It is true
that the authors regard their main focus as professional selling but the
content fits surprisingly well into the context of Business Partnering,
including those operating within the Finance and IT Functions. Indeed the messages seem just as relevant as
the work of David Ulrich who specialises in Business Partnering though, in
fairness, Ulrich has never claimed that his frameworks apply outside the specific
HR context.
As might
be gathered from the title, the authors regard trust as the essential ingredient in any successful business
interaction, the ultimate goal for anyone who wants to be listened to. Maister and his co-authors are very much into
frameworks that can easily be recognised and applied. Early on he refers to the four stages of a
business relationship, moving through different bases as the partnership
matures, from service to needs to relationship and finally to the ultimate goal
of mutual trust.
We had
already seen this four stage framework in our work on Finance Business
Partnering but had not come across his other powerful framework - the ‘Trust
Equation’ - before. This seems to be
both ingenious and insightful, containing the four essential factors in the
establishment of trust - Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-orientation. As you read the last of these four
factors you feel that you want to challenge the framework because surely
self-orientation is the last thing you need in a trusting relationship. But this is where the ingenuity comes in; the
equation requires the first three elements - C, R and I - to be divided by S
for self-orientation so that the lower the S, the higher the T for Trust. So the message is to think of the needs of
others rather than self, an obvious point but one that is well made.
I was
less keen on his five stage sequential process for trust building - engage,
listen, frame, envision, commit - because it implies that there is a logical
progression in building relationships, when clearly each one will be different
and may require flexible approaches. It
also implies that the other parties are passively waiting for you to go through
the five stages at your order and pace, when in reality they may have their own
agenda and process.
The book
is also strong on practical tips to apply content. The chapter on listening skills is excellent
and ends with 23 tips for good listening and 10 pitfalls to avoid. This may seem over the top but it is all good
common sense stuff. The book is also
easy to read and of reasonable length, about 200 pages. Indeed most of the useful content for those interested
in Business Partnering is in the first 120 pages. After this point there is a
closer link to the selling process though the reader should not miss the final
chapter which contains more practical guidance via a ‘quick impact list to gain
trust’. Some of this content is cheesy
and blindingly obvious but there are also some memorable pieces of advice that
any sales person or business partner should follow. I particularly liked ‘never over-deliver or
under-deliver, just deliver’ and ‘assigning blame will entrap me, taking
responsibility will empower me’.
This
book is highly recommended for those who want to improve their business
relationships with partners and customers, internal and external. It is perhaps a strength that Maister adopts
a client selling orientation because that is what, to a large extent, business
partnering is about. And many of those
that we see in service functions like HR, Finance and IT are having to come to
terms with this challenge. This book
will help them along the way.
Buy the book;
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