A company that wants to substantially increase its sales revenue often hires an individual known as a rainmaker, one who uses his contacts to develop new business.

Whether it’s a law firm in need of new clients, a community organization in need of charitable funds or a print publication looking to increase its advertising income, a rainmaker can potentially cure whatever fiscal ailments confront a business.

“Some people are able to do it quite well,” said Brian Meltzer, managing partner of Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle LLC, in Schaumburg. “And some people, although they’re very good lawyers, don’t seem to be able to bring in business.”

Predispositions aside, the process of becoming a rainmaker does not happen over night.

“It’s a long process,” said Meltzer. “You’re always looking to do a piece of work for a potential new client.

“When you get that piece of work, you’ve got to be real sure you do a good job. If they like what you do, then they’re going to come back for more.”

Coming back for more is the key, which makes the quality of work so important.

“You could be the greatest salesman in the world,” Meltzer said. “But if you or your firm can’t deliver top-level work, you’re not going to keep the client.”

“Quality of work is huge,” said Annmarie Siwik, director of marketing for Naperville-based DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan & Johnson, Ltd. “I work with quality people and I always tell them that they make my job easy because they do such a good job.”

While doing a good job is important, understanding the many elements that comprise a rainmaker involves much deeper analysis.

“I think it’s probably as much expectations as it is quality of work,” said Bill Bartlett, owner and president of Corporate Strategies and Solutions in Naperville. “Many times, when people connect others, they connect them in the world of expected value. That just doesn’t work.

“For me it’s the issue of expectations for value added. Whenever I connect people, there’s a value-added element to it that I feel they’ll bring to the personal, as well as the professional segment of the individual I’m connecting them with.”

A potential rainmaker’s next priority is to build contacts.

“Get involved in the community,” said Siwik. “Then people meet you and you’re able to build relationships.”

Siwik is chair-elect for the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce and handles corporate sponsorship for Naperville’s Ribfest. She is also a Riverwalk commissioner and was formerly president of the West Chicago Chamber of Commerce.

“I get to meet and learn from a lot of great professional people, who in turn are willing to either refer clients to me or ask me about what we can do for them.”

When building contacts, it is important to recognize which contacts need to be cultivated more than others.

“I realize the importance of not just contacts, but centers of influence,” Bartlett said. “My focus through the years has been to always look for centers of influence, those people who can spider web into other areas and who know other people.

“The focus has been to find 10 centers of influence that will hub out into other centers of influence. A lot of my contacts recognize that it’s a two-way street, that as much they are a hub for me I become a hub for them. It’s mutually beneficial”

Once a person has developed his list of contacts, the next step is to begin building trust.

“Be responsive to your clients,” said Meltzer. “Build relationships with them where the client appreciates what you’re doing and they are proud to recommend you to other people.”

“Trust is built in two separate ways,” Bartlett said. “We look at trust like the Olympic rings: bronze, silver and gold. It has to be a gold level of trust where there’s some business intimacy there.

“Secondly, they have to see me as an advisor, not just a vendor trying to sell something. An advisor brings a lot of stuff to the party, other than his expertise.”

Choose DuPage, an economic development association for DuPage County, recently hired Mike Skarr, former president and CEO of the Naperville Chamber, as a rainmaker for its fundraising program.

“We’re a new organization, so we don’t have a funding base,” said Roger Hopkins, president and CEO of Choose DuPage.

“We thought Mike would be a good individual to bring in to help identify and develop business relationships with companies throughout DuPage County and help us get started with a fundraising effort.”

Skarr brings business credibility to Choose DuPage, as well as his extensive contact list developed through many years with the Naperville Chamber of Commerce, said Hopkins.

“I’ll be helping with the fundraising and investor relations part,” said Skarr. “That’s the role I intend to play, to have a little bit of carry-on capacity beyond the end of our official fundraising effort.”

Will the contacts he’s developed over the years be the basis for the fundraising effort?

“They certainly help,” Skarr said. “We’re not starting cold, let’s put it that way.”