7 Key Things Professional People Do Constantly, but Unprofessionals Can't Understand

We talk a lot about professional people (here and here) and unprofessional people (here and here). It's an important distinction. Professionalism can make the difference in getting the job you want, landing the client you'd like to bring in, or achieving whatever opportunity you want to pursue.

There's something bigger about that word, though--something that can unlock good habits and vastly improve your odds of success in any endeavor. I learned a bit about these aspects of professionalism during my time in Nanet Suite, and I learned even more as a Business Development Executive for an IT firm.

A professional is technically someone who does something for money, but the word has come to suggest more: a true expert--someone who is no-nonsense, experienced, and reliable. It's a word we use in the business environment constantly, separating great leaders from the not-so-great.

Here are seven short but crucial things Bill Murphy learned that true professionalism requires, along with the biggest challenges associated with them:

1. Confidence.

While it's actually the last thing on this list that you should acquire, it's the first thing that other people notice. Professional people know what the heck they're doing, and they carry themselves in a manner that communicates it. They're also confident enough to acknowledge the things they don't know. True, authentic confidence is impossible without the other six items below.

Challenge: Build your confidence on something real--not just bluster.

2. Communication skills.

The ability to communicate clearly is a prerequisite to professionalism. It does nobody any good to become a valued expert at something but have no ability (or perhaps no desire) to explain it effectively to others. Take the technical person who intentionally obfuscates out of fear: unprofessional as a leader at least, no matter how good he or she may be at the technical side of the job.

Challenge: Take pride in your area of expertise, and be willing and eager to share its wonders with others.

3. Integrity.

At its core, professionalism is about the trust that others can have in you to do your job--and do it well. If you don't have integrity, however, nothing else matters. Measure yourself by how you act when you're sure nobody's watching.

Challenge: Hold yourself to a higher standard of integrity than others would.

4. Strategic thinking.

Truly professional people think long-term. They see the big picture and they identify goals worth pursing. Professionals should be able to explain how each step in the journey they're traveling relates to achieving worthwhile objectives.

Challenge: Articulate to yourself and others what you're doing--and, more important, why it matters.

5. Tactical proficiency.

That said, people can't be true professionals by only understanding their field from a strategic perspective. They have to actually be proficient at the real job they're doing. You can't be a truly professional leader of an editorial team, for example, if you don't know how to report and edit; you can't be a truly professional engineer if you don't know the underlying science.

Challenge: Stay up-to-date on the developments that make your field work. Even better, be one of the innovators.

6. Leadership.

A great leader empowers other people, treats them with respect, and gives them a goal worth working for. He or she also sees other people as just that--people--and holds them accountable. (For what it's worth, there's a big difference between a great leader and a mere manager.)

Challenge: Ask yourself, if your kid brother or sister were to join the military, would you want them to have a leader like you in charge?

7. Followership.

There aren't a lot of business management books out there on the idea of "how to be a really great follower." That's too bad. For one thing, studying leadership without studying followership is sort of like learning to jump out of an airplane without learning how to open your parachute. For another, none of us is always in charge. We're members of teams, and truly professional people want their teams to succeed. Truly professional people understand that means helping other leaders to achieve.

Challenge: Ask yourself, when was the last time you set aside your ego and enthusiastically embraced the role of a follower

Drop your thoughts on what you think about this.

10 Business Development Techniques to Grow Sales Fast

When Drew Greenblat wrote and I quote that “the economy is starting to heat up. These is how to ready your company for the upswing”. He listed about 10 points to grow business, little did I know that his views on how business owners can grow sales fast is in concomitant with my understanding of the Business Development Techniques to grow sales. Here are the lessons from John Whitehead (former Chairman of Goldman Sachs) wisdom on growing business. We should memorize his pearls of wisdom:

1. Don't waste your time going after business you don't really want.

We hired a mechanical engineer from West Point this month to help us grow sales. His focus is to help manufacturing engineers in industrial S&P 500 companies understand why Marlin Steel, my company, is better than our competitors. Why? Our clients are not marketing companies, nor are they point of purchase display companies. These folks don't appreciate quality and engineering. Instead, they are looking for the lowest price. Make sure you point your sales and marketing team in the right direction for profitable business.

2. The boss usually decides--not the assistant treasurer (or the intern).

Selling to the right person, the decision maker, is critical. Many times engineering interns will reach out to Marlin Steel for a quote. This is a colossal waste of time for our team, who can see this as a sign of interest and a potential sale. The last thing you want to do is devote sales resources to uninterested buyers. It is imperative, early in the sales cycle, that you discover who calls the shots and don't waste your time with those who aren't likely to buy your products.

