Trust is defined as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or the ability of someone or something.

The opening keynote of the 2020 PM Forum Annual Conference was from Rippan Vig (Director of Client & Strategic Development, Watson Farley & Williams) and she shared some insight on how those who work in business services roles can shift and position themselves as trusted advisors within their firms. 

This theme really resonates with us at Passle - as helping individuals to become the trusted advisors of their industry/field is our bread and butter. It was therefore really interesting to hear her thoughts on how marketing individuals can do this within their firms. Here are a couple of points I took away from the session, with a few of my thoughts;

Practise what you preach - Often in firms, those in marketing and BD roles will work with fee earners and partners to help them manage and enhance relationships with clients and accounts. A firm will become a trusted advisor to a client by, getting to know them, having open conversations and understanding their needs, challenges, fears, goals and ethos. Rippan advises 'practising what you preach' and the same processes you would use build relationships externally with clients can also be used internally to build rapport with the key stakeholders in the firm.

Work on your emotional intelligence (EQ) - EQ is a measure of ones interpersonal and communication skills, essentially the ability to understand your own emotions so you can empathise, communicate and overcome challenges with others. 'Empathy is at the heart of influencing people because it demonstrates an understanding of the other person's position'. 

If there are challenges or friction, there is often a tendency to push your point harder, so it gets across. Present the facts! Prove you are right! ... wrong - this is the worse thing you can do. Arguments are net-negative, even if you are in the right, you leave the other person feeling wounded, so they are not going to want to listen to you. You actually need to take a moment to understand the concerns or worries of that individual, and usually, a gentle conversation is the best way to resolve things.