Building trust relationships with PE-ER
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Potential roles within a client organization include consultant, trusted advisor, respected vendor, and trusted partner group. To move from consultant to trusted partner group requires building trust over time. This involves setting the agenda by understanding client priorities and issues, building relationship capital through consistent delivery, engaging with internal/external stakeholders, living shared values, fostering collaboration, and creating a positive client experience. The ultimate goal is participation in client planning and operations as a collaborative group, which is difficult due to business hierarchies.
Building trust relationships with PE-ER
- 1. Respected Vendor, Part of accepted Vendor Pool Trusted Partnership Group Consultant for Hire Trusted Individual Advisor Consultant Trusted Advisor Niche Focus Enterprise or Industry Focus Building Trusted Partnerships Using PE-ER Focused on Solopreneurs in Services
- 2. Potential Roles • Consultant – Expert for hire. Relationship usually begins here and can remain here depending on approach and focus. If one remains niche focused then could be a good place to be albeit generally short term. Generally reactive to client demands. • Trusted Advisor – You now have a proven track record of understanding the issues, keeping commitments, having good judgement, trustworthy and broader focused than just a consultant. • Respected Vendor – you and your firm have made it to being a preferred vendor and part of the PV pool. Typically company is focused on a specific project or process. • Trusted Partner Group – The ultimate goal of collaborative group but highly unlikely due to the nature of hierarchical governance in most businesses today – you participate in the planning, strategizing and operations of the client. You and your company have a demonstrated history of meeting an array of client needs, cross interaction with multiple trusted, strong, relationships within the client. It is based on a many-to-many matrix rather than one-to-one.
- 3. 6 Steps to Move to Trusted Partner • Agenda Setting – part of strategizing efforts at client – Earned – Learn to be proactive as opposed to being reactive. Demonstrate a solid understanding of the issues being faced by the client – understand the pains, obstacles and roadblocks. Know the top 3 – 5 priorities of the client and help them be successful in those as long as they are in your value stream. Be sensitive of power structures and human matrix within the client organization. • Relationship Capital – build relationships based on the ability to meet commitments and to deliver professionally. Understand the personal and professional needs of each member of the matrix that you are involved with. • Engagement – building a solid matrix of internal/external relationships that can make a difference. Encourage a solid practice of client listening. • Live Values – Understand what the client values and determine how you can always expand on the desired value. You must also be transparent about your values and principles and live those on a regular basis. It also means living up to the expected values of the client. • Collaboration Building – must be able to foster familiarity, trust and the frictionless movement of people, ideas, and resources into client relationships. • Client Experience – All of the above should lead to building the experience of the client in all aspects. The better the experience the more apt they are to accept you as a Trusted Partner. • Based on the work of Andrew Sobel