The Activator Advantage

What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently

By: Karen Freeman, Ted Mckenna, Matthew Dixon, Rory Channer

Narrated by: Tim Fannon

There is a growing problem in the professional services industry that is often acknowledged but rarely discussed openly: clients—even long-standing ones—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, 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.

Packed with eye-opening data, counterintuitive insights, and robust case examples, 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.

©2025 DCM Insights (P)2025 Ascent Audio

Excellent, highly practical book on BD for professional services

It’s important to develop the habits and disciplines of staying in regular touch with clients, bringing the full scope of your firm and network to bear on their problems, and providing more values than you could ever get paid for. That’s the bottom line of this book and a core principle that I had learned in other books. However, the authors appear to be unique in their methodology and study of professional services firms, which is a much appreciated contribution to the field. I would recommend the book for consultants in whatever knowledge domain you might find yourself. Business development is your job and a key part of how you help people. This book can help you along that journey. The Trusted Advisor and Humble Consulting are similar and also excellent.

Go do more BD

Thought the book was heavy on generalities than specific strategies of how to implement. A book slightly better than the average telling professionals to do more BD.

For example: Yes, meet people at conferences and don’t stay with only your coworkers but how to put that in practice when a lot of others are doing just that. Hang by the bar? The bathroom? Some ideas for politely interjecting, perhaps?

An interesting point, was driving home BD is a long term game often and companies need to support those efforts.

Must Read for Seller/Doer

Excellent read for any seller/doer or leaders of these groups. Great perspective on why it is different than other B2B, and how to take advantage of those differences for accelerated growth.

Total waste of money

How did this book from 2012 get published in 2025?? Let me save you $17. Always be building your network (have you heard of this new tool called LinkedIn??) be useful to your clients and build your process (or just read Atomic Habits).