Building Trusted Advisor Relationships Program

Objectives:

• Deepen client relationships
• Increase business development effectiveness
• Improve handling of difficult client situations

Details:

• Participants: 10-20
• Length: 8-16 hours

Building Trusted Advisor Relationships is a 1-2 day program designed for client/customer relationship managers. The program is customized for each firm; this is not an open-enrollment course. It applies practical models of trust to realistic -and real-life- client situations.

Contents

We explore what it really means to be collaborative, to be customer-focused, to be transparent, and to have a win-win perspective, as those concepts play out in daily client life. Topics include the process by which trust is built, the trust equation, negotiation, handling conflict, speaking difficult truths, managing difficult clients, managing scope creep, building trust quickly, building intimacy, improving listening, reducing misunderstandings, positioning for constructive follow-on work, hypothesis development, problem definition, and managing uncertainty.

The Trust Equation:

(Credibility Reliability Intimacy)

Self-Orientation

The Trust Creation Process:

Listen > Frame > Envision > Commit

Approach

Becoming a Trusted Advisor requires more than mastering a few behavioral tricks; it demands new mindsets as well as skillsets. To get at both, we use:

• intellectually challenging models, paradoxes and stories
• role-playing—both realistic and real examples
• customized caselets about relationship management

Attendees bring their toughest real-life situations with them to the program, and we work them in real-time through both role-plays and discussions.