A pre-flight checklist to help you get your mindset right

This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.

A pre-flight checklist to help you get your mindset right

I recently dug up content that I had created for a webinar in 2012. The topic was taking the “sell” out of selling. It was fun to discover some good stuff in there (said humbly) about how different mindsets lead to different actions—stuff I haven’t articulated the same way since. As always, the lessons apply whether you’re selling services or ideas.

Are you talking yourself out of the conversation you need to have?

This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.

Are you talking yourself out of the conversation you need to have

We all know it’s important to be willing to tell clients what they need to hear, even when that may not be what they want to hear. I’ve written before about how to deliver difficult messages so that the communication is positive, productive, and trust-building. Today I want to talk about the ways we humans cleverly talk ourselves out of having these tough conversations in the first place.

Client feedback: The kinds of questions you should be asking (and probably aren’t)

This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.

As a trusted advisor, you give your clients real feedback

A few months ago, I wrote about how to ask for client feedback if you want real feedback, not polite feedback. (CliffsNotes version: you have to create a strong pull for critique.) I also griped about feedback requests being too focused on task rather than relationship, deferring that to another post. This is said post.

A trust skill-builder (that could be mistaken for a drinking game)

This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.

A trust skill-builder that could be mistaken for a drinking game

Many of you know I’m a fan of improv. A lot of the warm-up games I’ve learned from taking improv comedy classes with friend and colleague Shawn Westfall could be written off by the corporate crowd as silly or meaningless. But the positive reaction I once-again got recently from the engineers and scientists who tried one of them out in a mastery-level workshop of mine has prompted me to take the risk to share it with you here.

The story of Harold, a client for life

This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.

The story of Harold, a client for life

I’m a big fan of stories as vivid illustrations of trust-building moments, which is why we have so many in The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. I’m especially inspired by the “extra miles” stories that highlight the extraordinary ways people find to be of service. Like the story about the advertising staffers who spent 14 weeks living the life of diabetic patients before beginning to create an ad campaign for Type 2 diabetes medication. Or the one about the savvy private wealth manager who once offered free investment planning for a client’s 12- and 14-year-old children. This week’s tip features an executive who earned a client for life by running a race.