Sell with Trust

It starts with being trustworthy. That sounds obvious, but trust is such a core element of human behavior and interaction that it warrants a scientific, analytical approach. Trust-based Selling is a proven driver of business success. The key is to focus exclusively on helping customers and not on the business success metrics themselves.

  • Truly understand what drives sales (and it’s not price or an optimized sales funnel!)

  • Achieve enhanced creativity and openness to your ideas, more buy-in, greater honesty and fewer misunderstandings

  • Stay top of mind when customers want something, need advice or just want some support

  • Generate increased sales naturally as a by-product of having trusting relationships

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 19 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.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

    • Course Welcome

    • Introduction

    • Get the Most Out of This Course

    • Assess Your Own Trustworthiness

    • Course Resources
  • 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

    • Overview

    • The hidden driver of influence

    • Get Your Advice Heard and Taken

    • Reflect on an interaction where you weren't heard

    • Overcome barriers to paying attention

    • Masterful listening: Do’s and Don’ts

    • Check your knowledge

    • Explore additional resources on getting 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 defensive reaction

    • 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 next right 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

    Next Steps

    • Course Completion

    • Before you go...