I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of confessions. I don’t mean the criminal or religious kind; I mean garden-variety acknowledgments and admissions. They have a curious relationship to trust-building.

I hope you’ll be entertained by what may be a bit of a rant.

I’ve borrowed the headline for this week’s tip (“Learn TIPS and TRICKS to CLOSING MORE DEALS”) from the subject line of an email I received last week. When I read it, I let out a very loud groan.

Business development that’s both productive and rewarding is much simpler than most of us make it out to be. It requires the right attitude (serve others, not your own goals) and a steady focus (take small steps, consistently over time).

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name? Like, maybe, right after you learned it? Or worse, when you’ve known them for months/weeks/years and you have no good excuse for your inability to summon it up?

This week, the spotlight is on … you.

This week’s tip is brought to you thanks to my extraordinary partnership with my co-author, Charlie Green. It’s an excerpt from a script we’ve written (and will be recording soon) for our new video learning library, and it answers this question:

What do you do when your clients or colleagues are untrustworthy?

No doubt I’m preaching to the choir when I say that being in a service-oriented role is both rewarding and tiring. Even simple listening practices, the subject of the last two weekly tips, take energy and effort to do well.

We’re continuing our focus on listening from last week because it’s an underdeveloped business skill that can’t be emphasized enough.

Listening, listening, listening. It’s been the subject of many weekly tips, like #2, #7, #34 and #56.

Why so much talk about listening? Because it’s such a critical skill for trusted advisors to master.