The Standard
Six Standards of Professional Service Excellence
Trusted Firms Global certification is built on six service standards that reflect what clients consistently value in professional services firms. These standards are assessed through independent feedback.
Responsiveness & Reliability
Clients receive timely, reliable responses appropriate to the urgency of their needs.
Clarity & Communication
Clients understand advice and feel kept informed throughout the engagement.
Expertise & Proactive Value Delivery
Clients see value beyond the transaction — advice that anticipates needs and creates forward momentum.
Relationship & Trust-Building
Clients trust their advisers personally and professionally, and feel the relationship is genuinely valued.
Service Accountability & Follow-Through
Clients see promises delivered and issues resolved. Commitments are tracked and honoured.
Staff Recognition & Celebration of Excellence
Staff delivering great service are recognised and celebrated — building a culture of service excellence from within.
Our standards are grounded in established research on how clients experience professional services. Read the research foundations →
Certification Tiers
The certification tier reflects what Trusted Firms Global is willing to vouch for publicly — each tier a stronger public claim than the one below. At Standard: independent measurement and certified status; completeness is not vouched, so no public score is published. At Verified: completeness is verified from the firm’s billing records, which unlocks a public, comparable score. At Gold: sustained rigour with closed-loop accountability.
The firm submits to independent measurement
Independent NPS measurement via Client Culture
Minimum 250 client responses
NPS ≥ 70
Annual measurement cycle
Completeness is not vouched at this tier — and so no public score is published
Client list may be a CRM export or a prepared list
Verification method
Client Culture integrity review — client-list shrinkage monitoring, statistical outlier flagging, and response-rate monitoring (manual review). Completeness is not separately attested at Standard; the public claim is independent measurement and certified status, not a score.
The measurement is structurally protected from selection
All Standard requirements, plus:
Client population drawn from the firm’s raw billing file, including invoice amounts — a self-reconciling source where selective omission is detectable
Coverage cross-checked — surveys per fee-earner against firm size, with coverage consistency monitored across cycles
Higher-frequency measurement (quarterly or more)
Survey population generated by the billing cycle, handled with the firm’s operations or finance function — not fee-earners
Verification method
Client population taken from the raw billing extract with invoice amounts; coverage and year-over-year shrinkage reconciled against billing volume and firm size, making selective omission detectable. Completeness is verified structurally — which is what unlocks the public score.
Sustained rigour with closed-loop accountability
All Verified requirements, plus:
Sustained high coverage across every cycle for a full year — a demonstrated track record
Genuinely quarterly-or-more measurement, every cycle
Structured detractor follow-up, evidenced — closing the loop on poor scores, with proof it occurred
Verification method
Manual review (mandatory). Sustained coverage and frequency confirmed across a year; detractor follow-up evidence reviewed.
Note on Gold and NPS: Firms meeting Gold process standards typically achieve NPS ≥ 80. The NPS threshold is evidence of process quality, not the criterion being assessed.
Tier comparison
| Standard | Verified | Gold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPS threshold | ≥ 70 | ≥ 70 | ≥ 80 typical |
| Min. responses | 250 | 250 | 250 per cycle |
| Measurement cycle | Annual | Quarterly or more | Quarterly or more, sustained 12 months |
| Client list source | Prepared list / CRM export | Raw billing file, incl. invoice amounts | Raw billing file, sustained |
| Selection protection | Manual integrity review (no completeness claim) | Reconcilable billing data + coverage checks | As Verified, sustained + tracked |
| Coverage check | Shrinkage + outlier monitoring | Coverage reconciled vs billing & firm size | High coverage sustained every cycle |
| Detractor follow-up | — | — | Structured, with evidence |
| Data path | Firm-submitted | Operations/finance, not fee-earners | Operations/finance, not fee-earners |
| Verification method | Manual integrity review | Reconciliation + coverage review | Manual review (mandatory) |
| Annual renewal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
How we maintain standards
Minimum participation thresholds — sample size and response rate
Manual integrity review (Standard tier) — client-list shrinkage, statistical outlier flagging, and response-rate monitoring
Reconciliation of the raw billing file, including invoice amounts, with coverage checks (Verified and Gold tiers)
Year-over-year coverage and shrinkage monitoring helps detect selective omission
Annual renewal required (quarterly measurement minimum for Gold)
Public verification pages create accountability
Gold's sustained-coverage requirement, frequency, and evidenced detractor follow-up make selective measurement impractical to sustain
Ready to meet the standard?
Apply for certification and choose your tier.