Books : The Trusted Advisor : Excerpts

Introduction We wrote this book because, in the course of our careers as consultants, and as advisors to other professionals (some fifty years of experience among the three of us), we have made every mistake we describe in the book and broken every piece of advice it contains. Whatever wisdom this book contains has been learned the hard way.

Our formal education served us well, but nothing in it prepared us for the real world of trying to serve clients effectively. Along the way, we learned that becoming a good advisor takes more than having good advice to offer. There are additional skills involved, ones that no one ever teaches you, that are critical to your success.

Most important, we learned that you don't get the chance to employ advisory skills until you can get someone to trust you enough to share their problems with you. No one ever taught us how to do that either. Yet we had to learn it. Somehow.

For many years, Rob Galford and Charlie Green have been conducting workshops, seminars, and training programs for some of the world's most prominent professional firms, under the title of "The Trusted Advisor." Meanwhile, David Maister was consulting and writing about professionalism, advice giving, client relationships, and other related topics. We met when we found ourselves presenting at the same conference and realized that, separately, we each had a piece of the puzzle. Together, we think we have a total picture to present.

The theme of this book is that the key to professional success is not just technical mastery of one's discipline (which is, of course, essential), but also the ability to work with clients in such a way as to earn their trust and gain their confidence.

We therefore address this book to both would-be advisors and to existing advisors who seek to create trust in their business relationships. We have written it mostly for individuals working in the advisory professions: consulting, accounting, law, engineering, public relations, executive search, insurance brokerage, investment banking, and similar activities. We have written it that way because that is the world we know.

However, we hope that professionals working inside corporations and other organizations, who also have clients and projects, will find this book relevant to their work.

Trust takes place between two individuals. It can, of course, take place inside organizations, within teams, and in other group settings, but we have chosen in this book to focus on the primary aspect of trust, that which occurs between two individuals, an advisor serving a client. Ambitious professionals invest tremendous energy in improving business skills, including sharpening their specific expertise, gaining experience, broadening their knowledge, and "networking," all requiring hard work. However, seldom do they give enough thought to creating trust relationships with clients, and little guidance is provided by their firms on how to accomplish this. Many professionals do not know how to think about or examine trust relationships.

Unfortunately, there are many signs that trust is scarce. With ever-increasing frequency, clients conduct a microscopic examination of their professional provider's bills, challenging expenses, questioning how projects were staffed and how much time various tasks required. Clients often exclude lawyers, accountants, consultants, and other professionals from early stages of discussions because their conception of the professional's role is too narrow. Even long-term suppliers are forced to compete for new work through beauty contests and other proposal activities. Detailed reporting from professionals is often demanded so that the clients can monitor their activity.

What a change this represents! There was a time when clients trusted professionals automatically, based solely upon their honorable calling. Sound character and reputation were assumed, and business was conducted with confidence, bound by a handshake. Great firms and institutions were born and built on this natural expectation of trust.

Although that world may be gone, the need for trust has not disappeared. What has taken its place is the necessity to earn trust (and maintain it) throughout a professional's career.

Each of us has run numerous seminars and workshops with a wide variety of professionals on various aspects of dealing with clients. Among the most common questions we receive at these meetings are:
1: How can I get access to my clients more often?
2: How can I persuade my client to introduce me to others in their organization?
3: How can I cross-sell?
4: How can I avoid being typecast, labeled as a specialist only in my main discipline?
5: What do I do about not being an expert in related fields?
6: How do I get clients less focused on price?
7: How do I get clients to play fairly with me?

The answers to these questions (and many similar ones) have the same basis. You've got to earn your client's trust! Without that, none of these ambitions can be realized. All these questions require the client to either do something for you, or to decide to give you what you want. We believe that a client is most likely to give you what you want if he or she trusts you.

We believe that earning trust is an activity that can be managed and improved, without trivializing or mechanizing the advisory relationship.

In this book, we provide a new understanding of the importance and potential of trust relationships with clients, and show how trust can be employed to achieve a wide range of rewards. We examine trust as a process, which has beginnings and endings, which can be derailed and encouraged, and which takes place across time and experience. We analyze the key components of trust and the process by which trust evolves in a relationship.

We also explore the core capabilities that are exhibited by the trusted advisor, map the trust development process, and reveal the capabilities that must be developed to successfully navigate the process. We help you determine the level of trust in your current relationship and show you how to be more worthy of trust, and how to make that worthiness manifest to your clients.