As mentioned earlier, when a corporate SME meets with customers, they have three primary responsibilities: establish trust, determine mutual vision, and ensure delivery. Everything else is secondary. We’ll talk about vision and delivery later in this book. For now, let’s focus on trust.

The most important asset an expert can obtain is trust. It is more important than technical prowess or an industry-changing idea. When people trust you—when you win their faith, confidence, and admiration, they seek your advice, they value your opinion, and they do what you recommend.

Trust is forward-looking. It is based on a person’s confidence or faith in some future event or condition. When people trust you, they believe that you can shape their future for the better. It also means they will submit some level of control in their life to you. Being worthy of trust is one of your highest objectives. You may be an expert in all dimensions, but if you do not have the trust of your audience, then you have nothing.