Staffing & Recruiter Training Podcast

In this episode of The Rainmaking Podcast, host Scott Love speaks with Deb Zahn, seasoned consultant and host of the Craft of Consulting podcast, about how professionals can improve their business development results by preparing more effectively for client meetings and mastering the early stages of closing a deal. Deb explains that closing doesn’t start with the proposal—it begins long before, with selecting the right prospects and doing meaningful prep work to ensure your conversations are targeted, relevant, and engaging. Deb shares how she researches prospects, anticipates objections, and uses strategic questioning to pivot conversations toward problems she can solve. She emphasizes the importance of making meetings easy and valuable for the client—by being fully prepared, speaking their language, and listening more than you talk. Framing the client’s challenges and offering clarity creates trust and positions the consultant as a problem-solver, not a pitch person. This episode is full of actionable insig