Customer Reviews

The Trusted Advisor

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Will you use everything in this book? Probably not. Will it remind you of some of the things you have forgotten to do to be a trusted advisor - absolutely!

Best part is you'll get nuggets of information- which is all you can expect of any book. And you won't feel like the book has been written to sell you on their service.

Well done and well worth the read.

The book provides very useful information for organizations dedicated to providing professional services. From lists to review and to applicable references, this book is worth the time to read. Often books of this nature prophesizes without a granular approach, this is not the case with The Trusted Advisor.

For me, it is a reference for mentoring as well as day to day practice.

Whether you are in sales, are an attorney, or providing any kind service or intangible, this is a great book. If you think you've read all the client oriented, consulting oriented "sales and success" books - but haven't read this ... then you are never going to be at the top of your field. This book is about bringing real authenticity to the relationships with your clients. Client executives can smell a sneak or a fraud a mile away. Today, business is more competitive than ever, making losing a client relationship a crime. Knowing how to keep a client, build a relationship and continue nuturing it, is an art. Maister points to great examples and gets you to thinking ... "if only I'd done that ..." or "next time I'll ...". This is a thinking persons book, one to be reviewed over again through the course of your career, but only if you want to be among the "trusted few" with seasoned, senior executives. Other great books along this line I recommend are: any of Maisters books, Patrick McKenna's material (see their web pages too), and Clients for Life by Andrew Sobel.

An experienced colleague recommended this book to me at a conference. The title simply does not do this book justice but I bought it anyway. If you ever wondered how some consultants and professionals do such a good job obtaining and keeping clients, then READ THIS BOOK.

I have recommended this book to all my clients and they agree. More importantly, very few so-called "advisors" do what this book explains clearly. Tremendous resource for any professional but many very powerful techniques to help you close contracts without sounding like a used car salesman. The case studies and examples hit home and force you to stop and think about your own style.

The answer for most consultants would be more business from that client with a lower cost of sales.

Maister, Green and Galford's book emphasizes the importance of trust in a client relationship, but the book goes beyond that to give the consultant practical advice on building a trust-based relationship with clients. If you read the five-page chapter 22, The Quck-Impact List to Gain Trust, you'll find dozens of practical techniques to help build a tighter, trusting bond with your client.

The authors cover a range of situations that consultants face with thoughtful suggestions on how to manage those situations while maintaining a trusting relationship. One chapter describes the different client types you'll find as a consultant and how you can work with them. The charaterizations of difficult clients is accurate, entertaining and the advice is solid.

This is a well-researched and easy to read book. If you're in consulting for the long-haul, read this book--more than once.


Michael McLaughlin, coauthor with Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants.

The Trusted Advisor
This is an excellent literature on practical approach to build a trust based relationship with the client and how to benefit personally and professionally from those relationships. It categorizes different stages of relationships, attributes for each stage and a vehicle to advance from one stage to another. I found the points suggested by the authors applicable not only in the business world but also in someone's personal life to build everlasting relationships. The book has an appendix listing the valuable suggestions which can be used as a reference material for day to day usage. A must read and a collectible for those who believe in the importance of depth and width of relationships for personal and professional success.

Truly, the content that Maister, Green, and Galford provide in "The Trusted Advisor" is absolutely brilliant. The only other consulting text that comes to mind which meets the quality of this work is "The Secrets of Consulting", by Weinberg (see my review). And while "Secrets" is an incredibly informative and entertaining masterpiece, the three authors who collaborated for this piece have provided a great service to anyone involved with advising other individuals, regardless of profession. The step-by-step path that this book offers starts with perspectives on trust, followed by the road to trust building, and how to proceed once trust is achieved. Unlike many books of this genre, the authors (and editors) of "The Trusted Advisor" do not simply rehash the obvious, and their explanations never assume the background of the reader. This book is so well put together that it is difficult to determine where to start in terms of this review. Each chapter is focused, designed to answer a specific question, such as "Do you really have to care for those you advise?" or "How do you ensure clients are willing to do what it takes to solve their problems?" The introduction notes that the education of the authors "served [them] well, but nothing in it prepared [them] for the real world of trying to serve clients effectively. Along the way, [they] 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...that are critical to [one's] success. Most important, [they] learned that [one doesn't] get the chance to employ advisory skills until [they] can get someone to trust [them] enough to share their problems[.]" The authors also note in the introduction that 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." In order to do this book justice, a write-up for a New Yorker book review would be in order since there is simply not enough space to write here. One specific aspect of this book this reviewer appreciated is all the lists throughout the book (39 in total) that are also contained in a comprehensive appendix. For example, the first chapter immediately lists the 16 benefits one might obtain when trust is established with clients, followed by the 22 traits trusted advisors have in common. The figures provided in each chapter are also very effective, starting with Figure 2.1 that helps visualize the path from subject matter or process expert to trusted advisor that consists of increasing breadth of business issues and depth of personal relationship. Many examples are presented to illustrate the discussions of each chapter, and suggested variations on how to word advice are also liberally provided to the reader. Chapters 15 and 16 were especially well done. The first lists some of the difficulties the authors hear about the trusted advisor role, followed by a point-by-point examination of each. For example, "Professional services firms often breed a culture of content expertise and mastery. (We're taught that content is all.)" and "My client wants me to focus on the work at hand; he or she doesn't want to see me about anything else." The latter chapter discusses 9 difficult client types, and how to respond, such as the "I'll Get Back to You" client and the "Just Like, You Know, Come On" client. Highly recommended.