The Activator Advantage: What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently

by Matthew Dixon, Rory Channer, Karen Freeman, Ted Mckenna

Overview

The groundbreaking approach used by today's best professional service partners to win, retain, and grow client relationships.

There is a growing problem in the professional services industry 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. This dramatic shift in client behavior has rendered traditional approaches to business development not only ineffective but counterproductive.

But top performers have figured out a radical new approach that is redefining what it means to be a "rainmaker" in today’s professional services market.

Drawing on a comprehensive, quantitative study of nearly 3,000 partners—spanning law, accounting, consulting, investment banking, executive search, and public relations—The Activator Advantage identifies the five types of partners found across the professional services landscape and shows how only one of them—the Activator—drives consistent growth.

Activators deeply embed business development habits into their daily workflow, aggressively leverage their internal and external networks and proactively deliver both business and personal value to clients—all of which not only helps shield them from the vagaries of modern client buying behavior but also lays the groundwork for stickier, longer-lasting relationships.

Packed with eye-opening data, counterintuitive insights, and robust case examples—as well as the trademark storytelling abilities of the researchers who produced such business blockbusters as The Challenger Sale, The Effortless Experience, and The JOLT Effect—The Activator Advantage provides the road map for any professional services partner or firm leader looking to chart a path to greater client engagement, internal collaboration, revenue growth, and firm profitability in the new era of client disloyalty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798892790581
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224

About the Author

Matthew Dixon is a Founding Partner of DCM Insights, a global training and advisory firm that uses research-backed frameworks to help professional services partners and firms to improve their business development effectiveness. He is one of the world's foremost experts in business development and client experience.  Known for his groundbreaking research, he has been a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review since 2010 and is the author of some of the most important business books of the past two decades, including The Effortless Experience and The JOLT Effect. His first book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation (Portfolio/Penguin 2011), was a number one Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller, has sold nearly a million copies worldwide, and has been translated into a dozen languages.

Rory Channer is a Founding Partner of DCM Insights. A 30-year sales and marketing professional, he has held executive leadership positions at McDermott Will & Emery, Ruffalo Noel Levitz, BehaVR, CEB, Portrait Software, and Business Genetics. His work at McDermott was pioneering for the legal sector. He helped grow McDermott by 50 percent in just four years, earning back its place in the Am Law 25 and ending a decade of decline. Across his career, he has trained and coached thousands of partners and associates on business development and client engagement.

Karen Freeman is a Partner and Global Head of Product and Delivery at DCM Insights. She has spent her career in the fields of data analytics, research, and teaching. Prior to joining DCMi, she was the Global Head of Digital & Analytics Learning for generalist consultants at McKinsey. In that role, she led a team responsible for upskilling roughly 17,000 consultants globally. She has held leadership roles at CEB and Advisory Board for the Arts, was the research team leader on The Challenger Sale and The Effortless Experience studies, and her work has been published multiple times in Harvard Business Review.

Ted Mckenna, a Founding Partner of DCMi, is currently CEO of SellingInnovations—a DCMi spin-off that provides research-based training, enablement, and advisory support to business-to-business sales organizations. He has held leadership roles at CEB, Russell Reynolds Associates, and Tethr. An accomplished researcher, he is the coauthor of The JOLT Effect, and his work has appeared in the pages of Harvard Business Review. He is a sought-after speaker and adviser to sales and customer experience teams around the world.