in the forums and provide expert feedback to help you overcome your challenges.
If you choose this option, your subscription will expire 30 days from the last payment. Any amounts paid prior to your cancellation will not be refunded.