How do you put a price on “trust”

In the consulting world, there is an old joke.

Two people buy a ship. Soon after, the engine stops running and after multiple unsuccessful attempts to get someone to repair it, they are put in touch with an old man who is reputed to be able to fix any ship engine. They beg the old man to fix theirs. When the old man arrives, he looks over the engine, thinks for a few minutes, reaches into his tool bag for a large mallet and whacks the engine. Miraculously, the engine starts. Two days later the owners receive his invoice for $10,000 and are outraged at the cost. They call him to ask how he can justify $10,000 for a few minutes work and ask him for a detailed itemized invoice.

The next day they receive the following:

• Fees for time to whack the engine: ???????????????????????????????????$?????10.00
• Fees for 40 years experience to know where to hit: ????????$ 9,990.00

So, when doing advisory work, what is the value and price you put on the intangibles of knowledge, experience and trust?

A few months ago, a former client reached out. The company was at a crossroads and needed to make a recommendation to their Board. Although we had not worked together for a couple of years, the CEO asked if I could help him and a small group of his executives to think through an issue. Although the issue was not within my wheelhouse of expertise, they felt I could help them debate the issue and alternatives, challenge their thinking, and help them get aligned around a position to present to their Board. There was no expectation of me creating a deliverable nor were any questions asked regarding what my fees would be. The engagement lasted a few weeks, consumed a few hours of my time over four meetings and resulted in a clear, aligned direction. which was presented to the Board

This engagement was barely completed when I was contacted by another former client who is a “C” level executive. We did extensive work together in the past, but he has not been a client for five years. He is about to embark on a major, mission critical project and would like me to advise on the project. Again, the project is outside of my wheelhouse of expertise. As I probed to understand the project and my potential role, my client said: “I want you advising me on this project because I can count on you to ask the really nasty questions that no one wants to answer and no one else will ask”.

In both cases, it struck me that my value is “trust”, not expertise.

This has caused to me to reflect on my current three major client engagements, one which has been on-going since 2018, one that has been on-going since 2016 and one that is now in its fourteenth years of advisory work. None of these engagements have definitive scopes or deliverables and in all I have latitude on where I engage and how I deliver value. That does not mean that there is not oversight or accountability for outcomes because there is but the foundation of each of these engagements is based on trust.

So whether you are a consultant or an employee, how do you create that environment of trust with your “client”, "customer", “supervisor”, “employer” or whatever term you choose for those to whom you are accountable?

For me, it starts with them understanding what they can expect from you. Will you put their interests ahead of yours? Will you have their back? Can they expect honest, truthful, transparent discussions even when the discussions may be uncomfortable to deliver or receive? Will your actions and behaviours align with their objectives and key results they are seeking?

Talk is cheap. Over time, have your actions demonstrated the above.

Next, what is your ability to deliver value? Over time, is there clear evidence that positive outcomes occur where you are involved at a greater rate or degree than in similar situations where you are not involved? Some outcomes will be very tangible and obvious. Others will be more nuanced and more difficult to discern.

Finally, how do you deliver these outcomes… with the delicacy of a bull in a China shop or the grace of figure skater? David Maister has two pieces of advice:

1.??????It is not good enough to be right. An advisor’s job is the be helpful

2.??????People need to know how much you care, before they care how much you know

It does no good to point out to a client the many things that is wrong with their company if they only have the capacity to fix one or two now. An advisor’s job is to identify the most critical, most fixable, most advantageous that will benefit their client, not harp on the many others that are beyond their capacity to do anything about at the moment. And the identified issues must be the most advantageous to them, not the ones that the advisor themself finds most interesting to work on.

So, whether you are an advisor or an employee looking to become a "trusted advisor" within your company, how do you price your value when “trust” is your currency. After circling this issue from many points of view, I don’t think you can. Ultimately the “client” arbitrates and assigns value and as much as your value is “trust”, you have to trust them to reward your value fairly.

In my experience, this happens and in the rare occasions where trust is abused, just move on.?