Joseph Myers and Ted Olson discuss two core principles for building trust in professional relationships, particularly for consultants:
ONE: The Four Stages of Relationship Building:
1. Distrust: Every professional relationship begins with a level of distrust.
2. Curiosity: Gradually, clients move from distrust to curiosity about your services.
3. Engagement: Clients start engaging with your process, often through questions and discovery.
4. Commitment: Full commitment comes only after successful engagement and mitigating initial distrust.
Warning: many try to jump from Curiosity to Commitment. This is where deals are lost. Weak discovery = lost deals.
TWO: Progressive Flywheel of Trust:
Trust is not a static destination but a continuous process.
There are three things to consider...
1. Distrust: Acknowledge and handle initial distrust. Distrust is normal.
2. Trust Decision: Guide clients to decide to trust you through consistent actions. You need to have a process. You can't wing it.
3. Preparation for Breaks: Prepare for and manage moments when trust is broken, understanding that these cycles help reinforce trust over time.
By recognizing the sequential nature of relationship stages and viewing trust as an ongoing, cyclical process, consultants can effectively build and maintain strong professional relationships.
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