Build Trusted Relationships

We’ve spent more than twenty years figuring out exactly what it takes to have trust-based relationships that get results. Now, we’re excited to share it with you.

  • Understand what it takes to be a trusted advisor and how to develop a trusted advisor mindset

  • Learn trust-building essentials to be more trustworthy, increase influence, and hone fundamental trust skills

  • Bring trustworthy behaviors into the sales process to create trust and enhance the odds of getting the sale

  • Significantly improve client relationships and instill a long-term, sustainable framework for building trust that translates into bottom line results

We wrote the book on trust (literally)!

Learn directly from the authors of our best-selling Trusted Advisor book series.

Get the fundamentals of The Trusted Advisor, Trust-Based Selling and The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook delivered to your virtual doorstep—direct from the source via video.

What You Get

Small bites. Fast-paced. On demand.

  • Your Trust Quotient

    Take our online self-assessment and receive your comprehensive Trust Quotient report, full of actionable tips and insights to improve your trustworthiness.

  • Video Lessons

    Learn straight from the source via 29 video lessons, accompanied by reflection questions, "take-action" challenges, and brief quizzes to check your knowledge.

  • Personalized Action Plan

    Use the workbook and worksheets to assess, take action, and immediately improve your most important professional relationships.

  • Bonus Content

    Dig deeper with included bonus content from our books, and explore more resources found in the books and on the Trusted Advisor Associates website.

  • Sustained Learning

    Download the workbook and Action and Results Tracker to monitor your progress and keep improving relationships, long after you've completed the lessons.

Being a Trusted Advisor

Course contents:

  • 1

    Introduction

  • 2

    Re-Think Your Value

    • Overview

    • What does it really take to become a Trusted Advisor?

    • Re-Think Your Value

    • What value do you bring?

    • Move toward a Trusted Advisor relationship

    • Five characteristics of successful Trusted Advisors

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources for re-thinking your value
  • 3

    Earn Their Trust

    • Overview

    • What is this ambiguous thing we all call “trust”?

    • Earn Their Trust

    • Reflect on a critical lesson from the video

    • Take action to improve your trustworthiness

    • More ways to improve your trustworthiness

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about earning their trust
  • 4

    Get Off Your “S”

    • Overview

    • What’s making your “S” look big?

    • Get Off Your "S"

    • What’s making you uncomfortable with your client?

    • Lower your self-orientation

    • Fast payback actions to shrink Self-orientation

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to help you get off your "S"
  • 5

    Create Intimacy (Yes, Intimacy)

    • Overview

    • Are you in an intimate relationship with your clients?

    • Create Intimacy (Yes, Intimacy)

    • What’s holding your client relationship at the transactional level?

    • Create more intimacy

    • Fast payback actions to increase intimacy

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to create more intimacy
  • 6

    Be Counted on for What You Say and Do

    • Overview

    • Credibility and reliability: not as self-evident as they may seem

    • Be Counted On for What You Say and Do

    • What are you holding back?

    • Improve your credibility and reliability

    • Fast payback actions to create credibility and ratchet up reliability

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to be counted on for what you say and do
  • 7

    Get Your Advice Heard and Taken

  • 8

    Make it OK for Your Clients to Take Risks

    • Overview

    • Are your clients afraid to take the plunge? Are you?

    • Make it OK for Your Client to Take Risks

    • Reflect on an uncomfortable situation

    • Take one risk to build trust

    • Mind your Ps (and take the plunge)

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources on making it OK for your client to take risks
  • 9

    Be Great Off Script

    • Overview

    • Are you ready for your moment of truth?

    • Be Great Off Script

    • Reflect on a time you reacted defensively

    • Two easy ways to practice being off-script

    • Think out loud

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources on being great off-script
  • 10

    Lead *and* Follow

    • Overview

    • Are you in step with your partners?

    • Lead *and* Follow

    • Reflect on a successful past partnership

    • Be a better partner

    • Partnering traits

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to help you lead and follow
  • 11

    Know Your Strengths, Find Your Blind Spots

    • Overview

    • How well do you know yourself?

    • Know Your Strengths, Find Your Blind Spots

    • Be honest with yourself ...

    • Find and address your blind spots

    • Five practices that help you look inward

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to help you know your strengths and find your blind spots
  • 12

    What’s So Different about Trust-based Selling?

    • Overview

    • What’s the purpose of selling?

    • What’s So Different About Trust-Based Selling

    • Reflect on a “tough sell” client

    • Assess your strengths and opportunities

    • 5 ways to get and stay client-focused

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about trust-based selling
  • 13

    A New Take on Networking

    • Overview

    • What’s your goal when you are networking?

    • A New Take on Networking

    • Reflect on your last networking event

    • Improve your trust-based networking

    • Five (more) best practices for trust-based networking

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about trust-based networking
  • 14

    How to (Actually) Get a Meeting

    • Overview

    • Are you asking for meetings too early?

