Rain making requires building a referral network by maintaining contact with people over the years. That's how most rainmakers sell accounting, actuarial, architectural, engineering, legal, consulting and other professional services. Much of this work is done by phone, because phone calls cost less in time and money than do face-to-face meetings and because they allow conversation to flow to productive subjects in a way that email doesn't.

But, something there is that does not love a call . . . namely me. Left to my inclinations, I would use the phone only in emergencies and for ordering pizza. I am, in fact, an expert at avoiding making phone calls.

Here are some things you can do to avoid even the most essential calls:

• Tell yourself that the probability of anything good coming out of the call rounds to zero and give up immediately. The statement of probability is true, which is why the tactic works so well. Of course, if you make enough calls to enough people, the cumulative probability of something good happening gets quite high, but let's not think about that.
• Take a quick look at your email in-box before calling. This highly recommended tactic almost always works, because you immediately surrender control of your day to responding to urgent, if not always important, matters. By the time you are done, you must move on to something else and can put off calling until tomorrow, when you can repeat the process.
• Tell yourself that your calls will be unwelcome and you will become a pest. Years of personal experience and experience with hundreds of professionals show me that this statement is untrue, as long as you handle yourself properly, focusing on the other person's needs rather than pushing a sale. Still, imaging myself being rejected for being pesky feeds my personal insecurities so effectively that it stops all effort cold.
• Treat calling as if it is something you must squeeze in on top of everything else you must do. That way it is the first thing that gets squeezed out. For this to work you must never acknowledge that calling is equally or even more important to the firm and to yourself than the other things you are responsible for.
• Repeat to yourself over and over that bringing in business isn't really your responsibility or, at least, shouldn't be. Of course, this can be career limiting, but a dedicated call avoider won't let that stop him.

There are other trivial techniques for avoiding the phone-sharpening a pencil, going to the bathroom, getting coffee; I have tried them all-but the five I have listed are the best for busy professionals. Just recognize that when time comes around for promotions (or layoffs, for that matter) and your business development contribution is reviewed, these excuses won't help you.