Gain Clients' Trust: It's What You Do, Not What You Say
(Six tips for conveying your competence)

by Anne M. Bachrach

Being competent is an important factor in building trust. People seldom believe you’re competent based on what you say about your credentials, experience, investment philosophy, or background. They believe you’re competent based on your behavior. As essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "What you do shouts so loudly in my ears I can’t hear a word you’re saying."

1. Competent professionals ask good questions.
John Sculley, former CEO of Apple says, "The solutions are often obvious once you get the questions right." Successful people measure your competence by the quality of your questions.

My favorite questions to ask in the client interview (with prospects and clients) begins with, "What’s important about success to you?" Of course, there is a stage setting before you blurt out this question.

Your prospects can tell you are competent because they do all the talking about what’s important to them (their values), goals, where they are now, and where they want to be.

2. Competent professionals discover all the necessary information in the first interview.
Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. Incompetent professionals give advice on what the prospect/client should buy without knowing all the details first.

Your prospects and clients can tell you are competent by the questions you ask and because you expect them to tell you the truth.

3. Competent professionals have a system for helping their clients.
Competent professionals have a system that repeats itself with every prospect and client. Lee Trevino once remarked, "The best swing is one that repeats. I used to hit a one iron 260 yards through a doorway. Now I can hit it through a keyhole."

4. Competent professionals make it simple.
The more successful or "sophisticated" your client, the more they appreciate simplicity.

5. Competent professionals are thorough.
Competent professionals are obsessively thorough.

6. Competent professionals are totally present.
A speaker coach, Max Dixon, asks, "Can you show up ready to be no place else?" This means asking a question and being completely present for the answer, not thinking about the next question or the next comment.

Can you show up ready to be no place else? The competent professional does.

In summary, you have to be competent. Then your clients must be able to see, hear, and experience your competence from the very first moment they interact with you. Before they discover your true competence by working with you they must believe you are competent in order to give you their business in the first place.

Anne M. Bachrach is President of A.M. Enterprises in San Diego, CA. Anne has 23 years of experience training and coaching. The objective is to do more business in less time through maximizing people's true potential, and ultimately leading them to an even better quality of life. For more information on our services and learning tools, and to take advantage of at least 9 FREE life quality resources, visit www.AccountabilityCoach.com or click this link (http://AccountabilityCoach.com/signupa). Begin with the 30-day self-study course and experience a more balanced and successful life (http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/30dayStudyCourse.php).

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