Not too long ago financial advisers were unregulated but because standards were lacking in the industry they eventually had to write financial adviser exams and be registered. Too many customers were advised on investments that were not in their best interests. In these times with the increase in the number of small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures, the number of small business advisers has grown.
You see these so-called business advisers on TV, commenting on entrepreneurial shows, small business competitions, hear them on radio, see them in print and online. They have multiplied faster than small business ventures. Academia has also got in on the act and its business schools for entrepreneurship are proving profitable with the number of students who want to go this route.
Where would you go if you needed business advice? Would you trust any of these so-called business advisers? Have you sought out any business adviser recently? What do you look for in a business adviser that you can trust?
Charles Green who is part of the Trusted Adviser Associates has gathered data from nearly 64,000 respondents who took the Trust Quotient Assessment between 2008 and 2014. What they found was that expertise is not the key to building trust in business and professional situations. The trust quotient score is measured on these subcomponents: credibility, reliability, intimacy and self orientation. Although the most common combination for advisers was credibility and reliability, and mostly used by the expert, the most potent combination was reliability combined with intimacy and they called this person the doer. This is the person who gets things done. The findings suggest that skills mastery and knowledge are among the least effective means for building trust. Most important was integrity. They found that the ability to make others feel safe and to show empathy and personal vulnerability hotkeys to building trust.
When those financial advisers came to advise you it is interesting that even though they listen to your needs, hopes, wishes and dreams, they still pulled out the solution which would be the policy or investment that earned them the highest commission and over the longest period. Strange isn’t it? How come they weren’t acting in the interests of the customer? This is the thing, when somebody tries to push the solution on to you it seems as if there is a breakdown in integrity. Something is missing. What’s that? It’s really trust, isn’t it? If that financial adviser really had your interest at heart, they would offer you the best solution for your given circumstances.
The point is that everyone has a hidden bias towards some answer or solution. It might mean better commission for them or it could mean they have tried out the solution before and it worked but who’s to say it’s going to work in your circumstances?
The most expensive business advice can be that which is free. The person who gives the advice has no skin in the game. They don’t have any consequences if there advice turns out wrong. This is why you need to be careful about so-called “free” advice.
In “Breakthrough Ideas”, you’ll find that this area of business advice is cautiously and carefully covered. It’s a guide to taking a promising business idea and turning it into a product or service for income generation. It’s not a blueprint. You need to weigh the information, which you can’t obtain anywhere else, and decide whether to act on it. Even though others have profited from this information, it may not be right for you. If you want a copy, just check out the contents on this website.
