Customer Reviews
The Lieutenant Columbo Approach - By: Mr. D. Abrahams, 05 Nov 2008 
Service excellence comes in many shapes & forms. The essence of the service concept is a relationship with the customer that goes above & beyond their expectations or the market norm. David Maister has introduced the nuts & bolts of building such a relationship in The Trusted Advisor.
He looks at the concept of getting closer to customers from an interpersonal point of view as well as a highly practical point of view.
His strength is in bringing to life concepts that could be handled clumsily in a very easy & relevant read.
My particular favourite is chapter 17, the Lieutenant Columbo Approach. Whilst time goes by & many are not familiar with this icon of American television, for those of us that grew up with Columbo, his less than immaculate dress sense, remnants of a cigar & slightly tilted gestures there is an unmistakable empathy with Maister's presentation of the character's genius. Columbo effectively made the bad guy trip himself up with a seemingly naive curiosity in his questioning style, lulling the allleged criminal into a state of openness; an honesty that would eventuallly prove to be their downfalll.
Without doubt, a fantastic read & 'how-to' book on getting close to your most important focal point, your customers, & turning the relationship from transactional into transformational, from merely being a 'supplier' to a trusted advisor.
It remains a 'best-seller' amongst our customers who consistently rate it as one of their favourites.
Good stuff - By: Graham R. Hill, 14 Jan 2008 This book covers the subject at a theoretical level, but also complements that with checklists of things to do/not do(thoughtfully repeated together in an Appendix). The examples drawn from the authors' own experience are also more relevant & substantial than is often the case. This is a book that won't just be useful once, but which will bear referring to again & again.
Valuable Tips and Insights - By: John Bland, 08 Feb 2007 
The key theme for the book, the Trust Equation is actuallly in the middle of the book. The first part of the book leads up to it by framing the issue of trust & what a trusted adviser is. The second part, starting with the Trust Equation gives some structure to the challlenge of building trust whilst the third part is alll about putting trust to work.
It contain loads of tips & ideas to help anyone who needs or wants to become a "trusted adviser" & it will be of particular interest to lawyers, accountants, account managers, consultants, tax advisers, business coaches etc. -- anyone in a long term relationship with a client.
A reallly good book -- but I didn't actuallly finish it, partly because I had got enough out of it, & also partly because the format seemed a bit repetetive. Well worth the money spent though!
Clear directions on creating trust - By: Rolf Dobelli, 07 Jun 2006 Being trusted by their clients separates successful advisors & consultants from the corporate consigliores. But how does a qualified advisor become trusted? Authors David H. Maister, Charles H. Green & Robert M. Galford provide methods you can use to reach the inner circle. They break trust into its component parts & reassemble those pieces into a viable, practical model, complete with suggested conversations. That may sound a little robotic, but with practice, an advisor can make the transition from outside technician to habitué of the inner sanctum. This readable book includes a useful appendix & a list of quick references. We recommend it to consultants & professional service providers. We trust you'll know what to do with it.
A good book for business employees/consultants - By: , 03 Jun 2003 The Trusted Advisor was on a recommended reading list for the ISEB exam in IS Consultancy. I brought this book to help me with my studies, but have also found it very useful in everyday life. It reopens your eyes into how you should conduct yourself every day to gain peoples / customers trust. Each section has a set of bullet points relating to it for easy reference. The content would work for business employees & consultants.
