Trust is a Two-Way Street

Source: RainToday

The following excerpts from an article by Charles H. Green ([email protected]) are reproduced with permission.

For a solid commercial relationship to be transformed into a true trusted advisor relationship, the players have to switch sides from time to time. The trusting client has to occasionally be trustworthy; and the trustworthy professional has to take some risks and do some trusting.

There are four natural opportunities for a professional to raise the level of a relationship to trusted advisor status:

• Initial Sale. A savvy professional can redefine the relationship into trust terms during the sales process. All you have to do is initiate the reciprocal process of trust — to take a risk, for example by putting your knowledge in play on the client's issues, rather than talking only about your qualifications and experience.
• Early Work Phases. This is the time when most firms will try to build up “early wins,” but the trust-building professional knows this is also the time to demonstrate vulnerability, as well as a commitment to principles of collaboration and transparency.
• Later Work Phases. Professionals who seek only to appear trustworthy will color within the lines, seeking to deliver on-budget, on-time, and within spec — or slightly above. But a would-be trusted advisor will push beyond. This is the time to test big ideas — solutions that hadn't originally been contemplated, implications that hadn't previously been conceived, quiet conversations about possible organizational changes.
• Follow-On Sales. A merely trustworthy firm will quietly point out opportunities for the client's improvement, focusing particularly on those where the firm can provide solid expertise. But a firm seeking a trusted advisor relationship will aggressively point out significant opportunities for the client's improvement, sorted by the client's priorities — including opportunities outside the professional firm's area of expertise.

For the complete article, read “Are You Settling for Trustworthy When You Could Be a Trusted Advisor?”

From RainToday, www.raintoday.com, September 29, 2010.