After I wrote my last blog, I wondered one thing…What does it take to be a trusted advisor? When you think about it in simple terms it means people trust you enough to take your advice. But to me, a trusted advisor is more than that. Below I will delve into what I think it takes to be a trusted advisor.

Let’s define Trust:

noun

reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

Let’s also define Distrust:

noun

the feeling that someone or something cannot be relied upon.

verb

doubt the honesty or reliability of; regard with suspicion.

Now that we have defined trust, why do people have trouble trusting certain people in certain industries?

The most common distrusted professional would be a used car salesperson “Trust me, I’m a used car salesman”

I can name many industries just like the used car salesman where the general perception of a person in that industry is ‘dodgy’ such as real estate agents, bank managers, financial advisors, door to door salespeople, politicians and even our Australian cricketers.

So why do we not trust these professionals before we even meet them or use their services? Because somewhere along the line, we have been let down by them or know someone that has been let down by these professionals or any professional in any industry. We have been let down by certain professionals because there has been a lack respect or authenticity during the relationship.

Some of the qualities that build trust in a relationship are respect, authenticity, confidence, calmness, experience, and honesty. All of these characteristics are just as important as each other. It only takes the lack of one of these and trust is gone. You can’t have respect for someone but then lie to them, it just doesn’t work. You need to show that you are calm in a time of crisis because you have the confidence to know what needs to be done, which comes with experience. All these characteristics matter because they all take time to build mutually.

The other big characteristic that is extremely important and brings all of the above characteristics is to actually care about people. One thing I have built my business on, is Care, we actually care about people and how we can help them. Everything we do in the background is aligned to helping the customer achieve their goal. This can’t be faked, you either care about the customer or you don’t, there is no in between…as they say, you can’t be half pregnant.

I have come across many different professionals that would have loved to work in conjunction with me i.e. accountants, financial advisors, real estate agents etc. however, we have only ever worked with a select few. This is because only the select few really understand what we do and have aligned themselves with our purpose. That purpose is to help our customers and help them achieve their financial goals.

All my communication has been set up with one thing in mind…’help people’. I give away information on my Instagram to educate people and if only one person benefits from the advice then I am happy.

I’m going to leave you with a quote from one of my favourite authors Stephen Covey.

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen Covey

Thank you for reading