The Rainmaker's Toolkit: Power Strategies for Finding, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Clients [Hardcover]

Harry Mills (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2004

An easy-to-follow road map for building a high-profit practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The CEO Refresher (www.refresher.com): "This is the new bible for professional service firms and is one of the best books of the year."

Book Description

An easy-to-follow road map for building a high-profit practice.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (March 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814472168
• ISBN-13: 978-0814472163
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brings a new meaning to the word "exhaustive", February 2, 2008

By 

Mike (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Rainmaker's Toolkit: Power Strategies for Finding, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Clients (Hardcover)

At 285 pages, this is one of the most densely-packed business books you'll ever own. Much of the information is delivered to you in the form of steps, lists, bullet points...author Harry Mills wastes no time on sweet-talking you into doing these things. There's an assumption that you're reading the book because you want to make rain, period.

Some of the things won't happen overnight. Some of them might not happen at all. Example: the sections on publishing. With focus and determination, you can start your own blog, get articles published on the Web, and approach your local newspapers.

But when you get to page 48 and read about how "it's not uncommon for a busy professional to pay skilled host writers more than $100,000 to transform their ideas into readable prose" and "A successful book can turn you into a celebrity and launch a high profit speaking career. Getting a book on the New York Times bestseller list typically allows an author to charge $15,000 to $25,000 a day as a celebrity speaker," understand this:

The odds are stacked against you, especially in the modern era of publishing, that you are going to be one of those authors or that you will be pulling down $25K per day as a "celebrity speaker." If you pour 110% of your energy and focus into that goal, 24/7, you're still facing a big "maybe."

So...as with every business book that's currently available to you...the challenge with this book will be selecting the items you can turn into action today, the ones that will move you forward today, while slowly chipping away at the bigger long-term goals.

That's where a lot of people make a fatal mistake, fail, get discouraged, and quit. There's more information in this book than most people would conceivably turn into action items. There's a winning mix for you, but you must read the book, pick the items you are willing to commit yourself to, form a plan, work the plan, and stay focused.

Otherwise you'll join the ranks of people who bought a book, read it, put it back on the shelf, and returned to all of the things they were doing before they read the book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book for the Service Provider, March 11, 2004

By 

Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rainmaker's Toolkit: Power Strategies for Finding, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Clients (Hardcover)

If you provide a service, this is a must-read --- especially if you don't have a lot of background in how to develop your business and how to get and keep the best clients.

It is, however, not just for people new to this sort of thing. It is an excellent manual for those who have been in business a long time.

Some of the material may be old hat. But there are gems in the book which make it worth the price and worth your time. It is written in a similar vain of Harry Beckworth books, which are very popular.

The book is a fast-read and well laid out.

Highly recommended.

Susanna K. Hutcheson
Executive Copy Director/Owner
Powerwriting.com LLC

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars professional service firm tool, April 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rainmaker's Toolkit: Power Strategies for Finding, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Clients (Hardcover)

Professional service firms are notoriously poor at marketing.The odd dynamics of partnerships as a business model coupled with the idiosyncracies of individuals within them make marketing hardwork. How do you get all partners to buy-in? What strategies do you use to make everyone an effective contributor? Harry Mills latest book cuts straight to the chase. Straight forward practical procedures. We are using them and they are working.As the principal of a mid-sized responsible for marketing I highly recommend this book to other lawyers and professional service firms.