    • How to (Actually) Get a Meeting

    • Is this the right time for a meeting?

    • Choose the right next step

    • The (sales) value of trust-based relationships

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources for how to (actually) get a meeting
  • 15

    Understanding How Clients Really Buy

    • Overview

    • Do you know how your clients buy?

    • Understanding How Clients Really Buy

    • Reflect on your last pitch or presentation

    • Give your clients the experience of working with you

    • Buyer Psychology

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to understand how clients really buy
  • 16

    “Ditch the Pitch” and Other Unconventional Wisdom

    • Overview

    • Are you warming up for your pitch?

    • “Ditch the Pitch” and Other Unconventional Wisdom

    • Reflect on a pitch that didn’t go so well

    • Five best practices for a trustworthy pitch

    • What “Tell us about yourself” really means

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources on how to "Ditch the Pitch"
  • 17

    How (Not) to Handle Objections

    • Overview

    • How effectively are you handling objections?

    • How (Not) to Handle Objections

    • Reflect on how you respond to objections

    • Turn an “Objection” to an “Invitation”

    • What it looks like to have conversations rather than handle objections

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources on how (not) to handle objections
  • 18

    Talking Price

    • Overview

    • Have you ever shied away from talking price?

    • Talking Price

    • Reflect on a client who raised a concern about price

    • Five possible meanings of “Your price is too high”

    • The three primary drivers of price concerns

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about talking price
  • 19

    Why You Should Stop Closing Deals

    • Overview

    • Is your approach to closing helping you or hurting you?

    • Why You Should Stop Closing Deals

    • Reflect on a time you didn’t “close” to your satisfaction

    • What to do instead of "closing"

    • Three (more) reasons to stop closing

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to stop closing deals
  • 20

    Build Client Trust … Faster

    • Overview

    • How long does it take for you to build trust?

    • Build Client Trust ... Faster

    • Reflect on your trust-building strengths

    • Eight ways to create trust … fast

    • Does trust take time? Some further insight ...

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to build client trust faster
  • 21

    Build Trust at a Distance

    • Overview

    • How can you build trust when your team is virtual?

    • Build Trust at a Distance

    • Reflect on your virtual team

    • Five ways to use technology to create intimacy

    • Five best practices for managing virtual teams

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources to build trust at a distance
  • 22

    How to Have Tough Conversations

    • Overview

    • How do you raise a difficult issue when it’s really hard to talk about?

    • How to Have Tough Conversations

    • Reflect on a difficult conversation

    • Name It and Claim It

    • When to "Name It and Claim It"

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about how to have tough conversations
  • 23

    Caveats: Your Conversational Jewels

    • Overview

    • Something awkward happens. What do you do now?

    • Caveats: Your Conversational Jewels

    • Reflect on a time when you said or did something that was awkward

    • Create some caveats

    • How and why to use caveats

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about using caveats
  • 24

    What to Do When Your Client is a Jerk

    • Overview

    • Do you know what’s making your difficult client so difficult?

    • What to Do When Your Client is a Jerk

    • Reflect on a difficult client

    • Three steps for working with difficult clients

    • Are you thinking of your client as the enemy?

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about dealing with difficult clients
  • 25

    What if *They* Can’t Be Trusted?

    • Overview

    • What do you do when you’re working with someone you can’t trust?

    • What if *They* Can’t Be Trusted?

    • Reflect on a situation with a colleague or client you didn’t trust

    • Constructive Confrontation: A three-step approach

    • What to do when you can’t confront your partner

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about working with people you don't trust
  • 26

    Recovering Trust that *You’ve* Lost

    • Overview

    • happens. And sometimes it’s your fault. So now what?

    • Recovering Trust that *You've* Lost

    • Reflect on an experience of lost trust

    • Three steps to recovering trust

    • How to use Name It and Claim It to recover trust

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about recovering lost trust
  • 27

    Make a Different Kind of Sales Call

    • Overview

    • Why don’t you call more often?

    • Make a Different Kind of Sales Call

    • Reflect on a client relationship you enjoyed

    • Dare to show you care

    • Why (and how) you need to stay in touch

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about making a different kind of sales call
  • 28

    Earn Follow-on or Repeat Business … Repeatedly

    • Overview

    • Are you asking for the second date?

    • Earn Follow-on or Repeat Business ... Repeatedly

    • Reflect on how receptive your client might be

    • Develop follow-on business

    • Asking for referrals

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about earning follow-on business
  • 29

    Cross-sell the Right Way

    • Overview

    • Have you ever set friends up on a blind date?

    • Cross-Sell the Right Way

    • Reflect on a recent cross-selling effort

    • Three steps to successful cross-selling

    • Three types of cross-selling

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources about cross-selling
  • 30

    Next Steps

    • Course Completion

    • Before you go...