This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
My spouse and I were recently on the hunt for a favorite electrician for house stuff—one that would finally be our “go to” to call on, after having tried several. This one came so close. And then they made a trust-related mistake that had nothing to do with the quality of their work. I recognize the mistake as one that a lot of sellers make, especially in professional services. Do you?
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
We spend an outsized amount of time in our programs focusing on how to increase your own trustworthiness proactively and specifically, since it’s the only thing you can actually control. A recent situation reminded me of content that my co-author Charlie Green and I recorded some years ago for our video learning library that answers the question, “What do you do when others show up in untrustworthy ways?”
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
I originally shared this Weekly Tip three years ago, and at the time I didn’t know the identity of the person who offered the unconventional offer it describes. I had forgotten about the post until just the other day when I had a chance to meet this awesome person, in person. I’m reprising it because it’s such a great lesson in a much more trustworthy way to think about “competition” that’s worthy of emulation.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
Of the 200,000+ people who have taken Trusted Advisor Associates’ online Trust Quotient™ self-assessment (TQ for short) they rate their own reliability higher than any of the other three variables of the trust equation (and nearly 21% higher than intimacy). Unfortunately, few of us are as good as we think for reasons I will reveal in short order.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
I wrote the first version of this Tip back in 2018. So much has changed. And yet some things haven’t. I was tired back then and shared a way I had found to re-energize myself at work that I thought would be helpful. Fast forward a few years, through (and still in) a pandemic along with many other challenging things in the world. I bet I’m not the only one who’s feeling at least a little worn at the edges. Hence the reprise.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
I’ve said for years that referring to someone by name is a quick and simple trust-builder. That’s because being intentional about acknowledging others in this very personal way accelerates intimacy. It would stand to reason then that forgetting their name, or fumbling around about how to pronounce it, would sound the death knell for trust, no? Actually, no. The implications are significant, but only in terms of how you choose to handle it.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
I know quite a few clients who are dealing with loss right now, so I’m reprising a Tip I wrote in 2015 that was inspired by then-Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg at the end of her first 30 days of mourning for her late husband. On the last day of sheloshim, which marks the completion of religious mourning for a spouse, she shared a compelling and beautifully written post on … well, Facebook, of course.
Among other things, Sheryl’s essay includes extraordinary lessons for anyone struggling to find the best or right way to acknowledge another person’s grief.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
At the top of a recent Mastery workshop, it became clear that I needed to drop my training plan and help the group address some tough issues. The you-know-what had hit the fan in their organization since the last time we convened as difficult business circumstances unexpectedly unfolded. My group of senior leaders was dealing with their own reactions while also sorting out how best to show up as trustworthy leaders to their teams and their clients. So, we paused to make a starter list of how to build and keep trust in tough times. Today’s tip features an amended version of that list, including some additions that struck me after we adjourned.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
A salient comment from a VP-level participant in one of our recent programs got me thinking about a tip I wrote nearly seven years ago, so I’m reprising it now. The comment basically drew a clear connection between establishing trust with a business colleague and building trust with a friend. It stuck a chord with me because I’ve come to believe that friendship skills play a critical role in business, and particularly in sales.
This post is part of our Weekly-ish Tips series.
While writing last week’s tip about my delightful interaction with Dave I had to sort out how best to refer to Dave. The language I chose was thanks to a tip I published in 2016. I’m reprising a variation of that tip here because I believe it contains lessons that bear repeating.