3. It's just as easy to get a first-rate piece of business as a second-rate one. (So focus your resources.)

When we do our quarterly analysis of our best clients, we consistently get results that stress how important our white-glove clients are. Our top 80 percent of sales are generated from less than 20 percent of our clients. We have anointed these clients our white-glove clients because they deserve the finest treatment. The bottom 80 percent of our clients generate a paltry mid-teens share of our revenue and even less of our profit. The tiny client aggravation spent to close and nurture these sales is time spent away from your best prospects and most of your profit. Focus on the clients that really matter--the ones that can make your year and stop spinning your wheels with the little guys.

4. You never learn anything when you're talking.

Ask questions of your clients. Listen carefully. If you are talking more than 50 percent of the time, you are talking 10 times too much. Your job is to probe and understand what the prospect's problems are so you can save the day. You will be the preferred vendor in a competitive economy if you are a good listener.

5. The client's objective is more important than yours.

Don't sell what you offer. Sell what the clients needs. By listening carefully to their requirements, you will refine your pitch and your product offering to make sure you are addressing their needs. One of our former salesmen would push stock material handling baskets because it was easy. No creativity needed. He did not make it. Our best salespeople engage the client and understand their challenges and provide solutions that are tailored to each one's requirements.

6. The respect of one person is worth more than an acquaintance with 100 people.

Some salespeople know many people superficially. Their back-slapping antics might make them the life of the party but do they really understand that particular key client? The key client could be a life-changing client. Go the extra mile with your white-glove clients and they will embrace you and shower you with opportunities. You can only have respect if you know them and their business model deeply.

7. When there's business to be found, go out and get it!

The economy is picking up. Your competition is still hunkered down from the recession. Engage now while your rivals are dozing. Proactively meet prospects early in the economic boom that is charging our way.

8. Important people like to deal with other important people. Are you one?

Get active in your business community. Do not be a wallflower. Join associations that dovetail with your best prospects' interests. Volunteer for industry committees and network with this select group of high-value targets. Rise to the top of these organizations to generate deserved prestige in your industry. The orders are bound to flow. People like to buy from winners.

9. There's nothing worse than an unhappy client.

First things first--alleviate the client's pain. Drop everything and fix problems. When a problem happens at Marlin Steel (we are human), the quality error is fixed first before any other standard production. Our clients will not be thrilled with us but they will remember we transparently communicated with them and we resolved the problem quickly.

10. If you get the business, it's up to you to see that it's well-handled.

Once you nail the big clients, give them amazing service. Meet your deadlines. Usher them through the process so they are enchanted with your performance and they will send you repeat business and new opportunities.

What fast growth sales techniques did John Whitehead miss? Share them with me and I will list the best new ideas in my column later this month.

Self Discovery

Here’s what some of the greatest philosophers and minds had to say about the importance of self-discovery:

 “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” - Aristotle

“At the center of your being, you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” - Lao Tzu

 “And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?” Rumi

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” - Ralph Ellison

“The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.” - Thales

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.” – Benjamin Franklin

Great advice, yet most of us go our entire lives without taking a time out to get to know ourselves. To get the most out of life, you need to understand who you are. Whether you’re trying to get the most out of your career, start a business or find happiness in your relationships, it is vital that you know what you are made of and how you became that way.

Writing is Thinking

I write, therefore I think. Writing has probably helped me more than any other habit. It helps me to organize my thoughts, synthesize and crystalize ideas, and process things in a way that I just can’t achieve through other means. But here’s the powerful secret: this holds true even if nobody ever sees my writing. Sure, I publish a lot of content and I like to put my writing out into the world. But I also like to write things out just to think them through. There’s something about going through the exercise of writing thoughts out that helps to process them more completely. I can review my writing, revise it, put it aside for a while and revisit it down the road. This is a great way to process and to internalize things. Writing is a deeper level of thinking. The beauty is that it’s free, easy, and accessible to all of us. All you need to do is, well, do it. Which can be hard at first. Which is why it’s good to start practicing now. Because it gets easier (quickly) over time. You don’t need to show it to anybody but yourself. You just need to take something you’re thinking about already and write down your thoughts. You could write a letter to yourself. You could think of it as a journal. You could draft an email to a colleague or a friend that you never intend to send. You can type it up on the computer. You could write it on a notepad. You could do it in the morning or late at night or on your lunch hour. Simply take an issue, maybe something you’re struggling with or a decision you’ll need to make soon or a project that you’re working on, and “talk it through” with yourself. It will help you to think. It will help you to gain perspective. It will help you to gain clarity. And it won’t take much time. Writing steady for ten minutes will get you very, very far. You will be surprised. Don’t believe me? Set a timer for ten minutes and start writing. Write nonstop: head down, no interruptions, no hesitation, just let it flow totally unfiltered (this is called “free writing”). You will be surprised how much comes out and how far you get before the timer goes off. When you’re done, you can throw it away or delete it or save it for reference later on. The fact that you wrote it out will have helped you to process it more deeply. Those more developed insights will be swimming around in your subconscious and they’ll find a way to come back an help you one way or another somewhere down the line. Try a little writing exercise this week and see what you think.

Thanks for reading. As always, any questions or comments, just hit reply.