Going back to Business 101, companies need revenue to be successful and, unless you operate a lifestyle business, companies require growth (especially publicly traded firms) to have long term viability.  Also unless you have a specific product or have intellectual property that doesn’t need to be broadly sold/marketed/distributed, revenue comes from selling and making “rain”.  There are numerous business and sales books on effective rainmaking and I am not going to delve into the psychology of effective selling.  It is clear that the easiest form of revenue generation is relationship selling.  Relationships are paramount to building a successful business whether it be client generation, raising capital, hiring resources, etc., because the people that know you and like you, know what you’re capable of and most importantly trust you.  I can’t say it enough – your relationships trust you because you have built some form of personal capital with them.

So why are so many executives, salespeople, marketing managers and others afraid to engage the people they know, trust and care about?  Quite honestly, I see they are out of their comfort zone and that makes them less confident and uneasy.  This reluctance and hesitation exists in my own firm.  I have some very talented executives who have yet to face that uneasy gene within themselves and embrace relationship selling.  The other interesting item is that many of you don’t realize who you really know.  You know many many more people than you think.  Even if someone within your inner circle can’t directly engage you, they may be a key influencer with dozens or even hundreds of others.

To truly grow a business, executives and other key resources need to embrace their fears and learn to make an uncomfortable experience more routine.  You may feel uneasy at first, but once you fly out of the nest and embrace those who know you and trust you most, your companies will be positioned for exceptional growth because you will have built a rainmaking and sales engine.