Whoever deals with you in any kind of business, he needs to feel that you are committed to your work, and that you are committed to him as your client and then he will give you his full trust and he will never stop dealing with you as long as you keep this commitment.
As when you are committed to your business or work, you will do whatever it takes to make it succeed.
So if we are all committed to our work what else should we take care of in order to be professional and successful?
1. Competence. You’re good at what you do and you have the skills and knowledge that enable you to do your job well. And this is very important; otherwise, you will never be able to deliver your job correctly.
2. Reliability. People can depend on you to show up on time, submit your work when it’s supposed to be ready, etc.
3. Honesty. You tell the truth and are upfront about where things stand. And this is basis of trust. And remember some people may just totally block you for the first lie.
4. Integrity. You are known for your consistent principles.
5. Respect For Others. Treating all people as if they mattered is part of your approach. And here, you will have to remember never to disrespect anyone, especially whenever you are with people whom you meet for the first time, because simply you may be telling a silly joke with disrespect about southern people in your first visit to a very important person to find out after you finish your joke that your host is a southern!
6. Self-Upgrading. Rather than letting your skills or knowledge become outdated, you seek out ways of staying current.
7. Being Positive. No one likes a constant pessimist. Having an upbeat attitude and trying to be a problem-solver makes a big difference.
8. Supporting Others. You share the spotlight with colleagues, take time to show others how to do things properly, and lend an ear when necessary.
9. Staying Work-Focused. Not letting your private life needlessly have an impact on your job, and not spending time at work attending to personal matters.
10. Listening Carefully. People want to be heard, so you give people a chance to explain their ideas properly.
11. Be ready for your work: Readiness for work includes proper clothing, proper set up, etc.
12. Match your environment: Birds can’t swim and fish can’t fly, because birds belong to air and fish belong to water, so you have to speak the same language of your place, you have to follow your people’s habits and respect their traditions.
13. Do your homework: The worst thing that might happen when you visit a client and during your visit you ask him: What is the nature of your work?, as many clients might answer you saying: if you don’t know what I am doing, how can you help me?
14. Define well your target: You have to define your goals and target very well, as if you establish a company then think what will you be selling or doing, most likely you will fail. A friend of mine once asked me what should I call my new company? I simply asked him: what will this company be doing? He said: not determined yet, I simply answered: You may call it anything then!
15. Give the right impression: when you walk into a bakery, it has to look as bakery, because if it looks like a clothes shop you will never accept to buy your bread from there. So we have to give the right impression about ourselves, and we have to remember that first impression is the last impression. And we have to give the proper image about our business, as if we are trying to sell a small company a certain product, it will not help us saying that we have sold it to the biggest company in town, because simply the owner of the small company will say: ok then it is not for me because I am not as big as them!