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How many of you are confused about what it means to be professional? For many of us it’s pure common sense, but for the rest of us we’re pretty much out in the dark. In the following post I like to share from my experience what it means to be professional….
“In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?” ~ Carl Rogers
What does it really mean to be professional?
I’ve ask this question from time and time again throughout my online/offline marketing career. Is it just dressing up in a suit and tie and “looking” very confident in everything you do?
Is it just working really hard until you achieve what you want?
Is it being an expert on everything there is to know within your niche?
Whatever it is, all I know is this. It confused the hell how of me for a mighty long time. Before my online/offline marketing presence and during it. I always look to see how people act professional and what reactions they get from others.
Some are positive and others are negative, but for most of us, we don’t like to feel the pain of the negative and take the easy way out. And we know this doesn’t really benefit us too well.
So what is it really that makes us “Professional”?
I believe the quote at the beginning of this blog post explains it the best. It’s about providing a relationship which anyone may use for their personal growth. In this case I believe I’ve been a professional for a long time as well as many of you.
But I do have to admit, I had to grow into this definition and I am still growing within it, but for the most part I have been moving forward. When you can get into this vibe of being the best you can be, then you’ll notice a slight change and you’ll see it in the people you start to attract.
5 Ways Of Being More Professional 
Like I mentioned before, I’m speaking from my own experience and the reactions I’ve gotten from different people when it came to professionalism. If you want to attract a certain caliber of people into your inner circle, then these 5 tips is a great start. Just keep in mind that you want to be the person that people want to be attracted to:
Not Being Emotionally Focused On The Word “NO”
When I first started my business, I was pretty emotional when someone told me “NO” about my offer. It felt like a stab in the heart LOL and for some reason I thought they were rejecting me as a person. But as time went on, I gotten over it.
How? I realize that they weren’t really rejecting me as a person, but the opportunity as a whole because for some of them, I kept the relationship going. The fact that the relationship kept going was a great indicator of why they weren’t rejecting me. So instead of focusing on the NO, focus on the rapport building.
Not Trying To Convince How Much Better Your Opportunity is Than Theirs
It’s very unprofessional to try to convince people on how much your opportunity is better than theirs. That’s like saying that others can’t make a sound decision for themselves. So why insult their own intelligence?
Someone who is more professional will actually give praise to the decision that they made about their business and will offer help in their ventures. As bloggers we do this all the time by sharing information, so why not do it when we approach people online and offline? You’ll definitely be more approachable, and for some reason draw some curiosity to what you do.
Finding Out The Struggles Of Your Prospects and Leads
Now if others accepts your help, the next step is to figure out what struggles they have. The fact that you’re “troubleshooting” actually shows how concern you are about their success. And once again it may draw some curiosity to what you’re doing to be successful in your business venture.
Asking For Permission
Being courteous goes a long way in this business. Instead of making a statement to take a look at your offers, why not ask for their permission to look at your offers after building rapport and doing the troubleshooting?
People don’t like to be told what to do.. Well at least adults! When this is done, they believe that you’re “selling” them something they feel they don’t need and we all know that people don’t like to be “sold” too, although this is actually a misinterpretation of what selling really is. So be cordial with your questions because that equals professionalism!
Being On Time
You know slipped a couple of times on being late. This has to do with respecting other people’s time. We definitely want others to respect our time, so why not do the same.
Someone that is profession will go out their way to be on time for appointments, meetings, conferences, etc.. If they can’t make it or be late, they will call within a convenient time for others to let them know so they can make other plans otherwise. When it comes to this it’s all about mutual respect.
Now It’s Your Turn!
What’s your opinion on being professional? Do you see it has being someone that will help others grow personally according to the quote? Is there tips you would add or subtract to this list? Please share your comments below and share this post with your friends. I look forward to reading them!
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Sherman,
Great tips, I especially enjoyed the second one, it is easy to get heated in debates over which way is better. Professionals do a great job with avoiding things that are unimportant arguments.
Hey Jason,
You can definitely befuddle people if you’re always neutral to these types of arguments. This shows a lot of character and how focus you are when it comes to business. This by far gives you a lot of respect and makes you attractive to others!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman,
Being on time is a big one on this list. You see, I’ve dealt with so many people over the years and one that really strikes me how they show up at an appointment. So, if they show up late, it’s obvious they probably show up like that in their business. Thanks for the tips!
Nate Leung recently posted…What to Do If Your Prospects Do Not Take You Seriously
Hey Nate,
It’s funny how this carry’s over to business. Lateness to appointments shows how important the other person’s time is to them. If they start a home business, it will also show how serious they are about it!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Nice points/tips Sherman! You are right about the “No” thing. When I started out I too used to panic and get depressed when people said No to me. I took it personal.
And then later on I realized that it is nothing to do with me and I got more professional and matured.
Thanks for sharing!
Hey Jane,
It definitely has nothing to do with you and we should never take it personally. There’s too many opportunities to meet other people who are serious about making a change and who would be interested in our offer! Thanks for your comment!
admin recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman,
What a coincidence! Recently, I have printed another set of business cards with these words – “Professionalism in Network Marketing. Are you catching the wave?”.
Professionalism is an extremely important aspect that new or novice network marketers need to master. I am going to add an obvious one – spamming the business opportunity link everywhere in discussion forums. Another more recent type of spamming is via sms to others’ mobile devices. This latter strategy may be viewed as ‘leveraging the technology’. Sad.
