Ted McKenna

There is a growing problem in professional services that is often acknowledged but rarely discussed openly: clients—even long-standing ones for whom firms have delivered unquestioned value in the past—are much less loyal to firms and partners than they once were.

Today’s clients are far less likely to choose a partner or firm with which they have a pre-existing relationship, even a long-standing one. For the vast majority of partners, this dramatic shift in client buying behavior spells trouble: the traditional business development approaches they’ve long relied on have not just become unproductive, they’re now counter-productive to the goal of building a healthy, sustainable book of business.

But top performers have figured out a different, surprising approach that is redefining what it means to be a rainmaker in today’s professional services market. Based on the world’s first in-depth, quantitative study of professional services partners, The Rainmaker Genome Project identifies five statistically-defined types of partners—Experts, Confidants, Activators, Debaters and Realists—and shows how and why only one these partner profiles–Activators–are able to drive consistent growth in the modern client buying environment. The Rainmaker Genome Project provides the roadmap for any professional services partner or firm leader looking to chart a path to greater client retention, revenue growth and firm profitability in the new era of client disloyalty.