The Trusted Advisor [Hardcover]

David H. Maister (Author), Charles H. Green (Author), Robert M. Galford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2000

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford--consultants on professional-service management and customer-relation issues--believe nobody can become successful as a business guru until they first gain the confidence of their clients. In The Trusted Advisor, the authors effectively build their case through anecdote and illustration, then relay a solid series of relevant suggestions applicable to both would-be consultants and those already active in the field. Among their most potent suggestions is a practical, five-step development process that encourages outsiders to engage clients by focusing attention on the issues and individuals at hand; listening both to what they say and what they leave unsaid; framing the immediate problem from their perspective; envisioning with them how a solution might appear; and committing jointly to the actions and resources that will bring it about. Also particularly useful is the examination of trust-building during four phases of a client-advisor alliance: at the time the relationship is consummated; during the assignment; after the assignment; and when "cross-selling," or establishing affiliations with the customer's associates. Boosting its utility, the book is filled with concise, easily adopted tips like "return phone calls unbelievably fast" and "always tell the truth and not what the client wants to hear." --Howard Rothman

Review

Carl Stern CEO, Boston Consulting Group An invaluable road map to all those who seek to develop truly special relationships with their clients.

Tom Peters author of The Professional Service 50 This is a brilliant -- and practical -- book. In our "world gone mad," trust is, paradoxically, more important than ever.

William F. Stasior senior chairman and former CEO, Booz-Allen & Hamilton This book is engaging, enjoyable, and absolutely on target. It is packed with truth. The Trusted Advisor will guide success not just in the advisory professions but in leadership and life as well.

Professor Charles Fombrun Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University The Trusted Advisor gets to the heart and soul of the advice business. This path-breaking book is a must-read.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (October 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074320414X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743204149
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Consulting
  • #90 in Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > Ethics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cornerstone of All Relationships, November 13, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Trusted Advisor (Hardcover)

According to the authors, "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 quality to work with clients in such a way as to earn their trust and gain their confidence." The authors 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 take place across time and experience. We analyze the key components of trust and the process which trust involves in a relationship." To give you at least some idea of what this book addresses, here are the questions answered in Part One ("Perspectives on Trust"):

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

What do great trusted advisors all seem to do?

What are the dynamics of trusting and being trusted?

How do you ensure that your advice is listened to?

What are the principles of building strong relationships?

What attitudes must you have to be effective?

Do you really have to care for those you advise?

In the final chapter, the authors include "The Quick-Impact List to Gain Trust" and then an Appendix in which they duplicate all of the checklists previously provided. I rate this book so highly for twqo reasons: First, because the content is rock-solid, anchored in a wealth of real-world experiences which the authors generously share; also because they explain HOW to gain and then sustain the trust of everyone with whom you do business. This book will be especially valuable to small-to-midsize companies whose success or failure is primarily (if not entirely) dependent upon client relationships based on trust. Buyers have lots of choices. It is not enough for them to trust what you sell. Others may well offer the same product or service. They must also trust you, the seller. And here's the key point: It is imperative that customer trust your advice as they consider a purchase from you but, ultimately, your customers must have so much confidence in you that they will also seek your advice on other matters which have nothing to do with what you sell. So-called "customer satisfactioon" is achieved on a per-transaction basis. As Jeffrey Gitomer correctly asserts, your objective should be "customer loyalty." The authors of this book explain HOW to achieve it and then HOW to sustain it.

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable and helpful!, September 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Trusted Advisor (Hardcover)

This is a book filled with helpful checklists, valauble to anyone in the consulting field. In an eminently readable style, the authors show us not just the requirements to be a trusted advisor but also how to be a better consultant and how to improve our interpersonal skills. We read different phrases (that, I assume at least one of the authors use) that show us how to raise contentious issues in a non-threatening way (eg, "Let me play the devil's advocate and try to convince you .." and "This will feel risky to you but ..") It's the type of book we need to dip into on a regular basis to remind ourselves of those "little things" that make a big difference when dealing with clients. An easy but most valuable read.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maister is the Master, July 27, 2001

By 

Andrew Silberman (Tokyo Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trusted Advisor (Hardcover)

My introduction to David Maister came from the former managing director of Burson-Marteller's Tokyo office, who recommended True Professionalism. That book became one of the "required readings" for my training company's staff. Since True Professionalism, I've read Managing the Professional Service Firm and found it heavy, over-detail-oriented and difficult to apply. Now comes The Trusted Advisor (with other authors) and I can say without a doubt this best book on trust development I've read--putting real meat in those abstract concepts like "credibility." His chapter where he introduces the equation where Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy, all divided by Self-orientation, would be worth the price of the book. No, there probably is nothing new under the sun, but Maister in this book (and in Practice What You Preach, another gem) provides the keys to create better results for clients, and shows us how to turn those keys to start the engine. If there were 10 stars to give, I'd rate this a 10.