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Professionalism
Posted by B2B on: 2006-01-10 09:57:39
Professionalism
Skye Thomas
Professionalism is an umbrella term used to describe many
different aspects of business conduct. Customer service, work
ethics, and business integrity are often grouped together with
professionalism and it's all mixed up in people's minds as one
big concept. Each of these are actually very different aspects
and have nothing to do with professionalism. Just like fondness,
friendship, and lust are all lumped under the word 'love.' In
truth they are not exactly the same as 'love' but when we think
of saying "I love you" many of those ideas cross our mind. When
in fact love is something completely different but very similar
to those other things. Such is the case with the word
'professionalism.'
Customer service is treating the customer the way you would like
to be treated. It's a way of telling them that you care about
them and whether or not they have a positive experience in
dealing with you and your product. I can get good customer
service from a large corporation that doesn't really care at all
as to who I am and how their product effects me. The salesman
could be rude, arrogant, and demeaning. However he pretends to
be polite and oh so politically correct as he makes darn sure
that I get my product delivered to my house on time in mint
perfect condition. Upon finding out that there's a broken piece
while trying to assemble it, I have to call that same irritating
salesman to get the broken piece replaced. He quickly and easily
takes care of my problem without wasting any of my time. I got
good customer service even though I can't stand the salesmen
because he's so transparently fake.
Work ethic is your personal commitment to showing up and working
to the best of your ability in a conscientious manner. That same
arrogant salesman may put in hours of overtime off the company's
time clock without getting financial reimbursement because he
cares a lot about people's opinion of him, not because he really
likes his boss or his customers. He works like crazy because he
is committed to seeing the job through to the end. I can call
him from 7am to 10pm most days and he's almost always there to
handle my account. He has a great work ethic even though he's
still a pompous jerk pretending to be concerned about my
business needs.
Business integrity is when that same super cheesy fake salesman
sells the product to me at a fair price and is honest with me
about the attributes of the product I'm purchasing. He doesn't
exaggerate the benefits of the product nor does he feel a need
to sell me second rate goods at a first rate price. He's a
straight shooter and earns my business. If something goes wrong
with the product he offers to replace it or give me back my
money. I still don't like him though because every fiber of my
being is bristling at how fake he is.
The salesman has replaced his real authentic personality with a
fake personality. That is professionalism, a fake personality
displayed at work. Professionalism is that happy happy joy joy
smiley face that people often feel forced to maintain. No matter
what is happening in your real life, you are to behave as if you
are a perfectly happy robot at work. I hate professionalism. It
alienates people from each other. It makes the world a colder
uglier place. As a consumer, all things equal, I would give my
business to someone who is authentically grumpy instead of
someone who is pretending to be super nice.
The Internet has made it possible for a lot of people who hate
the fake professionalism of the real world to do freelance work
from home. It's one of the very best things about being
self-employed and working from home, you don't have to be fake
and superficial anymore. The trend I'm seeing as a result is
that more and more authentic entrepreneurs are doing business
with like minded folks. The reason we love to frequent small Mom
& Pop type stores is because we get to know the owners as real
people and we like giving them our money for the same exact item
that we could get up the street from a big fake cold hearted
business. This trend is rapidly spreading throughout the
Internet.
I'm not telling you to burp and fart in front of your customers.
You don't have to cry all day at work about how your favorite
dog ran away. Don't tell everyone the ugly details of your
ongoing divorce. Don't giggle about your new boyfriend on
company time. You still have to conduct yourself with some class
and manners.
I'm talking about that fake cheesy smile, eyes open unnaturally
wide, and singsong voice that so many people hide behind. If you
are truly secure in who you are, your ability to provide good
customer service, a good work ethic, and quality business
integrity, then why do you need to behave in a fake professional
manner? People intuitively know when others are genuine or not.
We like to do business with our friends whenever possible.
If you spend the bulk of your waking hours each week at work
behaving in a professional fake manner, then eventually you're
going to get very good at faking it. The words we speak and the
way we say them impacts us on a deeper level then we realize.
What is that doing to the spirit of those who feel that they
must be fake all of the time in order to be taken seriously by
bosses, coworkers, and customers? It's part of what makes us
feel so isolated and lonely. Because we are behaving in such a
fake manner towards everyone else, it's understood that others
are treating us in a fake manner. We don't feel like anyone
really cares about us and the work that we do.
Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge
About the author:
Skye Thomas is the CEO of Tomorrow's Edge, an Internet leader in
inspiring leaps of faith. To read more of her articles, free
previews of her books, and her astrology forecasts, go to
www.TomorrowsEdge.net. Webmasters interested in generating more
repeat traffic to their websites are invited to visit
www.TomorrowsEdge.net/horoscopes-generate-website-traffic.html.
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