In my career, I've learned the importance of earning trust and how one way to attain it is by helping others. HELP: the origin of the word has such meanings as to support, to benefit, to do good, to cure. I like to think of HELP as standing for How to Eliminate Life's Problems. That philosophy has worked for me, and I think it is good advice for others, no matter your profession or career. Some problems and situations covered in this book are ones most professionals contend with, including:
- Just not enough time to do what needs to be done.
- Being uncomfortable/unsure about how to interact with clients in a business development setting.
- Client discussions about your competition and how you are different.
- Overcoming complacency or just plain laziness.
- Handling the confusion resulting from a crisis or confrontation.
- Uncertainty about a direction or action to take.
This is a business book about furthering your career, which presumably, and naturally, also means making more money and becoming more secure professionally. Within this book, I use HELP as a means by which you discover how it-helping-is an excellent path to earning trust. And that is a cornerstone to better 'selling.' It is a guidebook for mid-career and experienced professionals to create a valuable network and develop new business opportunities for themselves and the companies that employ them.
-Jim Barratt
James W. Barratt is a business professional with over 30 years of professional services industry experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has provided services to clients around the world in the areas of auditing, consulting, and government service. Jim has worked in many countries and has presented on a variety of issues at various conferences, webcasts, and live training. Jim has learned from many of the leading professional services practitioners and has served as a mentor to many staff people. He has worked at firms that were start-ups to large global entities. He has led and grown several professional services practices from scratch. In addition to his professional career, Jim has actively been involved with and served on the board of many non-profit entities over his lifetime. He enjoys traveling the world, meeting new people, and learning about cultures and societies. In both his professional and personal capacity, at his core, he enjoys helping people.