Respecting others’ time is crucial. Spamming is wasting others’ time and, possibly, their energy (if others are already building their own Network Marketing business but not smart enough to ignore other deals).
Asking permission is an art. We certainly do not have to beg or chase. Everything is conversational. There are specific skills that needed to be mastered. Learn to do the right steps. Keep the friendship and relationship. Move forward in business with those who are CHOOSING to work with us as business partners (for life).
Awesome sharing, Sherman!! I am proud to have connected to another professional – YOU.
Viola Tam – The Business Mum
Hey Viola,
I guess we have that mental telepathy going right now LOL!
But yes, professionalism is something that we all need to master. It’s about opening relationship and treating others how we want to be treated!
We must allow people to make choices for themselves, and provide those choices for them, instead of shoving our opportunities down their throat.
When people can feel how genuine you are, then they will give you the responses that you want. Especially it allows you to pick and choose who you want to work with!
Thanks for your insight Viola!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman, great blog post!
I especially like the paragraph about ‘Finding out the struggles of your prospects and leads’. Doing it in the way you suggest presupposes that you have your clients best interests at heart and you are also demonstrating that you are interested in helping others.
This reminds me of a great quote by Bryan Tracy; “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?”
Also another good trait I think demonstrates a professional person is being organized. Now this is something that I struggled with for a long time, lol! But once a person becomes more organized they are much more in control of themselves, of their time and of their life in general. This also projects a level or a degree of self mastery and thus, professionalism.
Great blog by the way 🙂
Best Regards,
Steve
Hey Steve,
You know what Steve, you’re not the only one that struggled with it LOL! But then again, I think the majority of us did when we first started out! It’s all good because it’s all a part of the growing process!
But being able to be genuinely interested in the prospect is definitely key. You want them to feel that you’re actually trying to help solve their problems, and point them in the right direction. It’s amazing how people don’t do this and I agree 100 percent with the Bryan Tracy quote!
When you can master yourself, everything else starts to fall in place!
Thanks for your insight Steve!
admin recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman,
Great tips on how to be more professional. It felt as though you were talking to me when you said that you used to get offended when people told you “No”.
I still find myself getting somewhat offended or even scared to talk about my products because I don’t want to be told NO.
I need to start looking at like you said. It’s not me that people are saying no to…it’s just not the right product for them. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great day.
Hey Susan,
It’s a scary feeling when we first start our businesses! We become so scared and self conscious about ourselves that we tend to forget about our products LOL! At least I have!
This has lead me into how to market, which I see is where it lead you! Once we see the options out there and how to focus on the people who would most likely want our offers, it becomes easier to brush all of those “No’s” off our shoulders!
Thanks for your comment!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman – you have some interesting tips here. I think, for me, being professional is about providing a high quality service – caring about your customers or clients, treating them well and valuing what you do.
Hey Susan,
Thanks for sharing what you believe professionalism is to you. I like the fact that you mentioned high quality service! That’s what being a professional is all about! Thanks!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Hi Sherman,
You are so on point when it comes to being professional. That first one got me. It took me a long time to say NO in my offline business. I had to do some hurdles in building my confidence in order to do that. Saying No is beneficial to me and a client. After all, if we don’t say no, we may be enabling a relationship that will eventually fail.
Being on time is another one for me! When I call a client I’m EXACTLY on time. I get many reactions from people about it. They somehow are surprised. Go figure… This is why I never let someone call me. My time is precious and I don’t want to be at the mercy of someone being late and backing up my day.
Once again, Great job Sherman!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted…Get Rich Quick Is A Lie
Hey Donna,
I like your way of thinking towards the word “No”… You can definitely say that it’s a filter for those who you want to build a relationship with and those that you don’t.
Timing is definitely very important when building a business. When people see that you’re exactly on time, this definitely builds a great reputation for you. I’m sure your reputation skyrocketed and broke the temperature gage 😉
But I definitely understand how you value your time. You definitely don’t want to revolve your life around other people’s bad habit of lateness! We all got lives to live!
Thanks for sharing Donna!
sherman smith recently posted…7 Must Have WordPress Plugins
Oh Sherman, so spot on my friend.
The first one got me too. Until I really learned, I took everything so personal. My feelings were hurt when I was told no because I thought that they just didn’t like me. Now that could have been the case for some but it wasn’t about me. I had never had my own business before venturing into the online world so this one was a biggie for me.
Although all of these are very spot on and I can definitely relate, the being on time is a pet peeve of mine. Unless something terrible has happened, I’m always on time. Actually I’m usually early so I find it insulting when people can show the same respect. To me they’re saying this isn’t important enough to them and if that’s the case then I probably don’t want to work with them anyway.
Great share Sherman and thanks for this. Hope you have a wonderful week.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted…11 Essentials of Social Networking
Hey Adrienne,
When you first start a home business, the word “no” can be such a drag and energy draining LOL… I really hated the word no, but it helps to develop some tough skin and look for ways to your approach as well as training on marketing. At least in my case!
When I first started doing this, I found that a lot of people just don’t respect your time! Like you, I’m on time unless there was some type of emergency, then I’ll let them know. But people don’t want to respect my time that I take out for them, they’re more than likely not the type of person I want to deal with anyways. So I’m on your side on this!
Thanks for sharing your experience!
sherman smith recently posted…Don’t Be An Asshole! Be Approachable!