Becoming a Trusted Advisor

How many trusted advisors can anybody have? You have a best friend, a spouse or partner, a favorite sibling, a parent, a clergyman or a wise old rich uncle. And then you have specialists, your cousin the computer-stereo-digital camera nerd, your neighbor the sports equipment nut or your officemate the restaurant and travel maven. Most of us rarely lack for opinions and advice.

So what does a stranger -- a lawyer, accountant, doctor, financial planner, architect, insurance agent, stock broker, contractor, hair dresser, mechanic, personal stylist, tailor or decorator - have to do win access, trust and a recurring role? Marketing personal and professional services requires aligning the business proposition with the knowledge, expectations and psycho-demographics of the target population.

The relationship begins by grabbing our attention.

The classic ways are by being referred by somebody we already trust, by grabbing our attention, by telling us something significant we didn't already know, by offering us a free service sample or by wowing us with performance. In spite of many new marketing approaches and an explosion of new media, these tried and true techniques are the best way to sell services.

An initial interaction opens the way for professionals to present their value proposition and outline their service offerings. In most cases, we either already have the service and they need to switch our loyalty or we don't think we need the service, in which case they have to switch our perspective.

Here's how several of these would-be advisors approached me.

The Miracle Result. I met a friend at a party. She looked transformed, amazing and ten years younger. As it turned out it was the haircut. And even though few haircutters can make none look like some it was the ultimate referral. We looked at the friend and calculated what Pierra could do us. Her trusted advisor became our family haircutter.

The Squawking Referral. My wife's friend started a business and enjoyed a rush of early success. We were bemoaning how high New York tax rates were and she gushed about her accountant. Not only did he save her a bundle, avoid an audit and re-engineered how she did her business, he was our age, had our sensibilities and was in our demo. He lived in the right place, knew the right people and had an office nearby. Presto we changed horses.

Delivering on Expectations. My long-standing internist (of blessed memory) died. I needed a new doctor; someone who would proactively address my issues. Even after limiting the search to those on my network, there are a million doctors in the naked city. I got a referral from my most hypochondriac friend - the kind of person that only knows "big" doctors and memorizes the annual "best doctors" list.

She pointed me to Alice, who instantly delivered on my expectations. She looked, acted and talked like she'd always been the smartest girl in the class. And she had the pedigree and diplomas to prove it. She referred to medical stories in the Wall Street Journal. She took my history, looked at the labs and laid out a treatment plan that aligned both with my fears and with what I am actually willing to do. Subsequently I found out that ten people I know go to her and swear by her. I've referred 5 more.

The Freebie. I never knew about pedicures. I owned a toe nail clipper. I never imagined I needed a pedicure. In my mind it was a girl's indulgence thing. The only time I saw the inside of a nail salon was on Seinfeld until Babs showed up at our door.

She is the nail stylist to the stars, a friend of a friend, and the professional that New York's leading hotels call when a VIP needs cuticle coverage. She brought all her own stuff and did my feet while I sat on my living room couch watching a ballgame. It was the most amazing new experience I've had this year. I became an instant metrosexual, bought a new pair of flip flops to show off my toes and I e-mailed all my friends with an introductory discount offer from her.

The Insightful Analysis. As a marketer I'm leery about anything purporting to be a free analysis. I know every way to configure a survey, study or analytic tool to create a lead generation campaign. When my insurance agent retired, I agreed to let a new guy look at my policies. It was a revelation.

I always thought buying insurance was a take-it or leave-it deal; that Aetna, Allstate, Nationwide, Chubb and the others had run the numbers, set the rates and you bought or you didn't. This guy constructed a personal coverage plan for me. He showed me how brokers manipulate the variables that determine how much coverage you get for any given premium and how to take a macro view of what I have and what needs to be insured. He got me much more coverage for a modest incremental fee. I was swayed by the fact that he gave me insider knowledge and told me things I didn't know. And while he may have simply shared what my retiring guy never did or taken a more inclusive posture - it worked.

The quest for most professional services marketers is scale. How can they replicate these experiences on the web or how can they conduct more one-on-one sessions without being bound by time or geography? There are plenty of techniques to package, transmit and engage prospective customers but the fundamental ways to prove value and get a foot in the door remain the same.

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