A rainmaker is the person at a firm who consistently brings in new clients. At most professional services firms, that's a short list: the founder and a few senior partners.
That's a risk, and it's also a waste. Your junior staff talk to clients and other professionals every week. Almost none of those conversations turn into leads, because nobody ever showed them how.
I've seen the alternative. You can build a firm where associates drive new business, senior people stop carrying the whole load, and junior staff become far more valuable. It doesn't take 20 years of experience or an outgoing personality. It takes a system.
Why firms depend on partners for new business
The usual story goes like this. Referrals just happen. They go to the people with the name, the years and the network, which means senior staff.
That story is half true. Senior people do get more referrals. But it leaves out the reason: they've had years to build relationships on purpose or by accident. Nothing about it is magic, and nothing about it requires 20 years. Referrals are a result of relationships, and relationships can be started by anyone, on a schedule, with guidance.
The conventional wisdom is incomplete. Junior staff with the right guidance can drive new business.
You don't need experience or an extrovert
You don't need 20 years in the business to become a rainmaker, and you don't need to be an extrovert. You need a system.
Most firms never invest in building a system to generate referrals. They send an associate to a networking event, often the wrong one, and tell them to "get out there." Nobody tracks who the associate met, and there's no plan to follow up with those people. Six months later the firm wonders why nothing happened. That's not a talent problem. Nobody told the associate who to talk to, what to say, or what happens after they say it.
What this looks like in real life
At my last company, seoplus+, we received leads from more than 20 staff members. That included brand new employees and people in their 20s.
What made it work wasn't heroics. It was three simple things:
Awareness
General awareness of what a good lead looks like.
Guidance
Encouragement and guidance to network and keep an eye out for leads.
Accountability
A bit of accountability, so someone checks in.
When the expectations were clear and someone checked in, finding leads started to feel easy.
The system: the 4-step referral partner framework, built for associates
This is where I use the same framework we use for referral partner programs at TRRUST. It has four steps: Playbook, Recruit, Nurture and Measure. The firm runs the program. The associates do the relationship-building inside it.
Playbook
The firm decides who it's going after and what associates are expected to do.
Recruit
Start with relationships and invitations, not strangers.
Nurture
A monthly touchpoint with every partner, never missed.
Measure
Log every introduction, track it, thank it, report it.
Step 1 · Playbook: build the strategy
Before anyone makes a call, the firm decides what it's going after. Who are our best clients? Who else serves those clients at a different point and doesn't compete with us? For a law firm that might be accountants, bankers and business brokers. For an engineering firm, it might be architects and contractors. Pick up to five ideal partner profiles, decide how the firm will thank partners, and write down what an associate is expected to do.
Give each associate a short list of people to talk to first: their own contacts, the firm's existing clients, and current partners. Almost every firm has referrals sitting unclaimed in those relationships.
If you're a senior person at the firm, lead this yourself. Sit down with your junior staff and help them see the value in relationships. Make it clear this is for them. The network they build now will help their careers for decades, long after any single file or project is done.
The free Referral Partner PlaybookThe full framework, with the worksheets to build your firm's ideal partner profiles and associate expectations. Get the playbook →
Step 2 · Recruit: start with relationships, not strangers
Associates shouldn't cold call their way to rainmaker status. Cold outreach asking someone to be a referral partner asks for a favour before earning one. What works is inviting people to something: a lunch, an event, a small roundtable. An invitation is a reason to reach out that flatters the person instead of asking them for anything, and it gets you in a room together.
Networking events aren't the only way in, and for many associates they aren't the best one. An associate who hates working a room might be a better fit for one-on-one lunches, or for creating useful material and sharing it with colleagues in their industry.
Introverts often won't go to a networking mixer, but they'll gladly put together a presentation for an association event. Speaking, writing a short guide or booklet, or publishing regular content all build the associate's reputation as an expert. Then the right people come to them.
Invitations
Lunches, small events and roundtables. A reason to reach out that asks for nothing.
One-on-one lunches
For associates who would rather have one good conversation than twenty short ones.
Speaking
A presentation at an association or industry event puts them in front of a room as the expert.
Content
A short guide, booklet or regular posts that colleagues pass along.
Step 3 · Nurture: stay top of mind
Most programs don't fail on strategy. They fail in month four, when nothing seems to be happening yet. Nurturing is the fix, and it needs a simple system behind it.
Start with one list of everyone each associate is building a relationship with. A spreadsheet works. A CRM is better. Set a monthly reminder to follow up with every person on it, then pick the format that fits the size of the list.
One-to-many
A simple monthly newsletter and an event calendar keep everyone in the loop at once.
One-to-one
Personal emails, calls and invitations, every month.
Make the follow-up a habit and never miss it.
This is also the step that gives junior staff a long-term advantage. The partners they build now keep sending work for years.
Step 4 · Measure: track it, reward it, report it
Log every introduction in one place, follow it through until it becomes a client or doesn't, and thank the person who sent it. Then look at the numbers once a month. If you want associates to treat this as part of the job, measure it like part of the job.
What to review each month
- People sending referrals: how many contacts sent at least one referral this month.
- Open referrals: introductions that haven't turned into a client yet, and who's following up on each.
- New business from referrals: revenue from clients who came through a referral.
What this does for the firm and for the associates
Everyone wins. Senior staff aren't relied on as the only source of new business. Junior staff become more valuable to the firm and build a book of relationships that grows with their careers. And the firm stops being one retirement away from a pipeline problem.
No longer the only source of new business.
More valuable to the firm, with a book of relationships that grows with their careers.
No longer one retirement away from a pipeline problem.
Frequently asked questions
What is an associate rainmaker?
An associate rainmaker is a junior or mid-level professional who regularly brings in new clients through referrals and relationships, instead of leaving all business development to senior partners.
Can junior staff really generate leads?
Yes. At seoplus+, more than 20 staff members sent us leads, including brand new employees in their 20s. The difference was awareness, guidance and accountability.
Do associates need to be extroverted to bring in business?
No. The system doesn't rely on working a room or cold calling. Invitations, a monthly touchpoint and a tracked follow-up can all be done by someone who's quiet.
The takeaway
It's easier than most firms think to turn your associates into rainmakers. You just need to follow the system, or hire someone like TRRUST to manage it for you. For the full version, read the referral program guide, or see how we work with professional services firms.
Get the free Referral Partner Playbook, or talk to TRRUST about running the program for your firm.