In today's fast-paced networked economy, professionals must work harder than ever to maintain and improve their business skills and knowledge. But technical mastery of your discipline is not enough, assert world-renowned professional advisors David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford. The key to professional success, they argue, is the ability to earn the trust and confidence of clients. The creation of trust is what earns the right to influence clients; trust is also at the root of client satisfaction and loyalty. The workings of trust are even more critical in the new economy than in the old.

Maister, Green, and Galford enrich our understanding of trust — yet they have also written a deeply practical book. Using their model of "The Trust Equation," they dissect the rational and emotional components of trustworthiness. With precision and clarity, they detail five distinct steps you must take to create a trust-based relationship. Each step — engage, listen, frame, envision, and commit — is richly described in distinct chapters. The book is peppered with pragmatic "top ten" lists aimed at improving advisors' effectiveness that can be put to use instantly. It also includes a trust self-diagnostic in the appendix.

This immensely readable book will be welcomed by the inexperienced advisor and the most seasoned expert alike. The authors use anecdotes, experiences, and examples — successes and mistakes, their own and others' — to great effect. Though they use the professional services advisor/client paradigm throughout the book, their prescriptions have resonance for other trust-reliant situations — selling, customer relationship management, and internal staff functions like HR and information technology.

The result is a tour de force — brilliant, penetrating, unique. It is essential reading for anyone who must advise, negotiate, or manage complex relationships with others.

Chief Growth Officer, Omnicom Group, Inc.

The Trusted Advisor will make any advisor more effective in winning and servicing clients' business. It is a must-read for anyone working in professional service firms.

Maister, Green, and Galford enrich our understanding of trust — yet they have also written a deeply practical book. Using their model of "The Trust Equation," they dissect the rational and emotional components of trustworthiness. With precision and clarity, they detail five distinct steps you must take to create a trust-based relationship. Each step — engage, listen, frame, envision, and commit — is richly described in distinct chapters. The book is peppered with pragmatic "top ten" lists aimed at improving advisors' effectiveness that can be put to use instantly. It also includes a trust self-diagnostic in the appendix.

This immensely readable book will be welcomed by the inexperienced advisor and the most seasoned expert alike. The authors use anecdotes, experiences, and examples — successes and mistakes, their own and others' — to great effect. Though they use the professional services advisor/client paradigm throughout the book, their prescriptions have resonance for other trust-reliant situations — selling, customer relationship management, and internal staff functions like HR and information technology.

The result is a tour de force — brilliant, penetrating, unique. It is essential reading for anyone who must advise, negotiate, or manage complex relationships with others.

Introduction

How to Use This Book

Part One: Perspectives on Trust

1. A Sneak Preview

   What would be the benefits if your clients trusted you more?

   What are the primary characteristics of a trusted advisor?

2. What Is a Trusted Advisor?

   What do great trusted advisors all seem to do?

3. Earning Trust

   What are the dynamics of trusting and being trusted?

4. How to Give Advice

   How do you ensure your advice is listened to?

5. The Rules of Romance: Relationship Building

   What are the principles of building strong relationships?

6. The Importance of Mindsets

   What attitudes must you have to be effective?

7. Sincerity or Technique?

   Do you really have to care for those you advise?

Part Two: The Structure of Trust Building

8. The Trust Equation

   What are the four key components that determine the extent of trust?

9. The Development of Trust

   What are the five stages of trust-building?

10. Engagement

    How do you get clients to initiate discussions with you?

11. The Art of Listening

    How can you improve your listening skills?

12. Framing the Issue

    How can you help clients look at their issues in a fresh way?

13. Envisioning an Alternate Reality

    How can you help clients clarify what they're really after?

14. Commitment

    How do you ensure clients are willing to do what it takes to solve their problems?

Part Three: Putting Trust to Work

15. What's So Hard About All This?

    Why are truly trust-based relationships so scarce?

16. Differing Client Types

    How do you deal with clients of differing types?

17. The Lieutenant Columbo Approach

    What can we learn from an unorthodox winner?

18. The Role of Trust in Getting Hired

    How do you create trust at the outset of a relationship?

19. Building Trust on the Current Assignment

    How can you conduct your assignment in a way that adds to trust?

20. Re-earning Trust Away from the Current Assignment

    How can you build trust when you're not working on an assignment?

21. The Case of Cross-Selling

    Why is cross-selling so hard, and what can be done about it?

22. The Quick-Impact List to Gain Trust

    What are the key things you should do first?

Appendix: A Compilation of Our Lists

A comprehensive summary and list of concepts, insights, tips, and tactics.

Acknowledgments

Notes and References

Index

About the Authors