Your business may be sufficient the way it is. There’s always room for improvement if you are serious about connecting with your audience and your customers.
Being professional is one area that business owners like to emphasize and customers articulate when they are dealing with anyone. It provides trust in a transaction or a relationship and communicates that you are serious about the other person.
Of course there are varying degrees of professionalism. At its core, it is consideration for the other person. Courtesy, respect and engagement can go a long way towards helping someone feel at ease.
Working with true professional customers takes on a different air altogether. Being buttoned up in suit and tie and discussing deals around a conference room table or prestigious establishment may be the most comfortable convention and approach.
There are ways to manage the conversation or the sales call. You don’t cold call such people. You develop a relationship via a strong network or with a professional gift. There has to be a high level of consideration for the other person’s time and attention.
I would not say there is a formula, but it is not casual. Working with professionals means you are providing value with intangibles of your knowledge and a respect for their time. Non-professionals do not necessarily get this. They may miss the intangibles and do not value time. At least that has been much of my own experience in business.
The rules of engagement change when you are dealing with different types of people. Just keep in mind that the professional sales or service is rewarding if you are professional first. Practicing how you treat people and manage all the small details of working with other people become extremely important. If it is authentic, then the professional engagement becomes quite natural.
Ultimately, it is easiest working with people like you. You share the same culture and exchange the social collateral that makes connecting easier.
As you study your own customers, think about how similar or dissimilar they are and make up your mind to adjust or change markets. When dealing with higher levels of professionalism you have to be at the top of your game.
How professional are your customers?
