Principle · Chief Revenue Officer

Trust Equation.

Source: David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford, The Trusted Advisor (2000), Free Press.

The Principle

Trust is treated like a feeling, but the authors argue it can be modeled as math. Their equation:

Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-Orientation

Credibility is what the buyer believes about your expertise (the words you say, the work you have done). Reliability is what the buyer believes about your dependability (the actions you have taken, the promises you have kept). Intimacy is the safety the buyer feels in being honest with you (whether they would tell you the real concern, not just the polite one). Self-Orientation is the denominator, the only one that divides: how much you appear to be focused on yourself rather than on the buyer.

The denominator is the leverage point. You can be brilliant (high Credibility), reliable (high Reliability), and even close (high Intimacy) and still not be trusted, if the buyer senses you care more about your own outcome than theirs. Conversely, an advisor with modest credibility but very low self-orientation can earn enormous trust quickly. The quickest way to build trust is to demonstrably reduce self-orientation. The quickest way to destroy it is to spike it.

Why It Matters Here

The Chief Revenue Officer's primary asset is trust. Pipeline, win rates, and lifetime value all rest on it. Without the equation, sellers tend to over-invest in Credibility (more credentials, more pitch decks) when the actual deficit is usually Self-Orientation (the buyer feels pushed). The equation gives the CRO a diagnostic tool: when a deal stalls, do not assume the reason is the price or the product. Audit each variable. The fix is almost always in the variable that is weakest, and that variable is almost always Self-Orientation.

Signals (When to Apply)

A deal is stalling and the buyer's stated reason does not feel like the real one
Discovery calls produce polite engagement but no follow-through
A long-term client is suddenly less responsive
A new seller is being onboarded and needs a model for what trust actually is
Win rates are dropping and the team is debating whether to drop price

How to Apply

For any active deal, score each variable on a 1-10 scale from the buyer's likely perspective. The lowest variable is where the deal will be won or lost.
Build Credibility through specifics, not credentials. Specific past situations, specific outcomes, specific lessons. Generic expertise reads as marketing.
Build Reliability through micro-promises kept. Send the follow-up by the time you said. Show up on time. Deliver the document by the date promised. Small reliability accumulates faster than large reliability.
Build Intimacy by being safe to tell the truth to. Ask questions that invite real answers. When the buyer shares something hard, do not rush to fix it. Acknowledge first.
Reduce Self-Orientation by recommending against your own interest when it serves the buyer. Decline a deal that would be wrong for them. Refer them to a competitor when you cannot help. The buyer remembers this for years.
Audit your own language for self-orientation tells. "We are excited about our product" is high self-orientation. "What would help you most right now?" is low.
When trust is broken, name it directly. Pretending it is fine widens the gap. A short, honest acknowledgment of the issue almost always restores ground.

Examples

Applied well A buyer is evaluating two consultants. The first sends a polished proposal within 24 hours and follows up twice in the first week. The second waits two days, asks three more questions, sends a shorter proposal that explicitly notes "based on what you described, I do not think you need the full engagement. Here is the smaller version that addresses the actual problem you named. If it does not work, the larger version is still available." The buyer hires the second consultant. The first had higher Credibility and Reliability. The second had dramatically lower Self-Orientation, and that is what closed the deal.

Misapplied A seller has been working a deal for two months. The buyer goes quiet. The seller's response is a series of "just checking in" messages, each one slightly more anxious than the last. Each message increases the buyer's perception of Self-Orientation (the seller wants the deal more than they want to help) and decreases trust. The deal eventually closes with a competitor. The actual issue was a budget freeze the buyer never disclosed because the seller never created enough Intimacy for the buyer to feel safe sharing it.

When to Break It

In purely transactional contexts (small purchases, commodity sales) where the buyer is not looking for an advisor and a high-trust posture would feel like overinvestment. Match the buying mode.
When time is the scarce resource and the buyer needs a fast yes or no, not a deepening of the relationship. Compression is the right call sometimes.
When the buyer is operating in bad faith and a high-intimacy posture would expose the seller to manipulation. Trust is two-sided. Withhold it where it is not safe to give.
When organizational distance (regulated industries, procurement-driven processes) makes intimacy structurally inappropriate. Lean on Credibility and Reliability instead.