In the first installment of this article series ("What Makes a Rainmaker?"), we delved into the rainmaker's mindset, the foundation of his or her success. Now, we'll focus on the rainmaker's specific behaviors and actions-that is, what advisors actually do to become top producers. We'll also meet three highly successful advisors and learn how they've grown their businesses dramatically over the course of their careers.

The Fundamentals
Known for their strong work ethic, top producers execute a steady stream of activities and actions weekly, monthly, and annually. While their exact activities may change as their businesses grow, some fundamental activities remain constant.

Here are five of the most crucial items on a rainmaker's to-do list:

Focus on clients first. Top producers know that it's cheaper to keep a client than to bring on a new one. And the value of a client over a lifetime? Priceless. That's why, no matter what else they're doing, rainmakers always keep clients top of mind. Not only do they manage all of their clients' assets, they cross-position multiple products to clients, even if they do it via an arrangement with another advisor.

Generate referrals. Asking for referrals is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to grow a book of business. There are numerous best practices and approaches-too many to list here. Top producers develop their own unique approaches to inviting clients to be their advocates. And when they get a referral, they follow up immediately.

Network. Formally or informally, top producers network virtually all the time. They are constantly prospecting, whether it's through a sport, hobby, family event, volunteer activity, business venture-you name it. Unless rainmakers have a very specialized niche, virtually anyone they meet is a potential new client.

Market the business. Most rainmakers engage in some form of marketing, from sending periodic mail or e-mail messages to sponsoring events for clients and their guests. Over the last five years, small, informal gatherings seem to have edged out larger, formal seminars.

Make telephone calls. High-producing advisors capture spare minutes to stay in touch with clients, leads, centers of influence, and strategic alliances. All the while, they apply their well-honed active listening, relationship building, and selling skills, often without even thinking about it.

Long-Term Approaches
As their businesses grow, rainmakers' production activity shifts somewhat. Once they reach a certain revenue level, advisors become more selective about the new clients they target. They hire support staff to whom they can delegate tasks, allowing them to concentrate on the areas that truly require their time and attention. Sometimes, they "prune" smaller clients from their books of business.

At this point in their firms' development, top producers may supplement the fundamentals described above with additional activities designed to generate long-term revenue. While beneficial, these activities typically require years to come to fruition. But high-producing advisors know better than to expect immediate results. They adopt these approaches strategically, with an eye toward future growth.

For example, a rainmaker might:

Form strategic alliances and centers of influence. Depending on how it's deployed, this widely publicized strategy can result in a goldmine or a bust. Many top producers have found it to be a goldmine.

Acquire a book of business. Many-perhaps even most-advisors would love to buy a great book of business made up of recurring revenue from a select few clients. Few high-producing advisors actually do this.

Hire another producer. At some point, advisors realize that the only thing holding them back is the number of hours in the day. Building a multi-advisor firm comes with its share of headaches, but it can be profitable, for top producers, especially if the producer is already established with a book.

Embrace public relations. For advisors who aspire to be authors, speakers, or TV or radio personalities, a PR campaign can help, but it typically requires several years of consistent effort. Many who pursue this strategy happen to be rainmakers.

Staying Focused
No matter which activities they adopt, high-producing advisors focus on them intensely. They set clear goals, track their progress toward meeting those goals, and seek help from outsiders, such as friends, mentors, or training programs, to hold themselves accountable. As production increases, however, it's not uncommon for advisors to rest on their laurels. They may gradually stop doing the things that made them successful in the first place. (Think of the saying "It worked so well I quit doing it.")

The 20-point system. Many advisors rely on the 20-point system to help them stay focused. Here's how it works: You assign a point value to each of your fundamental revenue-generating activities. Then you determine the number of points you need to earn either each day or week (20 points, or another goal) and track your results on your calendar. As simple as it sounds, this system can be remarkably effective, prompting you to focus your energies on the activities that are most profitable for your business.

Remember, if you want to see production results, you must pursue activities that produce revenue. In general, the longer you pursue a revenue-generating activity, the greater the production. Likewise, keep in mind that high production may be cumulative. Top producers who start each year with a higher percentage of recurring revenue just keep adding to it.

Real-Life Rainmakers: Three Success Stories

Now that we have a general idea of what rainmakers do, let's look at some actual examples. Here, three successful producers share the steps they've taken to grow their businesses.

The advisor: Mark, age 50, in business for 25 years
The numbers: In five-year increments, Mark's production went from $40k to $75k to $135k to $300k to $700k.
How he did it: Mark attributes his revenue growth to two main factors: regular appearances on a radio show and hosting seminars. Seminars were a new and popular marketing activity when Mark launched his business, and they gave him a steady flow of prospects to follow up with. To that end, he developed a set of key activities: calling to schedule a first appointment, sending periodic marketing messages to attendees, and following up until the paperwork was signed. He repeated that process consistently for years.

But in the last 18 months, "things became stagnant and getting new clients was just too much work," Mark says. So he hired a junior advisor and bought a small book of 15 clients for him to concentrate on. Now, one of Mark's key activities is helping the junior advisor build upon the $40,000 he currently generates.

The advisor: Lisa, age 54, in the solo practitioner business for 25 years
The numbers: In five-year intervals, Lisa's production increased from $45k to $125k to $250k to $640k. Today, she's a repeat seven-figure producer.
How she did it: For Lisa, the catalyst for growth came during her sixth year in business, when she enrolled in a coaching program that held her feet to the fire. Through the program, she came to understand the value of writing down goals. She read motivational books, went to seminars, and listened to tapes. In short, she acknowledged that she had to go beyond doing what she always did if she wanted to be even more successful. That realization, as well as a strong support network, propelled her business's growth over the next two decades.

The advisor: Paul, age 43, in business for 21 years
The numbers: In five-year increments, Paul's production grew from $100k to $250k to $400k to $700k. Paul will hit seven figures for the first time this year.
How he did it: "The foundation for getting from zero to $400k was hard work, cold calling, and prospecting constantly," Paul says. Once he'd built a solid base, he added financial planning to his repertoire and shifted to asset gathering as opposed to transactional business. Another key: finding a partner with a different skill set than his own. While his rainmaking partner brought in the clients, Paul managed their assets and built an enduring relationship with them.

These days, Paul and his partner have replaced cold calling with referrals from clients and strategic alliances. Though his firm recently brought in $15 million from alliances referrals, Paul notes that it took a long time to build those relationships. "But," he says, "you only need two or three good ones to get results."

Finding The Rainmaker In You
Based on these advisors' stories, one thing is clear: there are as many roads to production success as there are advisors. What's yours?

Joni Youngwirth is the managing principal of practice management at Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, a registered investment adviser. She can be reached at [email protected].