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<b><i>Voice of the Client:</i></b> Trusted Adviser?

By Bruce Heintz
April 02, 2015

I work with law firms and lawyers to gauge their clients' levels of satisfaction and lack thereof. Over many years, I've been involved in thousands of in-person interviews with in-house legal counsel and business executives on behalf of law firms, Big Four accounting firms and other professional services organizations. During these interviews, clients have shared their observations about the professionals who serve them ' and what makes the good ones really good.

So, what is a Trusted Adviser and how do you become one, thereby deepening and strengthening a relationship? Many of the definitions I've found in print and online seem to be a bit vague, such as having “practical judgment” or being able to “influence and advocate.” But, I haven't heard these terms used very often in interviews and I'm not sure how helpful they might be. Instead, I will share with you a few of the more instructional vignettes that I have gleaned from listening to clients enthuse about their own Trusted Advisers:

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