ANDREW SOBEL is a leading authority on the skills and strategies required to build enduring client relationships. A noted business strategist and popular speaker, his clients have included such prominent companies as Citigroup, Cox Communications, Fulbright & Jaworski, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Hewitt Associates. He is coauthor of the acclaimed book Clients for Life, as well as dozens of articles on relationship building and loyalty. Formerly a senior vice president of one of the world's largest management consulting firms, he is now President of Andrew Sobel Advisors, a strategy consulting and professional development firm. He earned his BA at Middlebury College and holds an MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.

Introduction: Learning to Make Rain All of the Time.

PART I: BREAKING THROUGH AS AN EXPERT.

The Loyalty Equation: Three Factors That Determine Your Client's Loyalty.

Are You an Extraordinary Advisor?

Breakthrough Strategies for Experts.

Building Trust in the First Ten Minutes.

More Important than Your 401(k): Building Your Relationship Capital.

Benjamin Franklin's Secret Weapon.

Why a Client Might Like You.

The Myth of Meeting Client Expectations.

Leonardo da Vinci: Why Lutes and Madonnas Matter.

Finding the Hidden Creases: Influencing Your Clients.

Part One Summary: Are You Breaking Through as an Expert?

PART II: MOVING INTO THE INNER CIRCLE.

I Love My Guru...and Other Client Pitfalls.

The Relationship Masters.

The Doubting Mind.

The Deep Generalist and the Branded Expert.

How to Identify Client Needs.

The Power of Size: Developing Large, Multi-Year Client Relationships.

The Right Foot: Four Ways to Start a Relationship and Position It for the Long Term.

Five Ways to Grow Your Client Relationships.

Are Clients Meeting Your Expectations?

Part Two Summary: Are You Moving into the Inner Circle?

PART III: SUSTAINING RELATIONSHIPS YEAR AFTER YEAR.

Sustaining and Multiplying.

Merlin: Working a Little Magic with Your Clients.

Five Steps to New Business with Old Clients.

The Rothschild Bankers: The Power of Unique Capabilities.

Cultivating the Attitude of Independent Wealth.

Managing Client Relationships during Uncertain Times.

Developing Relationships with Foreign Clients: Try Not to Commit These Gaffes.

Becoming a Firm That Makes Rain: How Great Organizations Build Clients for Life.

Part Three Summary: Are You Sustaining Your Relationships Year after Year?

PART V: GETTING STARTED: A SELF-ASSESSMENT.

Do You Have the Ability to Make Rain? Two Assessment Tools for Individuals and Organizations.

A Pantheon of Client Advisors.

Notes.

Index.