The Trusted Advisor - Hardcover

Michael Bray Chief Executive, Clifford Chance The authors have produced a readable, helpful guide to a central issue for all professional services firms. They provide sensible and practical advice, making the components of trust appear clear and straightforward. The book is easy to read and use and many of the checklists are very valuable. I will encourage my partners to read it and to keep it close at hand. George COLONY Chairman and CEO, Forrester Research Our company's development has been guided by and has benefited from the Trusted Advisor concepts -- and they work! Howard G. Paster Chairman and CEO, Hill and Knowlton, Inc. This book provides valuable insight into how one can become and, equally important, remain a trusted advisor, which is essential to success in a wide variety of professions. John Lynch Chairman and CEO, Towers Perrin This is a major contribution to the consulting profession, a richly illustrated and humanistic look at what differentiates a truly great advisor from a good one. This book will be valuable reading for the novice and experienced professional alike. Thomas W. Watson 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. James E. Copeland, Jr. CEO, Deloitte & Touche, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Trust is the key that can unlock a priceless dialogue with your clients. The Trusted Advisor tells you how to build relationships that can last a lifetime. Carl Stern CEO, Boston Consulting Group The Trusted Advisor offers 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.

The essential "must have" tool for professionals who advise or negotiate with others in today's new economy. 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.