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What is an Advisor?
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One that advises, such as a person or firm that offers official or professional advice to clients.
Advise was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French aviser, itself from avis, meaning "opinion."
- to give a recommendation about what should be done
- to give an opinion
- to council
- to give information
The word in its original form includes both ‘caution’ as well as ‘counsel’.
The advisor is also grammatically closely connected to ‘being an authority’ – defined as an expert whose views are taken as definitive.
Trusted advisors offer the following benefits to their organisations:
- Build deeper customer relationships.
- Provide more complete solutions
- Accelerate business development.
- Are more satisfied in their jobs.
- Help their organizations create a competitive advantage.
You can recognize trusted advisors by these characteristics:
- Clients ask for them by name.
- They are sought out for advice that goes beyond their described expertise.
- They maintain relationships that aren’t just technical.
- Have a predilection to focus on the client, rather than themselves. They have:
- Enough self-confidence to listen without pre-judging and enough ego strength to subordinate their own ego.
- Enough curiosity to inquire without supposing an answer.
- Focus on the client as an individual, not as a person fulfilling a role.
- Show a strong "competitive" drive aimed not at competitors, but at constantly finding new ways to be of greater service.
- Consistently focus on doing the next right thing.
- Believe that success in client relationships is tied to the accumulation of quality experiences. as a result, they seek out client-contact experiences, and take personal risks with clients rather than avoid them.
- Believe that both selling and serving are aspects of professionalism. Both are about proving to clients that you are dedicated to helping them with their issues
Research by Alexander Consulting indicated that as little as 5% of advisors fall into the trusted advisor category.